MEDITATION is of different types which can be conveniently distinguished from each other on the basis of three distinct principles. Types of meditation classified by three principles They can be classified either on the basis of the function meditation performs in spiritual advancement, or the part of personality that is predominantly brought into play during the process of meditation, or the items of experience it tries to understand. Of these three principles, any one can be adopted for the classification of the different types of meditation. The last principle will be used later while giving a detailed account of the different forms of meditation, as it is most suitable for enumerative purposes. This part will make use of the first two principles, as they are helpful in different ways in explaining the relative value of the various forms of meditation.

        With reference to the first principle, meditation has to serve the purpose of associating consciousness with the eternal Truth, and of dissociating consciousness from the false and unimportant things of the phenomenal