Hi!
I have been quiet during the holidays, dealing with everything everyone else has been dealing with, and more. Life, Samsara.
With this last week of the year upon us, I, like everyone, have been getting my sh#t together, working and thinking about how I can learn from this past year, how I can improve, and lastly, how can I make feasible goals for 2013.
During my teacher training at
Conquering Lion, we were taught a tool created by Geshe Michael Roach, the 6x Book, and were told to use it during our entire training. The 6x book is a notebook in which you keep track of things you are looking to change, and it is my inspiration for how I am going to keep track of my goals of 2013.
Let me explain how the 6x Book works (the Geshe Michael Roach version):
- You buy a notebook which can be easily be carried around with you.
- You pick 6
Kleshas, or mind disturbances, that you would like to stop. For example, judgment, jealousy, lying, etc.
- You write these down in the notebook with enough space underneath each label for notes. 1 day equals one page.
- During the day, check your 6x book often. Think and write down underneath each label what have you done about each klesha. For example, if one of your kleshas is dishonesty, write down if you told a white lie. Or if it's jealousy, write down if you had a jealous thought.
- Then, make an effort to cancel your action. For example, if you did lie, come clean. Or if you had a jealous thought, compliment someone who makes you jealous.
- You can also write down if you actively did something to remove the klesha- for example, if you stopped from saying a nasty comment about someone (this would go under Judgement), or if you retracted a white lie.
- At the end of the day, dedicate your efforts.
The 6x book changed my life. I felt accountable for those things that I wanted to change and improve, successfully kept track of them, and I ultimately broke those habits and improved my life.
For the new year, I am creating an updated version of the 6x book, what I will call 6x Book 2.0.
It will include Kleshas, Yamas, Niyamas, and goals. So far, I have come up with this list:
- Studying
- Jealousy
- Honesty
- No judging
- Generosity
- Supporting family and loved ones.
Hopefully, by reapplying the habit of the 6x book, I will be able to keep in mind the goals I have set for the new year, which are as follows (and relating to the above list)
- To share all my knowledge with my students
- To free myself from harmful thoughts about myself
- To live an honest life, where my integrity is crystal clear
- To stop judging others, so I can stop judging myself (big one for me in 2013)
- To save so that I can share thoughtlessly
- To provide support and love for those that are important to me.
I hope this helps you in figuring out how to keep up with your goals. As you can see above, goals such as "have a big house" or "make X money" can also be applied to the 6x Book 2.0. Make it work for you, and remind yourself every day of what you want.
With Love,
P
