Meditation as taught by Buddha has two aspects: Calmness (or concentration) and Insight (or wisdom).

Two Types Of Buddhist Meditation:

The Buddha practiced two forms of meditation. One was taught to him. One he rediscovered.

The reason I use the word rediscovered is because, according to the early Buddhist tradition of Theravada, there were many Buddhas before Siddhartha Gautama. He was one in a line of Buddhas, and we already know who the next Buddha will be. His name is Maitreya Buddha.

The Buddha was taught Samatha (tranquility) meditation, and rediscovered Vipassana (insight) meditation. These are the two forms of Buddhist meditation, Samatha and vipassana -- tranquility and insight.

Tranquility meditation was taught to the Buddha by the yogis of India. Tranquility meditation is what I consider to be the meditation of enlightenment. Insight meditation is the meditation of Nirvana.

Insight meditation (Vipassana Bhavana) - Sometimes called mindfulness meditation, these forms of meditation are not just about stilling the mind, but about observing it. Although instructions differ by school, the general idea is to note sensations, emotions and thoughts as they arise, but to let them pass through your mind without attaching to them. In this form of meditation, you begin by concentrating on one object of focus, attempting to slow, and eventually quiet, your mind. The most common form of this meditation is focusing on your breath - the sensations associated with your breath moving in and out of your body. Many Buddhist schools use some form of breath meditation as beginning meditation practice, before teaching other forms.

Insight meditation (Vipassana Bhavana) - Sometimes called mindfulness meditation, these forms of meditation are not just about stilling the mind, but about observing it. Although instructions differ by school, the general idea is to note sensations, emotions and thoughts as they arise, but to let them pass through your mind without attaching to them.

Purpose Of Buddhist Meditation:

The purpose of Buddhist meditation, therefore, is to gain more than an intellectual understanding of this truth, to liberate ourselves from the delusion and thereby put an end to both ignorance and craving. If the meditation does not produce results tending to this consummation — results which are observable in the character and the whole attitude to life — it is clear that there is something wrong either with the system or with the method of employing it. It is not enough to see lights, to have visions or to experience ecstasy. These phenomena are too common to be impressive to the Buddhist who really understands the purpose of Buddhist meditation.

The Five Hindrances (Nivarana) are the major obstacles to concentration.

1. Sensual desire (abhidya)

2. Ill will, hatred, or anger (pradosha)

3. Laziness and sluggishness (styana and middha)

4. Restlessness and worry (anuddhatya and kaukritya)

5. Doubt (vichikitsa) -- doubt, skepticism, indecisiveness, or vacillation, without the wish to cure it, more like the common idea of cynicism or pessimism than open-mindedness or desire for evidence.

Ananda, Buddha's cousin, friend, and devoted disciple, once asked him if there was one particular quality one should cultivate that would best bring one to full awakening. Buddha answered: Being mindful of breathing.

Buddhist meditation is frequently confused with yogic meditation, which often includes physical contortions, autohypnosis, quests for occult powers, and an attempted union with God. None of these are concerns or practices of the Eightfold Path. There are in Buddhism no drugs or stimulants, no secret teachings, and no mystical formulae. Buddhist meditation deals exclusively with the everyday phenomena of human consciousness.

Devices in Meditation

In kammattana, it is permissible to use certain devices, such as the earth or color kasina, as focal points for the attention. A candle flame, a hole in the wall, or some metal object can also be used, and the method of using them is found in the Pali texts and the Visuddhi-magga. In the texts themselves it is to be noted that the Buddha gave objects of meditation to disciples in accordance with their individual characteristics, and his unerring knowledge of the right technique for each came from his insight into their previous births. Similarly with recursive meditation, a subject would be given which was easily comprehensible to the pupil, or which served to counteract some strong, unwholesome tendency in his nature. Thus, to one attracted by sensual indulgence, the Buddha would recommend meditation on the impurity of the body, or the "cemetery meditation." Here the object is to counterbalance attraction by repulsion, but it is only a "skillful means" to reach the final state, in which attraction and repulsion both cease to exist. In the arahant there is neither liking nor disliking: he regards all things with perfect equanimity, as did Thera Maha Moggallana when he accepted a handful of rice from a leper.

Goals of Buddhist Meditation:

he ultimate goals of meditation are the ultimate goals of Buddhism, i.e. realization of Nibbana and the abolition of dukkha or suffering. Nibbana, however, is beyond the realm of conceptualization and all other forms of normal human experience. Therefore, we have no certainty that it exists until we ourselves have progressed to realizing it as a direct experience transcending logic and sense perception. Nibbana can thus be defined as that which is experienced when one has achieved ultimate moral and psychological maturation. Little more can be said.