Meditation, a quality of attention that pervades all of one’s life

Q: What is meditation?

Do we accept the orthodox, traditional, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi meditation, or could we put away all that and ask: what is meditation?

To start from not knowing what meditation is, then I'm free to flow in the inquiry.

Is meditation divorced from daily living or does meditation cover the whole field of existence?

In my inquiry am I awake or is the past so alive that it is dictating my life in the present?

Is there a way of living without control? Can I live a life of meditation in which there is no control?