Going to publicly practice Diamond Cutter practices for a full year...

[Sypher]

Hello! I am brand new here, and am so excited to join this community. I read the Diamond Cutter and was amazed at the simplicity of it. I quickly grabbed Karmic Management and was lucky enough to have Geshe Michael Roach sign it.  After studying and practicing many different self-help philosophies and religions, this is the first time that something mad sense ALL the way. I recently decided that for the last year of my 20s, I am going to dedicate myself to publicly practicing the teachings of the Diamond Cutter. I will utilize social networks to get it out, and I hope all of you participate in my blogs and encourage me as I am pretty frightened to share the intimate details of my life with the world. I recently just started yoga and have been doing meditation each day for the past two weeks. I must admit, I am so much more aware and present in my life and that of others. I will be calling my blog SYPHER360 and my social networks will all be SISTASYPHER. Because I am an actress, DJ, Master of Ceremonies, I have quite a lot of cyber "friends" that I am sure will be completely surprised at at my complete shift in gears (thus the 360).  February frst will mark my 29th birthday and will be the beginning of my public blogging. I will include the 6 times a day book, a journal entry each night, and anything profound that happens along the way. Although I believe that these teachings work, the truth is, I haven't put them to the test yet. What I hope to gain in this public display, is help (it's easier to stick to something when people are holding you accountable), better health (I want to lose about 20lbs and really tone my body), better wealth (I'm so broke right now), hope to be a positive example (I've been MCing in strip clubs for a long time and abused drugs and alcohol for 16 years), stop lying, procrastinating, embellishing, and really make a positive difference in the lives of others. I've always had good intentions, just put myself in ridiculous situations due to the simple laws spelled out in these books. In the next couple of weeks, I will be putting together my plan. If you have any suggestions and advise, I'm open to it all. My e-mail is sistasypher@gmail.com and you can find me on MYSPACE, FACEBOOK, TWITTER url SISTASYPHER. Wish me luck and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

[Andrea]

Hi Sypher,

Thanks for writing!  Congratulations on your decision to put karmic management to the test.  I started practicing this stuff around my 29th birthday as well, almost 10 years ago, and it's been the best thing that ever happened to me.

Some advice: be gentle with yourself.  If you have deeply ingrained habits of procrastinating, embellishing, etc., it may be difficult to change them all overnight (unless, of course, you have the imprints for it to all work right away, which isn't out of the question).  When making a big life change, I find it helpful to set small, manageable goals and then dedicate the result to being able to achieve greater goals. 

For example, in the case of lying, you could set a small goal like "During my next phone call with my mom, I'm going to stop myself from fibbing at least one time."  Then afterwards, say to yourself: "I dedicate this act of telling the truth toward developing a deep, unshakable habit of honesty."  You may have to set a lot of small goals like this in order to retrain yourself, but the long-term result will be that your natural reaction in all situations will be to tell the truth.

In situations where I'm tempted to do the wrong thing, or I'm scared that something bad will happen if I do the right thing, I remind myself: "I can't get a bad result from a good deed."  I've been amazed at how well this works, especially in the long run.

Please keep sharing your story!

Best wishes, and happy new year 

Andrea

[Sypher]

Andrea.

Thank you!  What you just told me is really helpful and needed. These past two weeks have been rough and I have been pretty hard on myself. Part of the reason is because I know the "world" will be able to see everything I do on February 1st for a full year and I want to get as good as I can in advance...lol. As you said...it's kind of hard to reprogram yourself. I just looked through my 6 times book this morning after I was having diffuclty with my entry and realized that it's difficult sometimes to really come up with doable things. I tend to try and go WAAAAY over board and then become discouraged when I review my day and realized i only accomplished one thing on my TO DO list. I hope to make more realistic doable goals. You advice is much needed. Thank you kindly.

Sypher

[BetsGreer]

Hi Sypher:

Thanks for your posts - your focus and determination come through loud and clear! And thanks for sharing how you're setting things up to help keep yourself accountable, as well as to set an example for others. In my experience, the companionship - in whatever form - of others on the same or similar path is crucial.

Complete transparency is a trait I've noticed is common amongst the best teachers and practitioners of this path, and it's something I aspire to. It would be quite freeing to have absolutely no qualms about sharing details of the state of my mind and practice.

If I were to do what you're planning, the dangers would be the possibility of some kind of pride arising from sharing, and the possibility of not going deep enough in my practice because of caring too much about how others see me. And then, of course, working with those tendencies would also become my practice - so it's all good. 

I wish you the best in your practice, and thanks for the inspiration!

yours,
Bets

[Sypher]

Hello Bets,

You so eloquently explained my fears and my hopes, and you're right - IT IS ALL GOOD! 

Thank you for your encouragement and understanding!

[Chuck]

Hi Sypher,

I love your courage, determination and enthusiasm, too !

I want to echo some of the things Andrea and Bets said and add a few thoughts of my own.

Please set yourself up for Success, not Failure.

It sounds like you are trying to do too much at once. It sounds like you simply want to start doing the 6 Times Book.

But you've already added-on the ideas of committing to doing the book for a year, AND blogging about it everyday, AND influencing other people by your example.

That sounds like too much to me.

Please set yourself up for Success.

Why not simply commit to doing the book for 1 week - and nothing else ? At the end of the first week, you can commit to doing the book for another week. And then for 1 month. And then for 3 months. And eventually the first year will arrive and you WILL have kept your book for the entire year. By making shorter commitments that you met, accomplished.

By doing something like that, you will have a series of Accomplishments over the first year. You will have a series of Successes. You will have set and accomplished a series of Goals.

There's a lot of power to that.

Also, the 6 Times Book is for you and you alone. I know some people who keep a book and I've never read anyone's entries. No one has ever offered to show me their entries and I've never asked to read their entries.

By keeping your book private, it frees you to be totally honest with yourself when you make your entries. And being honest is critical. Maybe "honest" is not the right word. I think it's more like thinking deeply.

So please protect what you are doing for yourself with the book. Give yourself every chance to make keeping the book be a powerfully positive thing in your life. Please set yourself up for Success.

One other thing and that is an example that Geshe Michael Roach set. When Geshe Michael Roach worked for the diamond firm, he did not tell people that he was a Buddhist monk. He did not tell people that he was bringing Buddhist ideas to bear on the running of the company.

He didn't talk about it - he just did it.

I heartily recommend that you do what Geshe Michael Roach did. You don't need to tell other people that you are keeping a book. You do not need to post your book entries in a blog for others to read.

Just do it. Just keep your book for a while - and see what happens.

And you may find, by keeping your book, that other people start to change - without you saying anything to them about the book.

You have expressed a lovely idea about influencing other people by posting your book entries in a blog. I simply suggest to you that you consider something unusual...

...I ask you to consider the possibility that you might be able to influence people in a positive way by just keeping your book - and not saying anything about it.

Wouldn't that be amazing to discover ?

all the best,
Chuck

[Sypher]

Thank you Chuck for your advice. I'm afraid I've already made up my mind and truly hope that I don't dilute my thoughts by going public. I actually already have the blessings of Geshe Roach and am one week away from launching my blog. I must say, the truth is, I know I'm reaching a bit...but I'm determined. This will be the first time that anybody "tests" these universal teachings publicly. In the month that I've been practicing, I already have noticed incredible change. I believe it's important to share these things with people. I will make sure to protect people by not publicly displaying their name and protecting myself by posting anything that scares me in a way that makes me feel more comfortable but doesn't hide the truth. Wish me luck Chuck.

Sypher

[Chuck]

Good Luck, Sypher !!!!

Wishing you ALL the best and endless success,

- Chuck

[Scott Vacek]

Hey Sypher, how's it going??
scott