What exactly do you mean when you say to “meditate ON something”? Do you think about the thing while meditating or what?
Sure. Think of it like when we’re just thinking about something, we entertain that thought with what if’s, buts, and wishes, we dissect those thoughts. Likewise, when we “meditate on something,” we are also dissecting those thoughts, ideas, emotions, etc. to reveal their true nature and the truthness within them. It’s easy to read something and assume we know what it means, but if we meditate on it, we go deeper into that topic and we truly understand its root and its core.
For example, the first noble truth, life is suffering (or more appropriately, life is dissatisfying). What exactly does that mean? What is life? What is suffering? How am I suffering? What causes me to suffer? So on and so forth. It is question after question after question until you can reach the very core of it to pull out the truth. Everything, every emotion, thought and perception has an ultimate truth that we can’t see superficially, so we meditate on it to dig deeper and pull away the layers to get closer to that truth.
Smile and be well!