When is the best time to meditate? I always feel this pull from within to meditate at 5 am, i never make it up tho, due to my work timings...i wonder why i feel this urge for 5 am :-?

I think the best time to meditate is any time you feel it naturally.  Maybe 5 am is when you're very rested and it's a good time when your head is cleared.  I think it's best when we don't feel distracted by thoughts or distress.  Also, a hobby, exercise, or mindless activity are conducive to meditative states where we're in a place of being naturally receptive and not bogged down by mind chatter or emotions.

I find the most ideal time to meditate is right after awaking from a full night of sleep.  Your consciousness is already in a deep meditative state, and since you are well rested, there is a slim chance that you will get too deep and lose consciousness.  Today I meditated for an hour and a half immediately after waking from a 9 hour sleep, and I had an extremely deep meditation that for a while was so far removed that I cannot accurately describe what was truly happening in physical terms, and yet I was conscious for nearly the entire experience.  I can say that I was rather easily able to phase into the nonphysical and meet with my guides, and was aware of multiple aspects of my consciousness having different experiences simultaneously.  The problem with the 5am routine is that it is very easy to fall asleep.  This early morning technique is ideal for inducing spontaneous and not-so-spontaneous out of body experiences and lucid dreams, however.

let me tell u folks a story. those of u familiar with Ram Dass.

His Guru neem karoli baba, i visited his ashram loooong ago when i was about 10 or so. his disciples told me tht babaji or as he was fondly known, on more occasion than one..."lived the moment of death" via meditation :o.

i dont know if u guys would believe tht can happen...but thats what they said..i jus rememberd when dude mentioned deep meditation. :)

  While i essentially agree with Vicky and O.O.B.D., i would also say that both my experience and some outer sources i respect, suggest the 2 am to 3 am period tends to be a good time for meditation. 

  My understanding is that it's so, because there is less psychic noise around you during that time (especially in the physical, etheric, and emotional levels so called), because generally speaking, a large portion of people, especially those immediately surrounding you are asleep.  And sleep for most, really calms down and smooths out people's energies in/on those levels at least.

  In a sense, it's a more "still" time, and that can really facilitate ones depth of meditation. 

  In a sense, it's akin to how it's easier to meditate in a very quiet surrounding, as compared to a setting wherein a bunch of people are yelling, talking very loud, etc. 

  It's just that in the former situation, it's a more subtle and unconscious "noise" one is dealing with.

  But really, the best time for meditating, is the time chosen for when you will actually do it, and more regularly so.  I'm still working on that one myself.