In ancient India, a ghatika was a standard measure of one-sixtieth of a lunar day of 24 hours, and was often measured using a “ghatika yantra,” or a water clock.

This interval developed significance for meditation practice. CCR founder B. Alan Wallace has long emphasized the ghatika as an ideal length of time for a meditation session:

A session of twenty-four minutes is a good starting interval; for most people, it is neither too short nor too long … and this is the session duration that the eighth-century Indian Buddhist contemplative Kamalashila recommended for beginning meditators.

—B. Alan Wallace, Minding Closely: The Four Applications of Mindfulness