Some people might describe meditation as somehow stopping all thoughts and silencing your mind. Some may be able to do that after years of practice, but I don’t think it’s important.

What I do is sit still and allow myself to be passively aware of everything around me and in my mind. I don’t actively engage in any thoughts and I experience them arising on their own—as though they operate without me. I see that my thoughts are like the wind blowing on my face. Both of these things happen entirely on their own, without me.

When meditating I’ll frequently become distracted by my thoughts and engage with them. That’s fine. I go back to passively experiencing them the same way I experience the subtle sounds around me.

That’s it. That’s all there is to it if you’re looking for any therapeutic benefit. Becoming “present” like that on a regular basis will will leave you calmer, better able to focus, and better able to control—or separate yourself from—your emotions.

Arnold Schwarzenegger did this for a while in the early 80’s when he had a lot going on in his life and he was having trouble focusing. He learned how to become present and focus on the current moment whenever he needed to and he no longer needed to meditate regularly.

The deeper lesson that our Aryan ancestor Buddha and others discovered is that you start to see that many of the things you thought were part of yourself—like your thoughts—are not. You eventually see that even the idea of your self is only a mental concept—an illusion—and that you may not even exist. Then you start understanding a lot of the things Jesus said and you can no longer relate to most people and life seems both wonderful and pointless at the same time.

Don’t worry about all of that for now though. Just sit still and listen to everything around you, including your own thoughts.

Don't try to clear your mind of everything. That's a losing battle. Instead, try to focus your mind on just one thing. For example, I have a white noise / fan noise machine that I will focus as much attention on as I can while it hums away.

I cannot meditate either because my mind is not capable of going into a suspended mode of operation. I am too connected to everything around me to just simply close down and shut off all outside stimulus. I exist in the natural world therefore I am in a connected state 24x7. My mind can find peace in its own way by simply ignoring my body, a sort of transcendent state if it requires a label. I am my mind first and my body second so perhaps that is like meditation but on a more discreet level.

I've never believed in that mystical eastern stuff because I am already connected to nature and I don't see how doing some zen bullshit makes that any different. I've always considered meditation as some sort of BS that low-IQ people do to convince themselves they are more capable in the mind than they really are. I can't do it because it's not real.

Impossible. We're not made to have a mind that is completely empty. It's ingrained in our genetics to be aware of our surroundings. You can sensory deprive yourself and in a way that's clearing your mind.

Focus your mind on your breathing. Think about how you are breathing in and out.

Too many thoughts multi-tasking that you can't shut down all your neurons.

I used to think I couldn't meditate, or that meditation was just an advanced form of sitting still.

Than I used the tapes.

I can't stop and meditate on nothing, but I do find I am able to zen while doing certain tasks or listening to certain music. Maybe your ability to zen is linked to an outlet to help you unwind?

It's because you are not eating enough rice.

I think it is really a matter of you being retarded.

Just keep focusing on one thing