Question: Why don't impure forces leave us?

Sri Chinmoy: They don’t go away because the vital cherishes them. It is like this. You have five dollars. One part of your being is ready to give it to me because you know that I will give you a smile or tell others. But the other part will immediately say, “No, if I give it to him, then it is gone; I won’t be able to use it.” If you have any kind of material wealth, if you cherish or treasure it, then you will find difficulty in offering it. The physical, the vital and the mind will try to keep it for their own use while the soul and the heart will want to use it for a divine purpose.

In this case, your so-called wealth is your impurity. You may think that you are ready and willing to part with your impurity, but I wish to say that you are not. Your heart is ready to give, your soul is ready to give, but not the physical, not the vital, not the mind. Your delight, your aspiration, want to give, but your desire wants to possess. There’s absolutely nothing to be done in this case. You may say that you want to give all your undivine things to God, but you don’t give because part of you wants to keep them. That is why impure forces don’t go away.