It is a practice of letting your mind rest, by clearing your thoughts. When you discover a thought has invaded your mind during this resting period, you release it, you don't dwell on it. There are many methods to "clear" your mind -- one of the most common techniques is to focus on your breath, as you breathe in and out -- slow down your breath, and visualize the path of molecules of oxygen and other life giving ingredients that go through your nose and into your lungs. You can also count your breathes. Another technique is to repeat a mantra (usually assigned to you by a teacher). Another technique is guided meditation, for example, "loving kindness", to say a prayer of love for each family member, each friend and each enemy with each breath. In my opinion -- it is best to do meditation during all idle moments -- for e.g. waiting in line at the grocery checkout, waiting for a bus or a plane -- even (carefully) at a red light. It is recommended that you maintain an alert yet confortable resting position, and try not to get distracted by feelings of impatience and restessness. If you are new to this -- don't set yourself lofty goals of meditating for an hour or even two hours -- keep it simple -- 10, 15 minutes -- set a kitchen timer so you aren't tempted to check the time.

Mind is the cause of all problems. Mind is the collection of thoughts. Without thought there is no mind. The whole philosophy of Meditation is to empty the mind of thoughts.It needs constant practice under a qualified Acharya or Guru to achieve this."Japa" or constant uttering of the "holy name" or "word" will help to prepare oneself for meditation. Above all you must try to be a good human being and cleanup your mind of all negetive thoughts first. I am a Hindu from India, we have a lot of Ancient scriptures on meditation, among them "Yoga sastra of Patanjali" is considered as important.

I'd be careful about the idea of emptying your mind of thoughts. Genuine meditation isn't about becoming a block of wood and it's normal and natural for the brain to produce thoughts, just as the stomach produces pepsin. The way that real meditation works is that we begin to see that we are not our thoughts, that we are much much bigger than that and are no longer dominated or driven by thoughts and emotions. Then we are free to respond appropriately and spontaneously to this moment.