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Pratikramana

A review inside a review

The teaching
The one review structure that has already answered the question everyone asks: what happens when I stop doing it?
Why this is hard
Jain practice asks for a review of the day. It also asks for one each fortnight, each four months, and each year — and each larger review catches what the smaller ones dropped.
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The day gets a review.
Because close to the event, you remember what happened, not the story.
Ten minutes before sleep, going back over the day in order.
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The review gets a review.
Because you will miss days, and a system must absorb them.
Once a fortnight, a longer look that quietly picks up what the daily ones missed.
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The year has a floor.
Because however much slips, one day a year is not optional.
One day, once, where everything is looked at, whether or not anything else was kept.
The practice
Set the smallest review you will actually do, and set the annual one. Leave the middle layers until the two ends hold.
Nothing here treats a gap as failure. The larger review exists because gaps were expected.
Jain practice. Pratikramana means turning back.
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