Inner and Outer Purity

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Inner and Outer Purity

What

is the meaning of external purity? Of course, external purity means

keeping the body pure and wearing clean clothes. But it means much more

than that. The place where you live must be kept clean. The books which

you read must also be clean and wholesome. Be it your body or your

mind, you should not allow dirt and bad qualities to accumulate. The

statement that you should take a daily bath means that every impurity

in body and mind has to be cleansed. Where dirt accumulates, germs will

gather and bring on disease. Therefore, do not allow impurities of any

kind to remain on you. Every

day in the morning, you should brush your teeth and also clean your

tongue. Let there be no impurity in the main entrance. Whenever there

is some dirty water outside, mosquitoes, worms and undesirable bacteria

will soon fester. In the same way, wherever there is some dirt in your

body, all these germs and insects are likely to accumulate. Not merely

that, in the surroundings of your house you have to keep everything

clean. There is a saying, 'Look at the house and you will know its

resident'; in other words, the cleanliness of the house is a reflection

of the cleanliness of the indwellers of that house. This principle of

cleanliness is meant for your own good. Whether it be the house or its

surroundings, if everything is kept clean, you will be happy. You have

to keep yourself and everything around you clean and orderly in order

to enjoy good health. When you have good health you will remain happy. You

may have only two sets of clothes, but when you wear one, you should

make sure that the other is clean. Then, afterwards, you can wear the

second set, cleaning the first. Actually, there is no need even for

having two sets of clothes; just the one may be worn every day as long

as you keep it clean. Whatever you have must be kept clean; do not

allow yourself to become dirty. But just cleaning the exterior and

wearing clean clothes, while keeping the heart impure, is not of much

use. You have to make every effort to achieve inner purity, as well.

For this purpose you need to keep all your thoughts and feelings

sacred. Let your thoughts be directed towards the service of others. Do

not allow jealousy or hatred to enter into you. Always try to develop

feelings which are full of joy. There

is no need to bother yourself unnecessarily about others' affairs. Just

always think good of others. In this context the ancient teachings

declare, 'Let the whole world be happy.' To promote universal joy and

well-being is the basis of the spiritual teachings and the object of

all spiritual practice. Therefore, the sacred name of God should be

continuously contemplated upon, so that it purifies your heart. Only

when you take proper care to maintain inner and outer purity will you

be able to prevent the entry of impure thoughts and harmful qualities,

such as jealousy and hatred.mukundansaibaba gita