About meditation

Yes. It varies depending on the denomination.

Meditation is a field of yoga, but I think there are actually a wide range of practices and theories. Incidentally, it is said that the person who first introduced yoga to Japan was Kobo Daishi Kukaijin. At that time (Heian period), it was called yoga (yoga).
In the case of the Shingon sect, there is something called ajikan (ajikan), and after going through stages such as sumokukan (asokukan), and moonring (gachirinkan), they begin the practice of Ajikan.
Instead of losing one's mind, is it a feeling of expanding one's mind more and more?
Details are omitted here.

It's fine if something unavoidable comes to mind. People who don't come to mind are probably people who don't need to meditate anymore. Let's move on slowly without hurrying.

Speaking of time, it's probably “as much as Michiko likes.” By the way, in my case it's 10 or 15 minutes. And it seems that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a few hours a day.

Anyway, I recommend that you go to a temple where you practice zazen meditation or meditation, and ask for guidance, rather than in your own style.

“Concentrate” means continuing to hold on to the single action of “concentrating.” Zazen meditation and ZEN meditation don't do that. The mass media misunderstood that it was like that and spread the word, but it's 800 lies.
Here is a summary of zazen styles that I don't really recommend along with the reasons, so please refer to them.
It's a bit dry, but that's the shortest route, so please bear with me.
① Zazen to try to be mindless and selfless. ... Since the beginning, I have drawn the mindlessness and selflessness within myself in my own image, so my sense of self does not disappear while I am still in the lead role.
If it doesn't fit what you're aiming for, a sense of failure and dissatisfaction will occur, so it won't last long. It's about not having so-called meditation-like ideas or goals from the beginning.
② Zazen with a focus on meditating only. Meditation does not mean “you should just sit down,” but “you should just meditate and lose your mind and body.” Enlightenment is the proper purpose.
By continuing to focus on the facts, you will be able to experience a state where your mind is sick in a few minutes in terms of time.
③ Zazen for counting numbers. I'm just counting a bunch of numbers. It gradually ceases to be the same as sheep.
Since the action of one's own consciousness of counting numbers continues to work constantly, it is not a fact, and images tend to become mainstream. When I noticed it, I finished counting the numbers. You should ask carefully what it should be for before looking at it.
④ Thinking zazen If you think about it, Rodin's carving style is probably the best. Thinking is devil, thinking is not zazen.
⑤ Expecting zazen Kasho, who is trying to take advantage of some merit or omission, is a sleep and wait style. If that is the main part of zazen meditation, there is no need for religion. Let's actually have a tremendous merit.

The bottom line is that the length of time doesn't matter.
The important thing is not to do anything that becomes an action in your mind.
If you also remember doing nothing, that's action.
If you remember or recite something, that is also mind action.
If you put your hand in an attempt to erase the ripples created on the surface of the water, the waves will rise again.
The waves on the surface of the water calm down only because no action is taken.

I also meditated for 1 hour every morning for about 2 years during my training at Motoyama.
However, it wasn't easy to feel a world like a “state of selflessness.”
When you think of meditation, I think zazen meditation is the first thing that comes to mind.
However, how to calm the mind and interact with the body
If you think about it, it comes in many forms.
Standing meditation is standing meditation, and standing meditation is meditation while lying down.
I hear that marathoners feel more and more comfortable when they run.
It's called a “marathon high.” This is also a form of meditation.
When I run, I lose my body feeling, and I'm having a conversation with my mind.
I've been doing yoga for about ten years.
Among them, I like the “dead body pose.”
Relax your body for 1 hour with various yoga poses,
The “corpse pose” that is performed after that makes you forget your body's senses
It makes it easier to get into consciousness.
I think there is a meditation method that suits that person.
Please search for a meditation method that suits Michiko.

Michiko

This is Kawaguchi Hidetoshi. This is my humble answer to the question.

I'm already away from the opportunity to concentrate on meditation and zazen training, and I don't have much to say, but in Buddhism, this meditation is mainly called “meditation,” but since the Buddha was under the Bodhi tree and this “meditation” finally opened up enlightenment, it is an important practice that is essential for aiming for enlightenment, and it should also be emphasized in Buddhist practice.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/禅定

There are a wide range of methods, from Theravada (fundamental/early) Buddhism to those of various schools of Mahayana Buddhism, as shown in the Wikipedia explanation below.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/瞑想

Jusei hasn't practiced ascetic practices at Zen monasteries for as long as Mr. Tange, but in the case of Jusei, rather than meditating “stop” to calm the mind and concentrate, he currently places particular emphasis on “view” of “the sky,” and he practices looking at this “sky” several times a day, regardless of location, state, or attitude, regardless of location, state, or attitude.

When it comes to why we look at “the sky,” it is because “understanding the sky” is the wisdom that is effective in defeating the “anguish” that leads to bad behavior (bad work/karma) and “ignorance,” which is the root of it. I try to let the “understanding of the sky” fit into my mind as much as possible. Of course, I'm still immature, but...

In any case, in Buddhism, it is necessary to practice the three disciplines of “precepts, precepts, and wisdom” in a well-balanced manner. Regarding that, I hope you can also refer to the humble answer below.

Question “Does it take training to become a monk?”
http://hasunoha.jp/questions/70

Also, as a thank you already, I think it's still good to be able to proceed under the guidance of a reliable teacher and master.

Kawaguchi Hidetoshi Gassho