Greetings from Russell's Remnant:

Russell Whitesell admonished his chelas to do an evening review. The Teachers seem to be in agreement that this review is extremely important. In your nightly review, imagine how your Master would view your day, how your environment would react and how you regard your day's accomplishments. Confess your sins - if not to the offended one or to a holy man or trustworthy person - to your soul during your daily introspection at night.

For those polarized in the physical and emotional, no need for meditation is ever felt. Meditation will rectify mistakes of wrong speech. The life of meditation is of paramount importance. Equilibrium is attained through meditation. Meditation increases a man's capacity to discharge his karmic debts by giving clearer vision and judgment. This evening review is a form of meditation.

Through meditation, discipline, and service contact can be made with your soul. What you are to do and your service grow out of meditation and your own soul. Meditation is eliminative of that which is spiritually undesirable. Since the thought forms represent karma to be worked out, the elimination of these forms from the field of the disciple can save lifetimes on incarnated effort. Be reminded that to compress thousands of years of normal evolution into a few years, or even lifetimes, requires effort, some danger, and above all, endurance. The evening exercise of retrospection is of greater efficiency than any other method in advancement.

Max Heindel also instructs his students on the importance of the daily review.

A purification exercise consists of thinking over the happenings of the day, in reverse order, taking particular note of the moral aspect, considering whether we acted rightly or wrongly in each particular case regarding actions, mental attitude and habits. By thus judging ourselves and endeavoring to correct mistakes, we shall materially shorten or perhaps eliminate the necessity for purgatory and be able to pass to the first heaven directly after death. Even if we fail to correct our actions, we derive an immense benefit from judging ourselves, thereby generating good aspirations which in time will bear fruit in right action. Max Heindel's Cosmo Conception p. 111

In reviewing the day's happenings and blaming ourselves for wrong, we should not forget to impersonally approve of the good we have done and determine to do still better. Repentance and reform are also powerful factors in shortening the purgatorial existence. When we realize the wrong of certain habits or acts in our past life, and determine to eradicate the habit and to redress the wrong committed, we are expunging the pictures of them from the sub-conscious memory, and they will not be there to judge us after death. Even though we are not able to make restitution for a wrong, the sincerity of our regret will suffice. Nature does not aim to "get even," or to take revenge. Recompense may be given to our victim in other ways. This practice is perhaps the most important teaching in the present work. Cosmo Conception p. 111+

D.K. instructed that constant self criticism was not necessary. One should subject oneself to a brief and exact analysis each day in the form of an evening review. See yourself in the light of spiritual perception. It is not necessary to do this review at night, if the hour, fatigue or your duties should render it inconvenient. Do it once in the 24 hours and do it with care.

Young man to a wise and successful old man, "How did you get to be successful?"

The old man thought a minute and replied, "Good judgment!"

Young man, "How did you get 'good judgment'?"

The old man reflected and said, "Experience."

Young man, "How did you get 'experience'?"

The old man replied with a chuckled, "Poor judgment."