Perhaps you feel you need someone to assist, to guide, and to instruct you. It is not always so easy to find a suitably qualified meditation master. If you have any friends who meditate, talk to them; they can be your teachers. If you come across any books or articles on meditation, read them, they can be your teachers. If you are able to find a teacher, remember that a teacher is only a friend and a guide. He cannot do the meditating for you. He cannot do the realizing for you. If you can manage to develop your concentration and mindfulness to be strong, clear and constant, then your concentrated awareness becomes the teacher; your teacher is within you. But you must have confidence and determination to use you effort.

The recognition of our different characters or temperaments is important for meditation. That is the main reason why the Buddha introduced various kinds of objects for different people to practice meditation according to their mentality and understanding capacity. A meditation master will study the real nature of the person who wants to meditate. He will evaluate his mental development, the nature of his mind, ascertain how far he can understand and appreciate the beneficial effects of meditation and assess if there should be any mental weakness or other hindrances. After ascertaining all these characteristics, the master will then introduce a suitable object for the mind to concentrate. That object should be a neutral one.