Question: It is still a challenge for me to wake up early, so it is often difficult for me to finish chanting my rounds before class, and I often need to finish them later in the day. I have found that I can finish my chanting in the morning if I do not have homework to do, but it is a challenge for me to motivate myself to wake up early enough to have time to do a lot of homework and also do all of my chanting. Do you have any advice that might help me to motivate myself to wake up earlier? Hopefully I will be able to solve this problem next semester by having more time in the afternoon and evening to do my homework.
Answer by Romapada Swami:
1) Good habits are slow to form; bad habits are slow to dissolve.
Be patient for the good habit to evolve; continue to strive for early rising (or any other good habit, for that matter). Allow even that it may take some years to fully become established. While being patient remain fixed in your determination.
Set your goal of WHEN you will rise at an increment that is modest, but doable. Then maintain that standard for some time before you move to the next increment. Repeat. In this way gradually approach your goal.
The first Meditations Upon Krishna that I created was on this very topic: good habit formation. Bhaktivinode Thakur wrote about it in Amnaya Sutra. (Meditation 3)
2) Anticipation!
During the evening before you take rest, fix your mind in anticipation of rising early! Contemplate the core reasons why this will be so beneficial, what inner strength and spiritual strength will arise due to rising early next morning. This mental focus will provide a huge boost in your waking up and rising at a time when you want to.
3) Strength Coming from a Relationship of Dedication and Love
In spiritual life, the role of bhakti-sakti, or the strength that comes for a loving relationship with those who are guiding us in KC’ness, is a huge source of strength for making forward progress.
In addition to efforts for self-improvement, you can draw upon an added impetus of a loving relationship. For example: “I know that it is the advice of my spiritual master (or those guiding me in my spiritual life) for me to rise early, and I know that he will be very pleased if I can accomplish this — plus the fact that I am absolutely confident that by so doing my entire KC’ness will be lifted by performing my sadhana early each morning. Let me try to do this to please him!”
This is not a guilt mood, nor a fruitive mood (seeking praise or acclaim). It is a mood of devotion and love. This connects with and is enacted from the constitutional position of all souls! Connect with that energy, and you will find an enormous source of strength to move forward. And a lot of inner contentment + happiness also!
Hare Krsna!
