How long should I meditate, Ajahn Chah?

Monroe Institute; Ajahn Chah via Ven. Sujato, Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Incense for meditation

There are some people who light a stick of incense in front of them when they sit down to meditate.

They then make a dramatic determination that they will not get up until the incense has been completely reduced to ashes.

They then start meditating. But after only five minutes they feel as if an entire hour has passed. And when they open their eyes to check the incense stick, they get a surprise to find that the incense is still really long.

Western Ajahn Sumedho with Ajahn Chah

They close their eyes and restart their meditation, and in no time at all they are checking the incense again. Of course, their meditation gets nowhere.

Don't be like that. It's like being a monkey. Monkeys end up doing no work at all. One spends the whole period of meditation thinking about the incense stick, wondering whether it's finished or not.

Training the mind/heart can easily get to be like this. So don't attach too much importance to the time. AjahnChah.org