The role of purity in the spiritual life

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 us what we actually want. The hungry lion that lives in our senses and the hungry tiger that lives in our passions will not leave us because of the mere repetition of the thought, “I shall control my senses and conquer my passions.” This approach is of no avail.

Nor is it advisable to always think of our impurity and brood over it. If we meditate on the positive side, that is to say on light, then light is going to descend into us. But if we think of night and are afraid of night, then we are unconsciously entering into the domain of night. Whenever we think of night, of darkness within us, we enter into night’s domain. But if we always think of light, which is after all our true joy and saviour, then we are running towards our destined Goal.

What we must do is fix our mind on God. To our utter amazement, the lion and tiger of impurity, now tamed, will leave us of their own accord when they see that we have become too poor to feed them. But as a matter of fact, we have not become poor in the least. On the contrary, we have become infinitely stronger and richer, for God’s Will energises our body, mind and heart. To fix our body, mind and heart on the Divine is the right approach. The closer we are to the Light, the farther we are from the darkness.

Purity does not come all at once. It takes time. We must dive deep and lose ourselves with implicit faith in contemplation of God. We need not go to purity. Purity will come to us. And purity does not come alone. It brings with it an everlasting joy. 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 us desires. God gives us prayers. The world gives us bondage. God gives us freedom: freedom from limitations, freedom from ignorance.

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

Let nothing perturb us. Let our body’s impurity remind us of our heart’s spontaneous purity. Let our outer finite thoughts remind us of our inner infinite will. Let our mind’s teeming imperfections remind us of our 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 we get it, peace is ours, success is ours.

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.