You know, that's an interesting response and I happen to agree with it. I always say to anyone practicing meditation that there are two basic guiding principles and those are intention, without expectation. That intention part if the key. It really is what I see as the true exercise of faith. You will through faith remain present, emptying yourself before the divine, open to what light is given to you, and able to withstand whatever darkness from within you encounter. I brought this up earlier in my many responses in this thread that what a meditation practice does it exposures you to all that which is hidden in the dark places within us.
We encounter the demons we have created through self-rejections, self-loathings, shame, guilt, and so forth. These 'demons' are aspects of our own selves we do not wish to acknowledge, and like angry, hurt children lash out at us through that pain. Our own fear of these "monsters" empower them. And what happens when we "open" ourselves, is we will in fact at some points meet the devil, so to speak. This is why I think some utterly freak out and slam the door on the practice, externalizing the whole affair and further dissociation from these aspects of themselves, leading ultimately to deeper and deeper dissociation and ensuing pathologies; religious fanaticism, self-abuse, and other lunatic behaviors, moving into pathological regressions and so forth. And then those who themselves fear what is within themselves, who turn to religious fanaticism to hide away these "devils", will hear of these folks who dabbled with the spiritual in meditation practices, such as New Age, and had a terrifying encounter with their own shadows, then cite them as "experts", and add them to a long list of "demon inspired" practices they fear. It's all based on fear and ignorance.
But as you say "intention", is what really will hold you there, through faith in the divine to "overcome" this fear and to ultimate heal the dissociated self, that 'demon' we made out of our own hidden and repressed selves, and liberate it into the service of Light. This, is healing. This, is standing before that Light and 'giving an account' of all who we are, naked, forgiven, and unashamed before the throne of God. Very, very, very few are willing to face this, but it is exactly that intention that empowers you to stand. You stand before the mirror of the divine to see yourself, accept yourself in the Light of the Knowledge of God, and to truly be Free. That, is salvation. In this life, and all life to come.
I posted this earlier that what you are "emptying" is the distracting chattering of internal thoughts that constantly swirl about ineffectively inside your head, cluttering and clouding the mind from being aware of reality because of the distraction. You still the constant stream of thoughts, you empty yourself of all that excess and unnecessary noise. That is all that is going on. And the result of this is not going "blank", but in reality you become more aware, more attentive, more present, more conscious, and so forth. The exact 100,000% opposite of going blank. You become much more consciously aware than when you constantly unaware because of not being able to pay attention due to the constant barrage of noise going on in our heads. 
