Opening the orbit - Longer vs shorter meditations

[Oneironaut]

Which is better?

[Spotless]

Neither

[Spotless]

I have heard arguments that you should only meditate so long as you can maintain awareness and concentration.

The words "should" and "only" are troublesome for me.

 

Some look down upon anything but long meditation - but if my own experience is any guide - some of my lousiest short first meditations were the most exciting - some I did alone and some were guided at a yoga class.

 

The other question that comes to mind is what is considered within the range of "short" and above which is considered long?

At this point for me less than 1 hour is short - yet for most it would probably be less than 1/2 an hour.

I would also not consider 1 or 2 hours "long meditation" that would probably start at 3 or more hours and more like 6 and above.

 

10-20 hours definitely fills the bill for long and it is associated with high states - but at a certain point meditation may become moot and then very short closed eye moments can be breathtaking.

 

In general - long meditation will bring one through areas where transmutation might otherwise be very difficult to promote elsewhere consciously - but Qi Gong and other movement forms may be a better method for you and your proclivities.

 

The answer lies within each person and may change depending on the moment you are experiencing.

Edited September 3, 2015 by Spotless

[Oneironaut]

I would consider 30 minutes to be short. 1 hour to be long.

[Oneironaut]

For MCO meditations I would consider 30 minutes to be short. 1 hour to be long. For zazen I would consider 90 to 180 minutes to be long.

Edited September 4, 2015 by Oneironaut

[Perceiver]

I usually do the mco for about 25 mins. Works like a charm.

[leth]

In general I have found that continuity and quality matters more than time spent on meditation.

 

So i focus on doing it on a regular basis and for as long as feels right at the moment, how long i meditate varies from time to time in accord to how i feel at the time. But i try to meditate even when there is resistance even if i just do it for a short time that time. Sometimes though there might be a barrier that i have to push through but i've become increasingly better with understanding that and thus "pushing" through it. However one should still not need to force anything. As always there's a balance.

[liminal_luke]

Putting aside, for now, the issue of whether or not the MCO is a valuable meditation -- in general, short but frequent practice trumps an occasional marathon session. That said, longer sessions can be very instructive. The best way to find out about this is not to ask strangers on the internet. The best way to find out is to try it. Try meditating twice as long as usual. What happens?

[ChiForce]

For me usually for about 30 minutes.  It takes about 15 minutes of meditation to get "warm up."  After 45 minutes, it seems "enough."  Or I could no longer maintain the right concentration to circulate the chi.  

 

There are times it goes on for hours especially during my sleep.  So, it is still very "spontaneous" at times... 

[leth]

Putting aside, for now, the issue of whether or not the MCO is a valuable meditation -- in general, short but frequent practice trumps an occasional marathon session. That said, longer sessions can be very instructive. The best way to find out about this is not to ask strangers on the internet. The best way to find out is to try it. Try meditating twice as long as usual. What happens?

 

I have to agree with this, the best way is to actualy practice and experiment for yourself. Not only is it the best way to actually know something for sure, but it's also fully adapted to you. There might be consititutional differences that applies to you, or there might be certain aspects of your life and experiences that changes how meditation will work for you.

 

My grandmaster in Tajiquan had a standard response for all my questions during a time when i was even less experienced in it, it was "Just do it".