Question: Why do you do your serious weightlifting in the early morning?

Sri Chinmoy: The early morning, before sunrise, is the best time. That is the choice time, the Hour of God. The world is still sleeping, and you are not affected by its hustle and bustle. This is the time for you to do anything that you feel is sacred.

The soul is always conscious and always ready to do something significant for God no matter what time of day it is. But the best time for the heart to receive direct help from the soul is either during deep meditation or just after you have gotten up, before the clamour and turmoil of the world can destroy your poise. At that time the soul and the heart are more powerful than the doubting mind, the aggressive vital and the lethargic body. All the worries, anxieties and other negative forces of daily life have not yet entered into you. The mind is calm and quiet, and a calm, quiet mind is of supreme importance when you want to do something really significant.

So anything that is most significant, anything that is momentous in your life, you should always try to do in the small hours of the morning. Or if you cannot do it then, the next best time is around nine or ten o’clock at night. But if you do it at night, first the mind has to be emptied, whereas in the early hours of the morning the mind is already empty. So it is a great advantage if you can do very special things in the small hours of the morning.