New student of Buddhist philosophy, what meditaiton techniques should I learn?

[Jett]

I've been studying the Buddha's teachings and have become fascintated with how they have changed my views on the human condition and how advanced his grip on our psychology was, I want to start learning meditation,but am not too studied on any technique.

I checked out a book on transcendental meditation, how does this meditation technique fit in with Buddhist philosophy, also if people could explain to me info on all the techniques they know, how hard they are to learn, what they are good for, benefits, etc, etc, any info would be great. Thanks!