How To Meditate
Sadhguru nails it right out of the gate – one cannot do meditation. But, you can become meditative, which will result in the quality called meditation.
As He explains, the word meditation in English does not mean anything specific. For example, in the western world, one sitting with eyes closed is said to be meditating. However, in India, one with eyes closed could be doing Japa, Tapa, Dhyana, Dharana, or even experiencing Samyama or Samadhi, if not just dozing off in vertical posture!
The next obvious question would be, how can one become meditative?
Becoming meditative is a constant process of consciously quietening the mind. However, it does not mean you must fight or struggle to keep your thoughts from arising. If you do so, you will only fail.
The yogic culture assigns no importance to thoughts because these are generated by reusing only the limited data stored in the mind. One cannot open the door to limitlessness by identifying oneself with limited possibilities. Therefore, thoughts, no matter how profound they seem to you, are insignificant in the context of life.
However, our mind is always busy cycling thoughts incessantly. But you cannot stop that thinking cycle by telling the mind to stop. What do we do?
The first critical step is to realize the futility and insignificance of thoughts. Such an understanding will avoid generating thoughts unless needed, or it helps to ignore them.
Ashtanga Yoga, or the eight limbs of Yoga, lists Dharana and Dhyana, the initial steps of meditation, starting from number six! So it means that one must practice the first five limbs of Yoga before one can succeed at Dharana or Dhyana. These five limbs are Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara. These five pillars or limbs of Yoga make the mind and the body stable enough for the higher levels of meditation. You can use your mind only when needed, when your mind is in your control. Such control enables you to break the incessant cycle of thoughts.
Once the mind starts to be quieter, you become meditative automatically. So now, meditation will happen when you sit with your eyes closed.