If you practice Buddhist meditation techniques for one minute every hour, it will enhance the quality of your life and those around you. Scroll down to know more about Tibetan and Zen Buddhist meditation techniques.
With the help of Buddhist meditation techniques, you can be a light to others and you also won't stumble on your own path. After practicing Buddhist meditation, there is increased attentiveness regarding body and mind which helps to break down the illusion of self. Regular meditation reduces craving and attachment to external objects and ultimately you achieve the goal, where there is no "self" that craves and no object of craving. Take a look at the Buddhist meditation techniques for beginners first.

Buddhist Meditation Techniques for Beginners

Buddhist meditation techniques for beginners involve developing mindfulness, becoming friendlier, knowing about what is meditation, working with the mind and taking practice further. Stress and depression are two invariable elements generated through the demands of modern life and its hectic pace. Stress and depression affect health which makes people unhappy, impatient and frustrated. Simple ten to fifteen minutes meditation based on breathing techniques can help you overcome your stress and find some inner peace and balance of mind. Buddhist meditation techniques help you understand your own mind and and help you transform your mind from pessimistic to optimistic, from unsteady to peaceful, from unhappy to happy.

For meditation,
Choose a clean, quiet place.
Sit in the traditional cross-legged posture or any comfortable position.
Keep your back straight to prevent your mind from becoming sleepy.
Close your eyes partially and try to concentrate on your breathing.
Feel the sensation of the breath as it enters and leaves the nostrils.
Try to concentrate on breath and try to forget everything else.
At first, you will be tempted to follow the different thoughts as they arise and your mind will be distracted, but try to avoid this. Again and again, try to concentrate on the sensation of the breath.
It requires practice, so be patient.
Whenever the mind starts wandering, don't give up, just return to breath again.
Gradually your distracting thoughts will subside and you will be able to experience a sense of inner peace and relaxation.
Overcoming negative minds and cultivating constructive thoughts is the purpose of the transforming meditations like vipassana meditation found in the Buddhist tradition. Once accustomed, you can enjoy this spiritual practice throughout the day, not just while seated in meditation. Here is an overview of Zen Buddhist meditation techniques.

Zen Buddhist Meditation Techniques

Zen itself means meditation. Zen, a school of Mahayana Buddhism, focuses on experiential wisdom and meditation for attainment of awakening. The Zen masters suggest that if you are practicing Zen meditation alone at home, you need to practice it for at least 5 minutes or more, on a daily basis. Regularity is an important key in the process of coming closer to awareness via Zen. In between meditation there are often brief periods of walking, known as ‘kinhin’, which help relax the legs. The Burmese position, half lotus position, full lotus position or the seiza are the different positions for meditation, suggested in Zen meditation. During meditation, you breathe in from the ‘hara’ or the stomach chakra which is located two inches below the navel. You should focus your mind on this part of the body. While breathing in and out from your nose, let the breath move in and out of this chakra. Zen also emphasizes on tasks from daily life. Meditation helps you to take greater and greater delight in those deeds that are rooted in 'alobha', 'adosa', and 'amoha' -- generosity, benevolence and wisdom.

Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Techniques

Tibetan Buddhist meditation techniques are similar to the above mentioned meditation techniques for depression. According to Buddhist philosophy, meditation is considered as a way to salvation. The Tibetan Buddhists have developed thousands of meditation techniques with different objectives and different styles which suit different types of personalities. However, the ultimate goal of all meditation is to travel beyond the 'I' into the great immensity called Nirvana. While meditating, you will shift the attention away from the mind and meditate on an object of observation, external or internal. You may choose something with spiritual significance in this technique. You can choose any item such as flower, a cross or perhaps the face of the great spiritual teacher Buddha. You are supposed to inspect the mental image of the Buddha, created in your mind's eye. Observing it from all angles, from above, from the corners, is called 'introspection' by the Tibetan Buddhists. You have to examine it until it is clear and stable. By learning to do this, you will be able to control the steadiness and clarity of the mental picture. At the same time, you will be learning to control your mind. As you develop mindfulness gradually, you will be able to capture laxity and excitement of thoughts before they arise and thus can control the arising of thoughts.

Buddhist meditation techniques help remove the distracting thoughts and make it possible for you to experience inner peace and contentment just by controlling the mind, without having to depend at all upon external conditions. Still and peaceful mind in turn helps you to cope with the busyness and difficulties of daily life.