There is no single, standard answer to this question. Different traditions might answer this differently.

The slowing down and stopping of the analytical/conceptual mind and the spontaneous awakening of the inner, intuitive mind is meditation. Knowing the Beyond which lies within us is meditation. It is entering a new state of mind. Sleep is also a state of mind. No one can teach us how we can sleep. Utmost we can be taught the situations that might be conducive so that we might automatically fall asleep like lying down on a bed, relaxing ourselves, switching off the lights etc. Similarly, in principle, no one can teach us to 'meditate'. All the meditation techniques are just aids that might create a mental setting so that we might automatically enter the meditative state. It has to happen, it cannot be made to happen. We have to create the mental setting in which we may automatically enter the meditative state, and the meditation techniques help us to achieve that.

What are the types of meditation techniques?

As we saw above, meditation is the slowing down and stopping of the analytical/conceptual mind and the spontaneous awakening of the inner,intuitive mind. How will the analytical mind slow down and stop? As of now, we are grasping concepts after concepts, in the form of thoughts, in our mind. The analytical or conceptual mind in nothing more than a bundle of thoughts. There is nothing beyond thoughts in the analytical mind. So when we drop all concepts (that is when thinking stops) the analytical mind vanishes, leaving the inner mind shining all by itself. Actually this process happens spontaneously when we get creative, intuitive flashes or when we enter from the dream sleep to dreamless sleep. What happens automatically, semi-consciously during sleep, we need to learn to do consciously. There is nothing esoteric about it. Now, How to drop all the concepts and enter the state beyond concepts (the intuitive mind)?

Of course, if you can directly drop all the concepts, you can enter that meditative state directly. It is the direct solution! But this is very difficult for most us. The next available technique is to hold on to a particular concept to the exclusion of millions of other concepts which are rising within our mind. And when we are 'fully' with that concept, we drop that, and enter the state beyond concepts. This is the basis behind having a single object of meditation. This is also the motive behind counting the sheep to fall asleep! We leave all the other thoughts and count the  sheep. Then we drop the sheep and fall asleep!

So now we have decided to hold on to a concept, to begin with, so that later we will drop it and enter that state beyond concepts. Now how to hold on to a concept? Here there are two varieties: focussing on a single object or one-pointed search.

Stopping or Focussing on a single object (or) Samatha Meditation:

Here we choose a single object of meditation. And focus our mind in it. When the mind starts wandering, we bring it back to the object of meditation. When the mind feels sleepy, we infuse energy into our mind or inspire ourselves and proceed further. And when the mind is fully focussed on that object, and when that drops off, the intuitive mind awakens spontaneously. The popular objects of meditation are

• 'Sacred' Word - here 'sacred' words or syllables are continuously chanted orally, semi-orally or mentally.
• 'Sacred' Form - here the aspirant concentrates on the form of a deity or god (physically or in mental visualisation) or geometric objects (yantras).
• Breath - concentration on the flow of breath in/out of the nostrils or chest/abdominal movements due to breath.
• Focussing on body and its movement

The only problem with this technique is that, when the mind gets fully foccussed on its object of meditation, if it does not drop that, it stays there in a limbo state of mind, called popularly called as mano laya in Hindu traditions.
It will be a pleasant state, because the pain due to obsessive thinking is not there. But there is no awakening of wisdom. The aspirant may feel a dull pleasure or emptiness. When the aspirant approaches his guru with this problem, the guru will initiate a query in him, for eg.,'Who sees that emptiness?', 'Who is having this pleasant
feeling?'. And this question can catapult him from that limbo,lull state and the intuitive mind awakens.
Anyhow, this last step problem need not worry us from the very first step.  As of now our mind is torn with hundreds of thoughts each minute!

Note that this last step query could be followed from the beginning itself. Then this is the second category.

One-pointed search (or) looking-deep (or) Vipassana or Vipasyana :

Suppose you have lost your keys or money-pouch, and you are searching for it seriously, at that time do random thoughts arise in you? No. When we are in deep, one-pointed search, the conceptual thinking or the random thoughts slows down or stops. This is the basis for this category of meditation techniques. Here the concept to which we are holding on to is the searching for an object. In Buddhist traditions, this category is called Vipassana (Pali) or Vipasyana (Sanskrit) , meaning 'looking deep'.

Some of the examples are:

• Searching the answer for the question 'Who is chanting the name of the Buddha?' while chanting 'Namo Amitabha'. This is from the Pure Land -Zen tradition of Buddhism.
• Searching 'Who Am I?' or when any thought arises seeing 'To whom does this thought arise?'. This was propounded by Sri Ramana Mahrashi. It is also found in ancient texts like Yoga Vasistha.
• All the Zen Koans come under this category.
• The objects of meditation offered by Lord Buddha in the Sattipattana Sutta show a continuous spectrum from samatha to vipassana. The general trend is that the initial objects like observing breath, movement of bodies etc are samatha objects. While the later objects like seeing the rise and fall of mental objects are vipassana.

Thus the two category of meditation techniques are 'stopping' and 'looking deep'. You can practise either or a mixture of both. Generally it will be possible to devise a technique which has both aspects, like the Pure Land - Zen technique: Chant 'Namo Amitabha' and be searching 'Who is chanting the name of the Buddha?'. Such mixed methods are easy to practise, yet yield profound results. We shall present techniques from both categories.
 

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