To understand meditation, one must read the source texts. Meditation is a general and confusing term. It does not point to a specific practice. There is no "fundamental way" to meditate. Meditation is a process requiring multiple steps, and in its most basic formulation, those steps are 8.
1. Yama (abstinences) By training directing the will, one gains the ability to gain distance from compulsion and to observe it. This is the first step. Without creating this distance, there can be no meditation.
2. Niyama (observances) By following the guidelines of cleanliness, contentment, discipline, study of the self, and surrendering to the highest state of being, one develops the positive patterns of behavior required for meditation.
3. Asana (posture) By holding the physical body in specific postures, one creates a conducive atmosphere within the body for stillness, calmness, and balance of physical wellbeing. Without practicing Asana, there can be no meditation.
4. Pranayama (breathing technique) Breathing is work upon the physical body. Essentially, the breath occurs in patterns. These patterns must be observed. The science of Pranayama is for the purpose of developing the sense for the most intimate physical activities and how they affect the body and mind. Without developing a deep intimacy with our physiological processes, there can be no distance from the body and mind, hence no meditation.
5. Pratyahara (withdrawal of sense perceptions) When you withdraw your sense perception after completing the above steps, all senses begin to observe the inner processes: The visual field behind the eyelids, the auditory field within the brain, the sense of touch in relation to the inner organs, the sense of smell of the breath through breathing through the nose, and the sense of taste of the palate within the mouth. Without directing the senses inwards and observing the inner processes of body and mind, there can be no meditation.
6. Dharana (one-pointed concentration) First, focus must be on an object. Any object. This focus must be honed. The flame of a candle is recommended, but a doorknob will do just as well. Training the faculty of concentration on an external object can lead to a state of concentration with eyes closed that is similar to looking at an external object, except within the mind, the object can be seen from all perspectives at once. This is the goal of one-pointed concentration. Concentration means both focus and intensification of density at once. The process could be analogized to trying to create a blackhole within the mind. What the blackhole does in the universe is to fold spacetime upon itself. The same is the prerequisite to meditation.
7. Dhyana (meditation) It is only after all the above processes have been honed that meditation begins. Dhyana is the cessation of mind. It is only after mind has been observed sufficiently that mind and its processes can be selectively turned on and off as needed. In order to reach this state, while remaining conscious of one's inner experience, one must follow the above steps. Skipping steps will lead to slipping and falling back in terms of progress. This is why most human beings cannot meditate. Dhyana is a state in which waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, are observed simultaneously and continuously. To know if one is in meditation, one can observe one's sleep. Continuous lucid dreamless sleep is an indicator of ongoing meditation. Meditation is not an activity. It is a state of being. Meditation is the natural state. If we were all in this state, confusion and conflict would be impossible.
8. Samadhi (absorption) Samadhi is the natural consequence of meditativeness. Once the identity is no longer with body and mind, the identity suddenly becomes boundless, taking on its natural qualities. In this state, the external observer looking at the body of the individual in Samadhi will experience them to be in a state of cessation. In reality, the awareness is completely directed at itself in this state. It is a state of recursive awareness of awareness. Once awareness is recursive as such, something beyond body and mind emerges into experience. The person ceases to exist. The persona ceases to exist. The identity as such ceases to be attached to any manifestation. The experience of body and mind cease. In their place is the experience of bliss, or the baseline state. It is from this natural state that the wisest of human beings across the ages have expressed that the Self is the same in All. This is a clear indication of transcending the first (I-me), second (I-thou), and third (I-them) person perspectives, opening up the fourth person (I-I) perspective, or Turiya. It is from the state of Turiya that one dissolves into all, where waking, dreaming, and deep sleep are one and the same in one's experience. The I-me relation is that of Self to Ego. The I-thou and I-them relations are those of Self with perceived other. The I-I relation is that of Self with Self alone. That Self is the same in All, and that Self is the true Self. It is only through following the above-mentioned practices that this experience may become a reality for all.
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