I meditate fairly regularly as well. It's interesting that I've seen meditation characterized very differently in this discussion so far. I've never particularly thought of it as "emptying your mind" or "letting one thought soak into the mind." Uchiyama Roshi characterizes meditation as "opening the hand of thought" and I really feel that this is the most accurate description of meditation for me. We are not rocks after all! To think is part of human nature :)