It would be of infinite value if, while working these exercises, the student kept what I propose to call a Day Book. In accounting procedures, the Day Book is a journal in which are entered all the transactions of the day, regardless of what they are. In this Day Book, or Work Book, that we are considering, the student should keep a detailed record of every practice that he engages in. Immediately after performing every exercise, he should take a couple of minutes from his next task in order to make entries in this Day Book. He should record the date and time of the day, the particular exercise he practiced, how many minutes were devoted to it, what he felt about the manner in which he proceeded, any experiences that may have occurred, and finally his evaluation of the period itself. It might even be worthwhile recording some extraneous data, such as the kind of weather prevailing, the temperature within the room in which he is working and the general emotional mood, etc.
If this Day Book is scrupulously kept, at the expiration of a year, regardless of whether it is seen or examined by any other person, the student will eventually be able to look at his efforts with fair objectivity. It may come as a distinct surprise to read through some of his early comments on his first experiences and efforts. He may even perceive a psychological pattern running through all his exercises and whatever results accrue from them. No little insight can be obtained from this. The keeping of the Day Book, therefore, is a matter of prime importance. Meticulous attention should be given to it right from the start.
The occult student, at the outset of his studies, is besieged by hundreds of books describing dozens of practices of every kind. They promise, directly or otherwise, to bring him to the very heights of spiritual attainment, no matter how that attainment is defined. But by the very wealth of material is he overwhelmed. And the result is that, generally speaking, he does nothing except read. Reading does very little to bring one to any kind of realization of one's divine nature.
In this manual, it is proposed to burden the student with very little theory, but to outline a course of procedure which, persisted in for at least twelve months, will bring him a good way along the Path. This course of procedure will describe a certain number of classical practices which are calculated to produce certain types of results. There will be no attempt to dazzle him with startling but vague promises, with fantasies of great achievements, with misleading claims leading nowhere.
I will simply suggest that this practice or the other, when faithfully performed, should yield such and such result. The speed with which such results are achieved naturally must vary with each student. Each human being is different, though constructed more or less on the same anatomical, physiological, psychological and spiritual basis. But within these areas there is room for a variety of differences. Such differences will determine whether he can work quickly, concentratedly, dynamically, slowly, methodically, imaginatively, or without any real vision of where he is going. But if this program is followed, he is certain at the end of a year to find himself a changed person, with a vastly changed outlook upon life, an improved perception of himself, and capable of undergoing some kind of inner discipline which ultimately will take him along the trail where former spiritual giants have trod.
NASLOVNA STRANA
