1. extremely brief meditation "breaks" 2. is there any place for over-confidence in buddhism?

Not hubris, but confidence in the teachings, joy in them, that's good Buddhism. Generally, too much confidence--"over-confidence"--is viewed with suspicion since it so often is a precursor to unwise or unskillful actions.

Also, generally speaking, meditation does not equal "enlightenment," and surely not nirvana. Rather, it is a tool that leads to wisdom and is "merely" a journey or investigation into the deepest states of the mundane mind, despite many famous quotes to the contrary which are used to encourage people and not to be taken as strictly true.

Brief meditations are probably a good idea. One of the contributions of the Chinese Buddhist tradition is the idea that we can "meditate" while doing ordinary tasks, that we can tap into that deep state of mind whenever we like. Best not to use them as a substitute for a more "formal" practice, though.

I've only heard of advanced practitioners being able to sit down and immediately fall into a state of meditation. I wish I could say differently, but it takes a long time for the mind to stop flying about everywhere.

That said, five minutes is better than nothing. I personally meditate around 20 minutes at a stretch (sometimes multiple stretches), and when you really look at just that 20 minutes, it's not all that much time.

1. Yes, actually the ideal amount of time to be spent meditating for someone new to the practice is about 24 minutes (called Gattica, but spelled differently then how I did). The trick is slowing down your yabbering monkey mind long enough to reach a stillness in that time. It takes practice, but don't give up! Check out www.bswa.org for material if you need. Oh, and remember to be content with your meditation, even if it doesn't seem like you were very successful. Any meditation at all if more then most people, be happy you're practicing at all!

2. It does have a place in buddhist practice, as when you are meditating you simply notice this aspect within you, without making judgments of wanting the state of mind or not wanting; both are forms of desire. You should instead observe the state/thought within, like a bird crossing the sky. What was its cause? What does it cause next? Observe and don't attach and you will learn all sorts of things about yourself.

I hope this helps! Keep at it, mindfulness of breathing has been shown to increase the thickness of the neocortex with glial cells, which are the same type that Einstein had an abnormal abundance of in his brain. You'll notice your memory and concentration getting better too, its win win!

is it possible/does anyone "power zazen" so to speak? plunge into restfulness for short amounts of time? Are you talking about beginning practice? While you can do all sorts of variations on practicing, if you are just beginning, I'd recommend that you stick with a traditional format.

It's tempting to put together your own meditation program, but I think you'd be far better served by sticking with what a master teaches. It might not fit you as well, but all the bugs have generally been worked out, and I think you will learn a lot more in the long run. It's best if you can find some one to work with.

what about unfettered boisterous exuberant hubris, does that have any place in any buddhist practice? Sure, all human experience is something to meditate on, to learn from. One of the main points of Buddhist practice is to let you live your life more fully. If that includes boisterous, exuberant hubris then have at it.

As an aside, I think a lot of people miss-understand non-attachment. The idea isn't to float around in some sort of ultra-serene state where nothing affects you. Yes, you'll be a lot calmer and more serene. If you are not attached to anything, then you are also free to dive in and really revel in things, to really enjoy them for what they are, and not expect them to be something they are not.

2 :: "humility" and "hubris" both reference a self that has something to gain or lose by this judgement. in actual fact there is a body, mind and memory and a lot of really distracting shit (like reddit). your performance is irrelevant, and in fact in the way of your awareness of reality and concentration on the object.

I would say drop both the humility and hubris schticks. true awareness is clouded by ego-referenced judgements of "so-how-am-I-doing ?" anytime there is an analysis of performance, acknowledge it, let it pass and then go back to observing.

cartoon-like humility is a very common fault among Buddhists; but if you tend towards hubris then I would recommend trying to achieve humility. and vice versa.

vajrayana cultivates "divine yearning", using the desire mechanism to encourage practice. one of the reasons its known as a risky path. if you feel yourself attracted towards this then I would advise going in the other direction.

1 :: mahamudra recommends 5 x 15 minute sessions a day. its kind of muslim actually. I tend to binge and starve, not so good.

While at a traffic light, or similar short delay, I often close eyes for a moment and take a mindful breath. Be sure to keep the brakes on!

plunge into restfulness for short amounts of time?

Zazen is focused, and not something I consider to be 'restful'. I would consider "power zazen" to be more like 'plunging into mindfulness for short amounts of time'

If your goal is to only count breaths, and you are just starting out, I would think engaging in zazen at work or in a car or something, would be distracting and difficult. Also, the results would be minimal probably.

1. 'power zazen' as you put it, would just be short amounts of zazen.

2. i don't know.

Over-confidence has no place. The confidence you need in Buddhism is a confidence in your faith that the practice will be beneficial.

When meditating with a former teacher a number of years ago I noticed he seemed to have some difficulty during some of our sittings. I was very keen on the practice at that time and could sit happily for long periods of time. This gave me a sense of over-confidence, even a sense of superiority because I could meditate so effortlessly.

This sense was not from a deep understanding or from a solid practice and it wasn't long before things became difficult for me. My teacher observed this progression all along and called me out on it, and it eventually settled into a better practice.

Hubris is a dime a dozen. Any person of any religion can attain that.

You have much to learn, young grasshopper

Zazen is itself Enlightenment. One minute of sitting, one minute of being Buddha. --Dogen