The role of purity in the spiritual life⁵

How to be pure? We can be pure by self-control; we can control our senses. It is unbelievably difficult. But it is not impossible.

"I shall control my senses. I shall conquer my passions." This approach cannot bring you what you actually want. The hungry lion that lives in your senses and the hungry tiger that lives in your passions will not leave you by the mere repetition of the thought, "I shall control my senses and conquer my passions." This approach will be of no avail.

What you must do is to fix your mind on God. To your utter amazement, your lion and tiger, tamed, will leave you of their own accord when they see that you have become too poor to feed them. As a matter of fact, you don't become poor in the least. On the contrary, you become infinitely stronger and richer, for God’s Will energises your body, mind and heart. To fix your body, mind and heart on the Divine is the right approach. The closer you are to the Light, the farther you are from the Darkness.

Purity does not come all at once. It takes time. Dive deep. Lose yourself with implicit faith in God’s contemplation. You need not go to Purity. Purity has to come to you and it will. Purity does not come alone. It brings an everlasting Joy with it. This Divine Joy is the sole purpose of our life. God reveals Himself fully and manifests Himself unreservedly only when we have this inner Joy.

The world gives you desires. God gives you prayers. The world gives you bondage. God gives you freedom. Freedom from limitations, freedom from ignorance.

You are the player. You can play either football or cricket. You have a free choice. Similarly, it is you who can have either purity or impurity to play with. The player is the master of the game and not vice-versa.

The easiest and most effective way to have purity is to repeat a mantra. A mantra is a seed-sound. A mantra is a dynamic power in the form of a vibrant sound.

Now let us know what Japa is. Japa is the repetition of a mantra. You want purity, don't you? Today is Saturday. Right now, repeat the name of God five hundred times. This is our mantra. Let us all do it.

Thank you. We are all successful. Now every day please increase the number by one hundred. That is to say, tomorrow you will repeat the name of God six hundred times, and the day after seven hundred. On the coming Saturday, my calculation says that you will repeat the name of God twelve hundred times. From that Saturday to the following Saturday, please start decreasing the number daily by a hundred until you again reach five hundred. Please continue this exercise, week by week, just for a month. Whether you want to change your name or not, the world will change your name. It will give you a new name. It will call you by the name Purity. Your inner ear will make you hear it. It will surpass your fondest imagination.

Let nothing perturb you. Let your body's impurity remind you of your heart's spontaneous purity. Let your outer finite thoughts remind you of your inner Infinite Will. Let your mind's teeming imperfections remind you of your soul's limitless perfection.

The present-day world is full of impurity. It seems that purity is a currency from another world. It is hard to obtain this purity, but once you get it, peace is yours, success is yours.

Let us face the world. Let us take life as it comes. Our inner Pilot is constantly vigilant. The undercurrents of our inner and spiritual life will always flow on unnoticed, unobstructed, unafraid.

God may be Unknown but He is not Unknowable. Our prayers and meditations lead us to that Unknown. Freedom we cry for. But strangely enough, we are not aware of the fact that we already have within us immense freedom. Look! Without any difficulty, we can forget God. We can ignore Him and we can even deny Him. But the compassionate God says, "My children, no matter what you do or say, My heart shall never abandon you. I want you. I need you."

The mother holds the hand of the child. It is the child who has to walk and he does it. Neither the one who is dragged nor the one who drags can be happy. Likewise God says, "My divine children, in your inner life, I give you inspiration. It is you who have to aspire with the purest heart to reach the Golden Beyond."