When situations around me become challenging, I remember that meditation is the way. It has been that way with me since I first discovered it while I was reading Jiddu Krishnamurti 25 years ago. Meditation is that re-centering 'mechanism' that organizes energy, but does not judge it. I have always gone back to that. I think that it is a kind of prayer. When there is too much drama in my life, or I am misunderstood, or any number of things that cause turbulence, I know that meditation evens the field. Or, at least, this is my impression of it. I also like what Papaji used to say about meditation as well. I have been comforted by his words on the subject. When I am hurt by others, meditation has also always helped me extremely. When I am in self-judgment, it has also been the salve that equalizes my perceptions and energy. It is a kind of prayer, for sure. What are the differences? I am not entirely sure. Meditation puts the 'me' of things into a larger perspective that doesn't have borders or boundaries that define it. It's a vastness that loves Everything, that accepts everything, that takes in everything.