The real meaning of meditation || Acharya Prashant, on Sage Ashtavakra (2015)

निःसंगो निष्क्रियोऽसि त्वं स्वप्रकाशो निरंजनः। अयमेव हि ते बन्धः समाधिमनुतिष्ठति॥१-१५॥

~ अष्टावक्र गीता

Translation: You are now and forever free, luminous, transparent, and still. The practice of meditation keeps one in bondage.

~ Ashtavakra Gita (Chapter 1, Verse 15)

Questioner (Q): What is meditation? Why the practice of meditation keeps one in bondage?

Acharya Prashant (AP): Meditativeness is simply our inner nature. To meditate is different from any kind of mental exertion or mental activity. To meditate is to be at a point where parallelly two non-events are happening. First, there is no need for mental activity, because there is no need for any activity, so I am calling it a non-event. So there is no need to think or solve problems or resist challenges or plans. No need is felt. Secondly, and parallelly, even though there is no need to gather knowledge, yet all is known.

Most of the knowledge that we have, come to us because the insecure one within us needs to have information from the world. That is the reason why we seek knowledge, there is a feeling of incompleteness and the possibility of some loss if that knowledge is not there.