First of all, are there cooking instructions on the package? If so, follow those. If not, the general idea is this:
You work in a 4:1 proportion, so if you use 1 cup of polenta (plain ol' cornmeal works too), you'd use 4 cups of liquid.
Bring the liquid to a boil. You can use water... or you can use soy/rice/whatever milk or broth.
Mix the polenta with a bit of COLD water, just to moisten it. This keeps it from clumping when you combine it with the hot liquid.
Stir the polenta into the boiling liquid, and cook it over mediumish heat until it's very thick - you can almost stand a spoon up in it when it's ready. Stir it often, and cook it with a lid partially on the pot, because it will spatter once it starts to thicken.
It doesn't take long to cook at all... maybe 7 or 8 minutes, maybe less.
You can serve it as is, as "mush", hot. It makes a vaguely corny-flavored mashed-potato-esque sort of side dish, or it's good as a hot cereal in the morning, with syrup, honey, or fruit. It also makes a good base for stews, and it's really tasty with piles of sauteed vegetables on top.
You can also spread it in an oiled pan, chill it till it's firm, cut it into squares, and bake or broil the squares until lightly browned. Serve the squares with a good tomato sauce.
That's just a basic recipe, too. There are so many variations on it. I posted a recipe for Pumpkin Polenta on here not too long ago, and that was REALLY tasty. You can make them sweet, you can make them savory. It's pretty plain on its own, so you can get really creative with it. 
Was that at all helpful? LOL!
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The basics of polenta!
