Refrain from Further Contamination

H H Maa Purnananda

“Daanam Puja Tapashchaiva Teerth Sewa Shrutam Tatha; Sarvameva Vritha Tasya Yasya Shuddham Na Maanasam.”

For past several months, the whole world is pushed into the practice of personal hygiene and cleanliness in public. Everyone is stressing upon cleansing oneself and the surroundings so as to be safeguarded from the danger of being infected. Hopefully hereafter, at least, cleanliness of oneself and the surroundings would remain ‘the way of life’ for the human society.

Once the physical cleanliness is taken care of, the next comes the cleansing or purification of mind. The six enemies often mentioned in our Scriptures, when are active in the mind, they contaminate the mind and thereby man gets driven in life by their powerful impact. Desire, anger, greed, attachment, pride and jealousy are the six enemies of man that are well-settled in his mind. The world, as though, is made for satiating desires. the subordinates, as though, are for getting angry upon. The success, as though, is for enhancing greed. The family members, as though, are for getting attached to. The achievement, as though, is for being proud of. The society, as though, is for competing with, due to jealousy.

With such an expanse of contamination and dirt in almost all, and all around, only very well-protected and tough minded people, having higher vision, would probably be saved from getting infected by these deadly diseases of mind! The grace of the Almighty and blessings of the Guru are undoubtedly required to remain well-protected and steady. Once the devotee has surrendered to and hence deserved the blessings and protection of the Guru, the Guru thereafter instructs him such practices that are the only means for purifying the mind.

Even while reading this article, the reader would get to know about these practices; then one may think that what more could be the need of a Guru for getting the guidance? It is only when an individual reads and tries to put into practice, a little of whatever he has read from the Scriptures, that he comes to understand that mere bookish or acquired knowledge is not sufficient for purifying the mind! A lot more goes into it before the purification process would actually begin; working hard upon oneself for sincere and regular Scriptural readings, focus of mind, self-introspection, disengagement from past, withdrawal from extreme worldliness, shedding off pride, sacrificing enjoyments to name a few! When all the above are accomplished to some extent, then one probably would understand a very little of the great value of the invaluable Shaastra-s and the unfathomable depths of the Sacred Words-of-Wisdom of Sree Guru Parampara. If it so happens, then begins the lookout for a Guru by this individual.

But the plight is, that after so much of effort and even after being given refuge by a Sadguru, the devotee hardly remains loyal and disciplined; as though, now it is all the Guru’s responsibility to see to it that all his desires are being fulfilled by his Guru’s grace! Such is the powerful impact of the six enemies active in the mind that contaminate it. A sincere devotee, a wise seeker, must refrain from doing this most unfortunate blunder of life.

Read carefully and practice sincerely, the instructions given by the Guru-s in the Shaastra-s. Prostrations at the Holy Feet of Sree Guru Parampara on the auspicious occasion of Sree Guru Purnima.

What are the means to purify the mind? The only means to purify the mind are Daanam, Puja, Tapa, Teerth, Sewa and Shravan. But the couplet given in the beginning mentions that all these are worthless for those whose minds are not pure! So, are these the means to purify the mind or would they be worthy only for those who have pure mind?

Yes, here is where one really needs the Guru’s refuge. Man always thinks that his theoretical knowledge and his personal experiences are enough for him to sustain and achieve in life. Why does he not accept that though being worldly-wise, he is in dire need of proper guidance from the Guru for even such philanthropic works as Daanam and Sewa and much more so for Shravan, Tapa and Puja besides Teerth.

The readers would have to look for the explanations for each of these six and their association with the previous six in the article to be published in the month of August’20; and that would make it clear whether these are the means to purify the mind or would they be worthy only for those who have pure mind.