Inquiry · “You Are Not Your Thoughts”
The Spiritual Diary
To discipline the mind by recording, each night, a fixed set of self-examination questions — japa count, faults, anger, lies, hours of practice — so that faults are seen and corrected.
Rule a notebook: one column per question, one row per day. Each night before bed, review the day and answer honestly — malas of japa, minutes meditated, lies told, times angry, hours wasted, the virtue you’re building and the fault you’re fighting. Read the trend across days and set tomorrow’s resolve against any recurring fault. Open each morning with resolutions; close each night with the diary.
What it is
Sivananda’s Spiritual Diary is a nightly self-audit: a fixed printed list of questions the aspirant answers every evening before bed — how many malas of japa, how long meditated, how many lies told, how many times angry, how many hours wasted, what virtue being built, what fault being eradicated.
It is a tool of inquiry and self-correction (hence its home in inquiry shadow), but unlike open journaling or shadow-dialogue practices here, it is a quantified checklist, not free writing — closer to a behavioural log than a reflective essay.
Sivananda pairs it with two companions — a Resolve Form (morning resolutions) and a fixed Daily Routine — calling the three together “the trident of Siva.” “The diary is your teacher and guide. It is the eye-opener.”
The Method
- Keep a dedicated diary. Rule a notebook (or use his printed form) with one column per question and one row per day.
- Fill it in nightly. “Think of the mistakes you have committed during the course of the day, just before retiring to bed.” Answer every question honestly.
- Answer his self-examination questions. Faithful to Sivananda’s list: - When did you go to bed / get up / how many hours’ sleep? - How many Malas of Japa? How long in Kirtan? How many Pranayamas? How long in Asanas, and how long in one Asana? - How many Gita slokas read or memorised? How long in Satsanga (company of the wise)? - How many hours of Mouna (silence)? How long in selfless service? How much given in charity? How many Mantras written? - How many lies did you tell — and with what self-punishment? How many times angry, and for how long — and with what self-punishment? - How many hours in useless company? How many times failed in Brahmacharya / in controlling an evil habit? - How long concentrated on your Ishta Devata? Days of fasting/vigil? Were you regular in meditation? - What virtue are you developing? What evil quality are you trying to eradicate? Which Indriya (sense) is troubling you most?
- Review and correct. Read the trend across days; where a fault recurs, set a resolve against it for tomorrow. “A person who keeps a diary will soon discover his faults and can correct these and make rapid progress.”
- Pair with morning resolves. Each morning, before leaving bed, set the day’s resolutions (the Resolve Form); the diary at night checks them.
Source & Lineage
Swami Sivananda Saraswati prescribed the Spiritual Diary throughout his works and circulated a printed diary form via the Divine Life Society; Self-Analysis is instruction #18 of his Twenty Important Spiritual Instructions. → (sivananda swami).
Common refinements
Skipping nights — the value is in the unbroken series; one entry tells you nothing, a month tells you everything.
- Letting “self-punishment” become self-flagellation — Sivananda means a small corrective check, not harsh shame; keep it kind and behavioural.
- Logging numbers without reviewing trends — the point is correction, so read across days and set resolves.
- Vague answers — “some japa” defeats it; record actual counts and minutes.
- No morning resolve — the diary closes a loop that the morning resolution opens; use both.