After reading Zen Stories 101, I realized that in ancient times, everything you practiced was considered a form of meditation. Meditation simply means focusing on your aim while letting all other thoughts come and go without attachment.
In the book The Practicing Mind, the author—who is a musician—explains that a musician repeats the same chord 55 times a day. If he skips this disciplined practice, he cannot perform well on stage. During this repetition, the mind creates noise: “There are more important things to do,” “Why am I doing this again?” But the musician stays focused on practice despite the distractions.
This is meditation too—whether you sit and focus on your breath, watching thoughts come and go, or whether you repeat a skill until your mind stops resisting. Meditation teaches you to focus so deeply that even the fear of death dissolves.
One Zen story tells of an ancient general who practiced archery meditation for more than 10 years. In another story, a young man excelled at wrestling in private practice but failed in public due to fear and shyness. When he sought help from a Zen master, he was told to meditate and create inner “waves” in his mind. Through practice, he generated such powerful mental waves that his fears were washed away. Eventually, he conquered his mind and performed confidently.
So meditation is not only sitting quietly; it is anything you practice with full presence. By repeating the same action again and again, you conquer boredom and the mind’s excuses. Even when the mind says, “You already know this; you are already a master,” true meditation is returning to practice with humility and focus.