Importance of Keeping a Spiritual Diary

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The keeping up of a daily spiritual diary is an indispensable

requisite and of paramount importance. Those who are already in the

habit of keeping it know its incalculable advantages. Diary is a whip

for goading the mind towards God. It shows the way to freedom and

eternal bliss. It is your Guru. It is the eye-opener. It develops the

Manana-Sakti or the power of reflection. It will help you to destroy

all your evil qualities and to be regular in your spiritual

practices. If you regularly maintain a diary, you will get solace,

peace of mind and quick progress in the spiritual path. Those who

desire to grow in morality and spirituality, those who wish to evolve

rapidly must keep a daily record of their actions.

 

All great men of the world keep diaries. The life of Benjamin

Franklin is known to you all. He kept a daily diary. He noted down

the number of untruths and wrong actions for which he was responsible

during the course of the day. In course of time, he became a perfect

man. He had perfect control over his mind. Mahatma Gandhi used to

advise the students to keep a daily diary always.

 

A big thief is hiding himself in your brain. He has snatched away

your Atmic pearl. He is giving you immense worries and troubles. He

is deluding you. The thief is your mind. You must not be lenient

towards him. You must kill him ruthlessly. There is no other sword

sharper than this diary to kill him. It checks his happy-go-lucky

ways and destroys him eventually. All your daily mistakes will be

corrected. A good time will come when you will be entirely free from

anger, untruth, lust, etc. You will become a perfect Yogi.

 

Your father and mother gave you this body. They gave you food and

clothing. But this diary is superior to your parents. It shows the

way to freedom and eternal bliss. It gives you solace, satisfaction

and peace of mind. Turn the pages of your diary carefully once a

week. If you can record your actions every hour, your growth will be

rapid. Happy is the man who keeps a daily diary for he is very near

to God. He has a strong will and he is free from defects and

mistakes.

 

By keeping a spiritual diary you can then and there rectify your

mistakes. You can do more Sadhana and evolve quickly. There is no

other best friend and faithful teacher or Guru than your diary. It

will teach you the value of time. At the end of every month calculate

the total number of hours you spent in Japa, study of religious

books, Pranayama, Asanas, sleep, etc. Then you will be able to know

how much time You are spending for religious purposes. You have got

every chance to increase the period of Japa, meditation, etc.,

gradually. If you maintain a daily diary properly, without any fault

in any of the items, you will not like to waste even a single minute

unnecessarily. Then alone will you understand the value of time and

how it slips away.

 

Compare the total of the last month with those of the previous

months. Find out whether you have progressed in your Sadhana or not.

If you have not progressed, increase your practice daily. You can do

more Sadhana and evolve quickly.

 

In maintaining a diary, you should not utter any falsehood anywhere.

You are keeping it only for your own benefit. It is the diary of a

religious aspirant who is treading the path of truth to realise

Truth. Acknowledge your faults openly and endeavour to rectify

yourself in future. You should not neglect to record everything in

your diary. It is better if you compare the progress of your work of

the present week with that of the previous week. If you are not able

to do so once a week, you must at any cost compare it once a month.

Then you will be able to make various adjustments in different items,

increase the period of Japa and meditation and decrease the time of

sleep.

 

Self-punishment consists in giving up the night meals and in doing

fifty Malas of Japa more than the usual number. The filling in of the

form should not be a mere routine work. The annexed form is only a

specimen for guidance. These items should be copied on a foolscap

size paper neatly with columns drawn for all the days of the month.

 

Do not be ashamed to mention your mistakes, vices and failures. This

is meant only for your own progress. Do not waste your precious

hours. It is enough that you have wasted so many years in idle

gossiping. Enough, enough of the troubles you had all these days in

satisfying your senses. Do not say, " From tomorrow, I will be

regular. " That " tomorrow " will never come. Be sincere and start doing

Sadhana from this moment. If you are really sincere, He is ever ready

to help you and give you a push in your spiritual march.

 

He who regulates his life on the above lines is sure to become a

Jivanmukta or a Yogi in this very birth. Do it practically and see

how you grow. Start maintaining a spiritual diary from this moment

itself and realise the marvellous results.

 

(Source: Essence of Yoga by Sri Swami Sivananda)