This overview is about meditation techniques, their significance and development in general in different Mahāyāna & Vajrayāna Buddhist schools. In the Theravāda tradition, meditation techniques are classified as Śamatha or Vipassana. Chinese and Japanese Buddhism preserved a wide range of meditation techniques, which go back to early Buddhism, most notably Sarvāstivāda. In Tibetan Buddhism, deity yoga includes visualisations, which precede the realization of Śūnyatā ("emptiness")