Meditation is a state of being, arrived at through understanding. It needs intelligence, it does not need techniques. Consciousness and silence together is what meditation is all about. Nothing else is needed. Everything else is nonessential ritual.
Meditation is just the essence, the very essence.
You cannot cut anything out of it. And then you are very close to truth. It suddenly explodes upon you, and its explosion is such a blessing that you cannot imagine it unless you have experienced it. There is no way to imagine it. Buddhas have been talking down the ages, but still you cannot imagine it.