In the Western culture, the most popular meditation is a type of meditation that is similar to a chant meditation, but simpler. Basically it involves a repetition of a word. This has misled many people into believing that this is the only way to meditate. Here’s a list of common meditations.

Chant meditation: Traditionally, monks would give thanks to their teachers as well try to gain insight from them through chants, which they would repeat over and over again. Other chants involve invoking a certain kind of feeling (often times love and compassion). You can create your own chant. This kind of meditation is great for changing a deep seated habit within yourself.

TM meditation: This is the most popular form of meditation in the West. Like chant meditation, it involves repetition, except in this case it is just one or two words. you have seen many different spins to this meditation. Some people use two words, others just one. You should do what is most comfortable for you. Experiment.

Sound meditation: You focus on a sound you hear. Many people choose to meditate to music (including me). Interestingly, it does not have to be relaxing music. Occasionally I will find it very easy to meditate to hard rock. Experiment, and see what works and when.

Body meditation: In this meditation, you focus on the sensations you feel. If you’re sitting down, you focus on how your butt feels on the chair. If you’re lying down, you can study how your body mass is spread across the bed.

Sight meditation: This form of meditation is great for beginners who wish to transition to inner-object meditation. You choose an object to look at and you focus on its shape, color, size. Keep that image in your mind. For example, Buddhists would choose a statue of Buddha to meditate on.

Inner-object meditation: This is when your object of focus is something that naturally occurs within your body, such as your breath or heartbeat. You study the occurrence as you would with any other meditation (you could say that TM and Chant is inner-object meditation).

Object-less meditation: This meditation is essential for increasing your self-awareness. The name of the meditation stands for what IT IS NOT. In this form of meditation, you pay attention to anything and everything to pops into your mind, and then let it go so another activity can take place.

That covers all the common ones. we have to mention that meditation can take any form. You can meditate on walking, and call it “walking meditation”. You can focus on playing your guitar, and call it the “guitar meditation”. It’s less important as to what your object of meditation is, than the process involved in the meditation. The process across these meditations is always the same.

The story about Buddhism and how it came to be all started long ago with a king named Suddhodana. It was his son, Siddhartha, who would later in life become the Buddha. It is a unique blend of fairytale and fact in the Buddhist teachings that can be found today. There is quite a lot more to Buddhism than just having a big Buddha statue sitting on your desk as a decoration. It is a great piece of history and millions of believers follow the teachings of Buddhism.

A prediction was made by a holy man regarding Siddhartha. The holy man prophesized that the young prince would either grow up to become a great ruler or he would become a wise holy man. The king was obviously dismayed that his son might abdicate his princely life and so tried to shelter the young man from the outside world. Unfortunately for Suddhodana, this did not stop the outside world from coming into contact with his son. At the age of 29, Siddhartha came into contact with what is now known as the “Four Sights.” He came across an elderly man, a corpse, a diseased man and a holy man. This gave him a glimpse into the sufferings of mankind and Siddhartha was so moved that he abandoned his princely throne to become a holy man himself.

The true path, when learning about Buddhism, is what Siddhartha found. The path to enlightenment, or Bodhi, can be found through the use of meditation. His previous attempts included fasting and enduring pain. It is a good thing for Buddhists everywhere that they do not have to use these methods in order to find enlightenment. The Buddhist teachings are ones of gentleness and concentration upon meditation.

Siddhartha’s meditation retreat came in the form of meditating beneath a tree outside of a village for forty-nine days. It was during these forty-nine days that he attained enlightenment and could begin teaching his findings to the rest of the world. From this point on, Siddhartha became known as Buddha. Buddhist studies teach followers that the true path to ending human suffering in this world is to follow a strict path set forth by the Buddha. It involves ritualized chants and meditations to alleviate the conflicts that plague humanity.