29 April 2015 - QA 7

You said that meditation should be done twice a day. I feel meditation should be for twenty-four hours. Twice a day is fine, but still after doing it twice a day, it does not stay with the external forces because life is so stressful!

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

Shall we put the cart before the horse? In the beginning you start with twenty minutes a day so that you get into a practice, and then what happens is that the calmness and peace stays with you throughout the day. It becomes a meditation for twenty-four hours. It takes a little time and practice, then it will happen.
Do things with mindfulness, slowly, step by step. But first that should not be an excuse. Some people take it as an excuse, 'Oh I am in meditation twenty-four hours. But mind is going buzz buzz buzz, like that.

So these twenty minutes will get you into the habit of being still. Then gradually, if you have more time, a few more retreats and you can pick up the speed where you will find that it doesn’t matter if you meditate or you don’t.