Subsidiary Exercises: #2

Initiative in Actions

At the beginning of a practice period
  1. Think of some action which in the ordinary course of life you should certainly not have performed..
  2. Decide on the time you will execute this action
Every day
  1. Perform this action at the set time.
At the end of the day
  1. Ask yourself:

    Did I perform the right action at the right time?

If, through this exercise, this initiative of action has been achieved, then, with subtle attentiveness,

  1. Become conscious of the feeling of an inner impulse of activity in the soul.
  2. Pour this feeling into the body.
  3. Let it stream down from the head to a point just above the heart.
  1. Say to yourself:

    I did not perform the right action at the right time, but I realize now that I can do it better and that tomorrow I will do it better.

  • Choose an action which can be performed every day and will occupy as long a period of time as possible.
  • It is better to begin with some insignificant action which we have to force ourselves to perform.
    For example, to water at a fixed time every day a flower we have bought.
  • This exercise should last for one month.
  • After a certain time of practice:
    Add a second, similar act to the first; later, a third, and so on . . . as many as are compatible with the carrying out of all other duties.