About meditation

Freedom is that which is boundless and limitless with no path and no destination; that is the Tao.  

Taoist meditation seeks various goals, among them strengthening the mind; relieving stress; and developing the capacity for spiritual insight. Beginner meditation is called "practicing stillness". If you have never meditated before, consider it mental and physical discipline for the purpose of strengthening and settling the mind. When you become comfortable with sitting, you then begin to cultivate the yielding, receptive nature of awareness. Next, you will train your attention in various ways to open different layers of the psyche. When the mind is at ease and not distracted, in harmony with the body and poised within itself, then yielding begins. 

The spiritual Taoist is concerned with uniting seemingly opposing energies deep within the psyche, also called the "mystical marriage". Taoist mysticism holds that the human soul is fractured. The mystical marriage heals the psyche of its conflicts and obsessive self-centeredness, repairing the fracture and returning the soul to its whole state. It is from this wholeness that one gains the independence necessary for transcending the self. This is what the Taoist calls freedom: the Taoist mystical path. 

How to Meditate: The Basics

Physical

• Sit cross-legged on a cushion. It should be narrower than the hips; any wider could put pressure on the hip joint. (Sitting on a chair or kneeling on a slightly angled bench is okay too.)
• Keep hands in lap, palms up, with dominant hand on bottom and other hand on top. There is no "correct" hand/finger position, other than the hands and fingers being relaxed. Slide the hands into position with the thumbs gently touching, forming an oval shape; or let the thumbs lie side by side. You can also clasp the fingers together, but remember not to hold them tightly. Keep the hands relaxed. 
• Relax. Use just enough force to maintain good posture, then relax without collapsing or slumping. Pull up the spine from the top of the head and let the rest of the body relax around the spine. Make sure not to hold the shoulders up; keep them relaxed and sinking into the body. 
• Do not tuck your lower back under. When sitting cross-legged, if the hips and groin area are tight, the lower back tends to tuck under in a pelvic tilt. Guard against this by turning the hips back or increasing the height of the cushion. 
• If sitting cross-legged, reverse your legs from time to time. For more precise cross-legged positions, look up "Burmese sitting position", "half lotus position", and "full lotus position".

Mental

• Relax, Relax, Relax | Stay Alert, Stay Alert, Stay Alert
• Relaxing in the mind means not purposefully thinking or engaging in inner dialogue. It does not mean using effort to suppress thought. For the meditation session, there is no worry. All life's entanglements are put aside. You can go back to them after the meditation is over. 
• Staying alert means paying attention. Enter a state of attentiveness without focusing on any one object, and stay there. This is called "objectless attention". Though maintaining alertness often means staring with the eyes or listening intently, avoid doing so here. Be careful not to stare fixedly. Relax the eyes and ears. Think relaxed attentiveness. 
• If you need to focus somewhere to stabilize the mind, rest your attention on your breath, on your whole body, or just below the navel.
• Meditation begins when you are simultaneously relaxed and alert, without using effort, and totally accepting just being where you are. 

Meditation is natural.  Just as you are born with the knowledge of how to breathe and think and digest, you are born with the innate knowledge of how to meditate. A teacher is someone who reminds you of this. Teachers themselves do nothing special. There is no passing of energy  or any such thing; those who say so are manipulating your imagination. An observant teacher, however, may teach some imagination exercises to help develop attention. There can be synergy in the form of support when people practice together; however, ultimately, it's all up to you.

Religions and doctrines can confuse and over-complicate the practice, so don't get caught up, but by all means study them if you feel such study helps you. Just like training for a marathon, you must practice proactively; you're not "just sitting there". In physical training, you are doing through action; in meditation training, you are undoing through stillness. You are emptying yourself so as not to be full of your self, so that you may experience a deeper layer of the mind's nature.