The first one I tried was the tranquility meditation, or Samatha. It was hard, because as beings who live, move, and act in such a busy, vast, and fleeting world, I was not used to training my mind to be still and concentrate, which was the purpose. I chose an object of concentration, or kammatthana, which could either be devices like color or light, repulsive things like a corpse, recollections such as sayings of the Buddha, or virtues like loving-kindness. The kammatthana I picked was light.
I was taken through a series of stages, or dhyanas of which I attempted. The first was to detach from the outside world and become aware of joy and tranquility. Next was to concentrate without any necessary reasoning or examination. Then the joy was to pass away, with only the tranquility remaining. The final stage was the passing away of the tranquility and being in a state of pure self-possession and presence of mind.
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