While I can see the logic there, I would strongly recommend against alarms. The deeper you go, the more sensitive you become. Being pulled out abruptly is very uncomfortable, to the point where knowing what's coming will stand in the way of even trying.
I would say sit as long as you feel like it, except that doesn't really help initially. Maybe put on a non-intrusive background track that fades out when time is up? And do take your time when coming back; start by listening, then opening the eyes slowly etc.
Same goes for waking up from regular sleep, but refusing alarms in this society is a pretty serious compromise.
I disagree. I highly recommend a timer, but rather than an alarm, use something like a quiet bell. I use the Insight Timer app, but just without all the social aspects that come with it.
Sitting as long as you feel like is not beneficial, because most of the actual work will happen when you start to notice your agitation and at that point is when you will just want to get off the cushion. Stick through it, and watch that agitation and your monkey mind go crazy, until the end of the timer.
I recommend starting with a short timer, 10 minutes, then slowly increase the time.
To sit as long as long as I feel like is not very informative as I don’t know what I am looking for when meditating.
On another note, I have spent a good deal self-reflecting more or less alone in the dark with me and my thoughts. From what I understand on some parts of the web, this pretty much equates to ”meditation”. While others describe it differently.
I guess I could download HeadSpace and be more explicit about it, but I do anyway think I have derived some mental benefits from the above behavior. Like, being more comfortable with myself. But I don’t think I am doing meditation since I don’t get all benefits as actual meditators.
Just as a reference to the OP of this thread, about being able to distinguish oneself from the voices in one’s head... I think there are more benefits in meditation.
What you're looking for is awareness, to be right here right now and observe what's going on inside. If you're like most people, you spend most of your time lost in thoughts that you didn't actively choose. The first step is to realize that is the case, which is very difficult in the middle of the storm; hence the sitting down with closed eyes.
I've read a lot of books on meditation. Without doubt, the clearest and easiest to understand for me was "The Yoga of Consciousness: 25 Direct Practices to Enlightenment" [1]. Well worth it to understand how to do awareness-based meditation and how it can fit into a broader set of practices.
IIRC, the canonical book is "The [10] sravaka levels" but it hasn't been translated to English. However the most important parts from that book were incorporated by tsong-kha-pa into lam-rim - another canonical book which has been mostly translated into English.
I would say sit as long as you feel like it, except that doesn't really help initially. Maybe put on a non-intrusive background track that fades out when time is up? And do take your time when coming back; start by listening, then opening the eyes slowly etc.
Same goes for waking up from regular sleep, but refusing alarms in this society is a pretty serious compromise.