Online Meditation Planet

Reference guide

The Meditation Traditions Field Guide

Have a question about your practice? Ask the Meditation Troubleshooter →

A thorough, independent reference covering 12 major meditation traditions — what each one teaches, what it demands from practitioners, and how it connects to teacher training pathways.

What's inside

01 Vipassana & Insight Meditation
02 MBSR & Clinical Mindfulness
03 Zen (Soto & Rinzai)
04 Tibetan Buddhism & Vajrayāna
05 Transcendental Meditation
06 Yoga Nidra
07 Secular Mindfulness
08 Somatic & Body-Based Practice
09 Compassion-Based (MSC, CCT, Tonglen)
10 Contemplative Christianity
11 Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness
12 Tradition comparison & how to choose
The Meditation Traditions Field Guide
  • 12 traditions covered in depth
  • Origins, lineage, and core practices for each
  • What each tradition demands of practitioners
  • How each maps to teacher training programs
  • Side-by-side tradition comparison table
  • Recommended programs per tradition
  • Glossary of terms across traditions
$39 PDF · Instant download · One-time
Get the Field Guide → View all guides

Questions before buying? Reach out.

Why we wrote this

The information exists — it's just scattered

If you want to understand the difference between Vipassana and MBSR, you can piece it together from Wikipedia, Reddit threads, and individual center websites. It'll take you eight hours and you'll still have gaps.

The Field Guide puts it in one place — organized, consistent, and written without a stake in which tradition you choose. We don't teach any of these traditions. We just mapped them.

Each tradition gets the same treatment: where it came from, what the practice actually involves, what a serious commitment looks like, and what teacher training in that tradition requires. No cheerleading. No dismissiveness. Just the information.

The traditions

12 traditions, one consistent framework

Vipassana
Theravāda Buddhism
Insight meditation through sustained attention to moment-to-moment experience. Requires significant retreat practice before teacher training.
MBSR
Clinical / Secular
Jon Kabat-Zinn's 8-week protocol. The most recognized secular certification in healthcare. Structured teacher qualification pathway.
Zen
East Asian Buddhism
Zazen and koan practice within a lineage structure. Teacher authorization (dharma transmission) requires years of community practice.
Tibetan / Vajrayāna
Tantric Buddhism
Encompasses Shambhala, Dzogchen, and other lineages. Central role of the teacher-student relationship. Many practices require initiation.
Yoga Nidra
Tantric / Integrative
Guided awareness practice used for deep rest, trauma recovery, and sleep. Growing number of certification programs with varying rigor.
Somatic
Body-based / Therapeutic
Body-centered contemplative practice with strong overlap in trauma therapy and nervous system regulation. Often integrated with other approaches.
Transcendental Meditation
Vedic / Maharishi
Mantra-based practice with a proprietary training structure. Teacher certification runs through the Maharishi organization with specific requirements.
Compassion-Based
Various lineages
Includes MSC (Mindful Self-Compassion), CCT (Compassion Cultivation Training), and Tonglen. Distinct certifications for each protocol.
Contemplative Christianity
Western monastic
Centering Prayer, Lectio Divina, and other contemplative practices rooted in Christian mysticism. Less structured teacher training landscape.

Structure

What each tradition chapter covers

1
Origin and lineage
Where the practice comes from, who transmitted it to the West, and which lineages are active today.
2
Core practice
What practitioners actually do — the techniques, the structure, and what a serious practice looks like over time.
3
What it demands
Honest assessment of the time commitment, retreat requirements, and prerequisites before considering teacher training.
4
Teacher training pathway
How teacher certification works in this tradition — what's standardized, what's lineage-specific, and what credentials mean.
5
Key institutions
The primary centers, organizations, and programs where serious training in this tradition happens.
6
Who it fits
An honest profile of the practitioners and aspiring teachers who tend to thrive in this tradition — and who might not.

Who it's for

Three kinds of people find this useful

Practitioners researching teacher training
You've been meditating seriously and you're thinking about formalizing it. You want to understand which tradition your practice is actually in — and what training in that tradition requires.
People new to meditation who want depth
You've read the introductory articles and want a more thorough map of the territory before you decide where to go deeper. You're not looking for the basics — you want the real picture.
Professionals integrating meditation into their work
Therapists, coaches, healthcare workers, and educators who want to understand the landscape before recommending practices or programs to clients.

One reference. Twelve traditions. No agenda.

$39, one-time. Instant PDF download. Written by Online Meditation Planet — independently, without affiliation to any program or tradition we cover.

Get the Field Guide — $39 → Browse the free MTT database