[mcphilip]

>That sounds boring but manageable. 'Thinking about nothing' seems impossible and stupid at the same time; people who do the disservice of saying that should be slapped.

Sounds like you could use some time meditating about your hostile attitude :) Seriously though, so much of eastern thought related to mediation involves paradoxes that a practitioner reflects on in order to grow.

Think about nothing

Observe your thoughts in a detached state

Do no work but get everything done

etc

I started learning about meditation from the standpoint of trying to detach myself from the constant buzz of thoughts (i.e. 'thinking about nothing'). I seriously doubt that there is a entirely right or wrong way to teach meditation since it ultimately involves a process of self discovery and coming up with whatever metaphor works best for oneself is an important part of the process.

[batgaijin]

I am hostile because I put off seriously trying meditation for a long time in life simply because of how poorly it had been explained and how religions and hippies co-opted it.

[mcphilip]

Religion co-opted meditation? Now that's an interesting take... How then did meditation originate if not in the context of the religions that originally incorporated it?

[biscarch]

It sounds like you let other's understandings create your own, instead of using your own interests to drive your understanding.