i'm thinking about when i was younger, before i'd even really learned much about buddhism beyond the very basic summary you learn in a basic social studies class in grade school, how i didn't understand meditation at all. i only understood it as the stereotypical idea of "clearing your mind of all thought." i didn't understand how that was possible; how could you just empty your mind? how could you not think of anything?
it wasn't until i was maybe 15 or 16 that i discovered the concept of ānāpānasati, mindfulness of breath. that made it click for me. you're not chasing away your thoughts, because especially without practice that is a pretty futile endeavor. instead, you're bringing in something you already have, your breath, and focusing your mind on it. it doesn't chase away your thoughts; in a sense it replaces them, but more accurately, it transforms them. thich nhat hanh once compared the effect of mindfulness to the effect of light: light does not destroy shadows; it transforms them into more light. just so, mindfulness of breath does not destroy your errant thoughts, but transforms them into more mindfulness. you are able to use your breath as a lever into mindfulness (pali: "sati"), into concentration ("samādhi"), into insight (vipassana), into peace (i believe the pali for what i mean here is "passaddhi").
