Buddhism

Dynamic tranquility: the Buddha in contemplation.
Buddhist meditation refers to the meditative practices associated with the philosophy of
 Buddhism. Core meditation techniques have been preserved in ancient Buddhist texts and have
proliferated and diversified through teacher-student transmissions. Buddhists pursue meditation
 as part of the path toward Enlightenment and Nirvana. The closest words for meditation in
the classical languages of Buddhism are bhāvanā. and jhāna/dhyāna.
Buddhist meditation techniques have become increasingly popular in the wider world, with many
non-Buddhists taking them up for a variety of reasons. There is considerable homogeneity across
 meditative practices — such as breath meditation and various recollections (anussati) — that
are used across Buddhist schools, as well as significant diversity. In the Theravāda tradition
alone, there are over fifty methods for developing mindfulness and forty for developing concentration,
while in the Tibetan tradition there are thousands of visualization meditations.Most classical and
 contemporary Buddhist meditation guides are school-specific.
The Buddha is said to have identified two paramount mental qualities that arise from wholesome
meditative practice:
"serenity" or "tranquillity" (Pali: samatha) which steadies, composes, unifies and concentrates
the mind;
"insight" (Pali: vipassana) which enables one to see, explore and discern "formations" (conditioned
 phenomena based on the five aggregates)
Through the meditative development of serenity, one is able to suppress obscuring hindrances; and,
with the suppression of the hindrances, it is through the meditative development of insight that one
 gains liberating wisdom.