Meditation is meant to relax and rejuvenate, so a sitting that leaves a person drained has a cause worth finding. Strain, spent energy and draining people or places explain it, and rest comes first.

A sitting steadies the mind, and the day keeps it steady. Carry awareness, love and gratitude into work, family and every disturbance, and live meditatively.

Meditation does not add calm to the mind; it takes away what has settled over it until the Self comes into view. Here is what meditation works on, what changes first, how it quiets a restless mind and where a Guru's grace enters.

Millions learn meditation and only about 0.1% reach the shore. A feeling of failure does not decide who stays: the first weeks are ordinary, boredom belongs to the mind, and the dividing line is the sincerity of the seeking.

Starting meditation is decided before the first minute of sitting: the attitude brought, the preparation made, and the way the breath settles the mind. Here is the full sequence for a beginner, from the first thought of gratitude to carrying stillness through the day.

There is no good meditator and no bad meditator, only the one who sits. Here is what actually counts as correct meditation, which experiences are normal signs of progress, and why meditation's real destination, Self-realisation, is reached only through a Guru's grace.

Meditation is often mistaken for concentration or a stress-relief technique. It is neither. Here is what meditation actually is, what it does to the mind, and why its real destination is reached only through a Guru's grace.