What Is Meditation: Is Thinking the Same as Awareness?

Many people believe that in order to meditate, you have to free your mind from all thoughts, and enter into a blank, blissful, trance-like state. If you do this, you’ll be in a blank, blissful, trance-like state…but you won’t be meditating.

Meditation is about awareness, and many people mistake this awareness for thinking. Thinking and awareness are two different aspects of mind, one (thinking) is based on the perpetuation of thoughts from their arising to the next thought, and the other (awareness), is the state of…well, being aware.

You could say that thinking is about what’s going on “out there” in the world, while awareness is about your innermost mind.

For instance, right now you may be thinking about what you’re reading. At the same time, you may be aware of the fact that you’re reading. The thinking aspect is how you’re interpreting what you’re reading right now. The awareness is the fact that you know that you’re reading right now. Make sense? Read on…

Meditation is About Being Aware

At its essence, meditation is about being aware. So, what is awareness?

Here’s a user-friendly explanation of what awareness is; suppose that you’re in the middle of day-dreaming and you suddenly realize that you’ve been day-dreaming. What is it that realized that you were day-dreaming? It’s your awareness.

For those of you who drive, here’s another example. Suppose you’re driving down the road and you realize that you’ve been distracted by thoughts for the past few miles and that you’ve missed your destination. What was it that brought you back to the present? It’s your awareness.

When we practice meditation, the goal isn’t to become thoughtless, it’s to become aware; aware of our thoughts, aware of our surroundings, aware of others, aware…

Awareness is the state of knowing that you’re aware!

How Do You Use Awareness in Meditation?

When you begin meditating, you’ll probably start with mindfully watching your breath. We use the breath as an anchor of our attention because it’s always there and because we can work with it anytime and anywhere. This “watching the breath” is often referred to as mindfulness. But mindfulness alone isn’t enough. Why?

As you practice your mindfulness, you’ll notice that your mind strays off of the breath and gets lost in thoughts, emotions or sensations. But you’ll also notice that after some period of time, whether that’s 1 minute or 1 hour, you’ll realize that you’ve become distracted. Awareness is what recognizes that you’ve become distracted in your meditation.

Awareness is the Sentinel of Meditation

So, awareness could be said to be the key to maintaining the stability of meditation. Thoughts, on the other hand, are neither good nor bad in meditation. They’re a product of the mind, and may come and go. But they aren’t particularly important to the practice of meditation. And they’re not the same as awareness.

Thoughts, while meditating, don’t matter. When you practice meditation, and you find yourself lost in thoughts, don’t worry about them. Don’t think about your thoughts! They’re not real!   

Use your awareness to bring yourself back to your meditation. THAT is what will strengthen your practice of meditation. THAT is what will bring you the clarity of mind that is possible through the practice of meditation.

A Meditation Script for Working With the Breath

Working with mindfulness, and repeatedly returning to your practice when you realize that you’ve become distracted in how you strengthen your awareness. I encourage you to download the PDF, Riding the Breath With the Mind, and to use that exercise as a way to practice using your awareness to bring your focus back to the breath.

ALSO – please see the “Related Stuff” links below, they’re past posts that specifically address using awareness during meditation, working with thoughts, and mindfulness. They’re great support for your practice!

Meditation Guidance and Support

Here’s the news flash: In the next few months, I’ll be rolling-out a menu of meditation guidance and support services and products designed especially for…you. Based on questions and feedback that I’ve received from readers, I’m designing a way for you to work one-on-one with me, or in a group format, to support you in your meditation practice. I’m still in the process of putting together the content for these support tools so please do feel free to contact me and let me know how I may best serve you.

This site has tons of tools for learning how to meditate and be compassionate.

I encourage you to look through the HUNDREDS of articles that I’ve written and especially check out my weekly meditation tips and other useful meditation materials provided for your health and well being. Please let me know if you’d like to discuss anything with me, have any questions or need clarification regarding anything that I’ve written about.