in a previous post, meditation was defined as,
“the intentional and sustained focusing of attention”

like any definition, this one is limited and incomplete;
it may convey something about the mechanics of
meditation, but nothing about other aspects of the
phenomenon -

aspects such as the feelings, thoughts and images
experienced during meditation

defining an experiential state, however, is not easy;
it is a task perhaps best left to poets like Walt
Whitman

the soundtrack of the video below is an excerpt
from Whitman's To the Sun-Set Breeze

the poet's words provide a good description of a
state often associated with meditation



the above is an excerpt from PBS's Walt Whitman,
which can be seen in full here

To the Sun-Set Breeze

Ah, whispering, something again, unseen,

Where late this heated day thou enterest
at my window

Thou, laving, tempering all, cool-freshing,
gently vitalizing

Me, old, alone, sick, weak-down, melted -
worn with sweat;

Thou, nestling, folding close and firm yet soft,
companion better than talk, book, art,

So sweet thy primitive taste to breathe within--
thy soothing fingers on my face and hands,

Thou, messenger--magical strange bringer
to body and spirit of me,

(Distances balk'd--occult medicines
penetrating me from head to foot,)

I feel the sky, the prairies vast -

I feel the mighty northern lakes,

I feel the ocean and the forest -

somehow I feel the globe itself
swift-swimming in space . . .