The goal of meditation is to synchronize our mind with a vaster source of intelligence. A meditation can be tuned towards peace. It can be tuned towards silence. It can as well be tuned towards rajasic activity (excited mind state).

Different activities? Yes, because there are various types of energy sources. Meditation is a telepathic connection.

Meditation means focusing internally to create this synchronicity, so that a consciousness "bridge" can be created between our mind and a larger field of consciousness.

What is that larger field? There are various fields of consciousness which can play the role of "source". Here is an example: If a spiritual tradition has been using a specific mantra (sound formula) for many centuries, this vibration is embedded in the collective human consciousness. Focusing on that mantra will create a telepathic link with that source and open a field of consciousness to the meditator. This specific field of consciousness is being maintained in the physical level by all the people practicing this very specific mantra.

A mantra is not the only way to connect. Take a Zen tradition for instance. The repetition of movements in the tea ceremony will create an alignment with that specific tradition. In that case, it is not a mantra which is being used, it is a series of gestures as well as "mind focus" which are being applied.

Most human activities have a similar type of goal: invoking beauty and refinement when playing music for instance. Beauty and refinement are projected as an emotional perception in our mind. The music reflects inside ourselves in waves of subtle feelings. A "trained" ear will have the ability to create a vaster diversity of impressions with a classical melody.

This reverberation of the sound in our mind can be seen as a meditation process as well. In a way, the larger definition of meditation encompasses any manifestation of life force in our being. In that case, we can use the terms of "increased awareness" rather than concentration. For many the sound itself is a meditation trigger which brings our mind to a state of trance, inner peace or profound harmony.

So what is the difference between a meditative activity and let's say, a worldly activity? In essence, there is no difference. All activities are a manifestation of life force, always. This life force can be called our spirit. Anything is meditation when looked at with this understanding in mind.

Some activities though might have a greater "physical" or "practical" focus and it is not always easy to realize the element of magic in a practical action. Magic is always there though! The "miracle" of life is always present, in every one of our movements.

We can say that as we live, we bring our spirit into manifestation. Life is always magical!

The realms of the invisible are vast. We are far from having discovered their true extension at this stage. We know there are some "intelligent entities" like for instance the "collective unconscious" defined by psychoanalysts. Where is that field of consciousness located? How does it function? How does it evolve? All these questions have never been clearly answered from a modern perspective. Still this concept was already discovered many years ago.

If reason is not guiding us here, intuition is. Intuition is a magical tool, which gives us glimpses of imperceptible knowledge. Waking up in the middle of the night with a sudden "funny" idea is certainly not an input from our reasoning mind. The birth process of that idea gives us precisely a clue of what happens when meditating.

Meditation is a way of tuning our mind. The reality or consciousness we are tuning into is simply a vaster field, a vaster reality than our own. What is this vaster field of consciousness? Is it human? superhuman? personified? Is it a simple static invisible network or energies? Is it existing only on this planet? only in human beings? Can animals connect with it? Many questions can be asked.

I might have vague feelings, impressions about these questions. I feel though that these answers are only my own beliefs, related with my own experiences. I feel it is up to anyone to find their own answers by experience. I don't think that right now we can describe all that with one single truth. I believe no rational words can at this stage describe or explain the vastness of what we are touching here.

Any belief or knowledge of the invisible is at this stage based on experience. This experience is different for everyone. I believe that it is better to leave all the doors open rather than trying to rationalize our understanding of who we are deep inside.

I don't think that what we call "Truth" can be put in simple words. Words are the way our mental abilities interpret reality. Beyond words, we simply find something vaster which we could call "the vision of Reality". Beyond the filter of human perception is something even vaster which can't be limited to any human definition.

This is the context in which we use words. It is good to remember that words possess only a limited power when describing reality. We talk about words but in fact it is the same for any form of human perception. The human mind is a filter which usually only perceives glimpses or parts of reality at a time.

The way to grow in that is by experimenting, trying, exploring. Infinite sources of knowledge, wisdom and introspective approaches are already available in many traditions around the world. These traditions offer valuable glimpses of knowledge as well as techniques and approaches. Analyzing with the "head" is usually not enough. Reason and fact analysis are by far not the best tools in this exploration. Our intuitive senses are much more powerful here. They can be greatly refined by practice, expanded awareness, inner gaze, etc.