I love Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s definition. He writes “the point of meditation practice is actually to rediscover our hidden neurosis and our hidden sanity at the same time” as well as to develop a sense of discipline in our lives.
If we take time to sit quietly we really see the way our minds work, the looping thoughts that go round and round, most of them being negative in nature.
The joy comes when we can sit compassionately amongst it all with no judgement.