The way in which your diary record is kept is as much part of your training as the knowledge in the text. Supervisors also must read and respond to many pages of student diaries each month, so ensuring your diary does not require decoding is important. Therefore, the following format is to be followed in all your daily meditation work.
- NUMBER:
- DATE:
- TIME:
- PLACE:
- MEDITATION SUBJECT: Subject is to be written in full each day, even when repeated. Do not refer your Supervisor back to the previous day for the title of the meditation subject. If the subject is drawn from the lesson text, the textbook, or from your nightly reading, please specify page and paragraph.
- REALISATIONS: This is the most important of your diary entry. It is the key to your understanding of the Lesson and the meditation you have just completed. Train yourself to be straight-forward and to the point – and, if possible, keep your realisations within ten lines or so. Again, this is good training, for it teaches you to discard the irrelevant and find the kernel of the meditation.
REMARKS: (If any). - REALISATIONS DURING THE DAY: Sometimes you get further insight into an earlier meditation, and you should write this down, noting that it was a later insight.
- N.E: (time of Noon Exercise)
- E.E: (time of Evening Exercise)
- C.E: (“Catch” Exercises done)
- TITLE OF BOOK READ: Note the book that you are presently engaged in reading.