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Purity and Purification Compilation (view source)

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= Why Purity? =

A certain amount of purification is necessary before there can be any realisation of the Divine and that is what has been going on in you. It is after all not a very long time since the real purification began and it is never an easy work. So the impatience may be natural, but it is not exactly reasonable.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/29/purity#p1</uref>

You must be good for the love of goodness, you must be just for the love of justice, you must be pure for the love of purity and you must be disinterested for the love of disinterestedness; then you are sure to advance on the way.[<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/impurity#p32 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03~~</~~impurity#p32]~~ref>

= Where is Purity? =

<div style="color:#000000;">The purification of the heart is the central necessity, but a purification of the mind, vital and physical is also called for. But the most important thing for purification of the heart is an absolute sincerity. No pretence with oneself, no concealment from the Divine or oneself or the Guru, a straight look at one's nature and one's movements, a straight will to make them straight. It does not so much matter if it takes time; one must be prepared to make it one's whole life-task to seek the Divine. Purifying the heart means after all a pretty considerable achievement and it is no use getting despondent, despairful etc. because one finds things in oneself that still need to be changed. </div>

<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/30/the-danger-of-the-ego-and-the-need-of-purification#p42</ref>

~~[http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/30/the-danger-of-the-ego-and-the-need-of-purification#p42 http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/30/the-danger-of-the-ego-and-the-need-of-purification#p42]~~

Whatever may be the past, whatever may be the faults committed, whatever the ignorance in which one might have lived, one carries deep within oneself the supreme purity which can translate itself into a wonderful realisation.<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/the-flowers#p20</ref>

Whatever may be the past, whatever may be the faults committed, whatever the ignorance in which one might have lived, one carries deep within oneself the supreme purity which can translate itself into a wonderful realisation.[http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/the-flowers#p20 http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/the-flowers#p20]

These adverse forces are connected with sexual desire. They live on the energy wasted when the act takes place. And even a thought, a mental or vital desire is sufficient to let them come in and settle in the atmosphere. Thus it is in the mind itself that the purification must take place.[<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/15/adverse-forces#p20 ~~http:~~</~~/incarnateword.in/cwm/15/adverse-forces#p20]~~ref>

= How to Purify? =

<div style="color:#000000;">To rid the prana of desire and incidentally to reverse the ordinary poise of our nature and turn the vital being from a troublesomely dominant power into the obedient instrument of a free and unattached mind, is then the first step in purification. As this deformation of the psychical prana is corrected, the purification of the rest of the intermediary parts of the antaḥkaraṇa is facilitated, and when that correction is completed, their purification too can be easily made absolute. </div>

<div style="color:#0066cc;"><ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/24/purification-the-lower-mentality#p7</ref></div>

~~<div style="color:#0066cc;">http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/24/purification-the-lower-mentality#p7</div>~~

The systematic purification of the whole being for an integral reflection and taking in of the divine reality can only be done by the special methods of Yoga. Its absolute concentration has to take the place of the dispersed concentrations of the lower knowledge; the vague and ineffective identification which is all the lower knowledge can bring, has to be replaced by the complete, intimate, imperative and living union which Yoga brings.<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/23/the-higher-and-the-lower-knowledge#p9</ref>

The systematic purification of the whole being for an integral reflection and taking in of the divine reality can only be done by the special methods of Yoga. Its absolute concentration has to take the place of the dispersed concentrations of the lower knowledge; the vague and ineffective identification which is all the lower knowledge can bring, has to be replaced by the complete, intimate, imperative and living union which Yoga brings.[http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/23/the-higher-and-the-lower-knowledge#p9 http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/23/the-higher-and-the-lower-knowledge#p9]

It is the inner offering of the heart's adoration, the soul of it in the symbol, the spirit of it in the act, that is the very life of the sacrifice. If this offering is to be complete and universal, then a turning of all our emotions to the Divine is imperative. This is the intensest way of purification for the human heart, more powerful than any ethical or aesthetic catharsis could ever be by its half-power and superficial pressure. A psychic fire within must be lit into which all is thrown with the Divine Name upon it. In that fire all the emotions are compelled to cast off their grosser elements and those that are undivine perversions are burned away and the others discard their insufficiencies, till a spirit of largest love and a stainless divine delight arises out of the flame and smoke and frankincense. It is the divine love which so emerges that, extended in inward feeling to the Divine in man and all creatures in an active universal equality, will be more potent for the perfectibility of life and a more real instrument than the ineffective mental ideal of brotherhood can ever be. It is this poured out into acts that could alone create a harmony in the world and a true unity between all its creatures; all else strives in vain towards that end so long as Divine Love has not disclosed itself as the heart of the delivered manifestation in terrestrial Nature.[<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/23/the-ascent-of-the-sacrifice-ii#p14 ~~http:~~</~~/incarnateword.in/cwsa/23/the-ascent-of-the-sacrifice-ii#p14]~~ref>

<div style="color:#000000;">It has been seen that a most effective way of purification is for the mental Purusha to draw back, to stand as the passive witness and observe and know himself and the workings of Nature in the lower, the normal being; but this must be combined, for perfection, with a will to raise the purified nature into the higher spiritual being. </div>

<div style="color:#0066cc;"><uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/24/the-action-of-the-divine-shakti#p7</uref></div>

...you must add the Force of spiritual purification which is such an absolutely perfectly constructive force that nothing that's in the least destructive can survive there. If you have this Force at your disposal or if you can ask for it and get it, you direct it on the spot and the adverse force usually runs away immediately, for if it happens to be in the midst of this Force it gets dissolved, it disappears; for no force of disintegration can survive within this Force; therefore disintegration disappears and with it that also disappears. It can be changed into a constructive force, that is possible, or it may be simply dissolved and reduced to nothing. And with that not only is the illness cured, but all possibility of its return is also eliminated. You are cured of the illness once for all, it never comes back.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/05/22-july-1953#p62</uref>

= Purification of Various Qualities =

== Purification of Ambition ==

And so, purification of experience means to make the experience sincere and motiveless. To take away all one's motives of ambition and vanity, of desire, power, etc. This is called purifying the experience, making it sincere, spontaneous and not mixing it with desires and ambitions. There are spiritual ambitions, he speaks of them, and these are even the most dangerous.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/07/12-january-1955#p34</uref>

== Purity of Understanding ==

The first necessity of preparation is the purifying of all the members of our being; especially, for the path of knowledge, the purification of the understanding, the key that shall open the door of Truth; and a purified understanding is hardly possible without the purification of the other members. An unpurified heart, an unpurified sense, an unpurified life confuse the understanding, disturb its data, distort its conclusions, darken its seeing, misapply its knowledge; an unpurified physical system clogs or chokes up its action. There must be an integral purity. Here also there is an interdependence; for the purification of each member of our being profits by the clarifying of every other, the progressive tranquillisation of the emotional heart helping for instance the purification of the understanding while equally a purified understanding imposes calm and light on the turbid and darkened workings of the yet impure emotions. It may even be said that while each member of our being has its own proper principles of purification, yet it is the purified understanding that in man is the most potent cleanser of his turbid and disordered being and most sovereignly imposes their right working on his other members. Knowledge, says the Gita, is the sovereign purity; light is the source of all clearness and harmony even as the darkness of ignorance is the cause of all our stumblings. Love, for example, is the purifier of the heart and by reducing all our emotions into terms of divine love the heart is perfected and fulfilled; yet love itself needs to be clarified by divine knowledge. The heart's love of God may be blind, narrow and ignorant and lead to fanaticism and obscurantism; it may, even when otherwise pure, limit our perfection by refusing to see Him except in a limited personality and by recoiling from the true and infinite vision. The heart's love of man may equally lead to distortions and exaggerations in feeling, action and knowledge which have to be corrected and prevented by the purification of the understanding.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/23/the-purified-understanding#p3</uref>

We must, however, consider deeply and clearly what we mean by the understanding and by its purification. We use the word as the nearest equivalent we can get in the English tongue to the Sanskrit philosophical term buddhi; therefore we exclude from it the action of the sense mind which merely consists of the recording of perceptions of all kinds without distinction whether they be right or wrong, true or mere illusory phenomena, penetrating or superficial. We exclude that mass of confused conception which is merely a rendering of these perceptions and is equally void of the higher principle of judgment and discrimination. Nor can we include that constant leaping current of habitual thought which does duty for understanding in the mind of the average unthinking man, but is only a constant repetition of habitual associations, desires, prejudices, prejudgments, received or inherited preferences, even though it may constantly enrich itself by a fresh stock of concepts streaming in from the environment and admitted without the challenge of the sovereign discriminating reason. Undoubtedly this is a sort of understanding which has been very useful in the development of man from the animal; but it is only one remove above the animal mind; it is a half-animal reason subservient to habit, to desire and the senses and is of no avail in the search whether for scientific or philosophical or spiritual knowledge. We have to go beyond it; its purification can only be effected either by dismissing or silencing it altogether or by transmuting it into the true understanding.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/23/the-purified-understanding#p4</uref>

= Path of Purity =

"All conditioned things are impermanent." When one has seen that by realisation, he is delivered from sorrow. That is the Path of purity.http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/the-path#p5"All conditioned things are subject to suffering." When one has seen that by realisation, he is delivered from sorrow. That is the Path of purity.http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/the-path#p6"All things are insubstantial." When one has seen that by realisation, he is delivered from sorrow. That is the Path of purity.[<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/the-path#p7 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03~~</~~the-path#p7]~~ref>

Life is hard for the modest one who seeks purity, who is detached, unassuming and whose judgment is correct.[<ref> http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/impurity#p12 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03~~</~~impurity#p12]~~ref>

<div style="color:#000000;">Purity must be our aim, but not the purity of a void or of a bleak and rigid coldness.</div>

<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/23/the-master-of-the-work#p7</uref>There was a third thing?... Yes, you must not cherish the illusion that if you want to follow the straight path, if you are modest, if you seek purity, if you are disinterested, if you want to lead a solitary existence and have a clear judgment, things will become easy.... It is quite the contrary! When you begin to advance towards inner and outer perfection, the difficulties start at the same time.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/impurity#p29</uref>

Doing evil, one harms oneself; avoiding evil, one purifies oneself; purity and impurity depend on ourselves; no one can purify another.[<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/the-ego#p9 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03~~</~~the-ego#p9]~~ref>

No protection, no Grace can save those who refuse the indispensable purification.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/08/15-august-1956#p6</uref>

== Integral Purity ==

Integral purity: the whole being is purified of the ego.[<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14/purity#p9 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14~~</~~purity#p9]~~ref>

An integral purification is a long and slow labour.http://incarnateword.in/cwm/17/21-june-1935#p2Power of integral purity: the power to accept nothing but the divine influence.[<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14/purity#p10 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14~~</~~purity#p10]~~ref>

The divine existence is of the nature not only of freedom, but of purity, beatitude and perfection. An integral purity which shall enable on the one hand the perfect reflection of the divine Being in ourselves and on the other the perfect outpouring of its Truth and Law in us in the terms of life and through the right functioning of the complex instrument we are in our outer parts, is the condition of an integral liberty. Its result is an integral beatitude, in which there becomes possible at once the Ananda of all that is in the world seen as symbols of the Divine and the Ananda of that which is not-world. And it prepares the integral perfection of our humanity as a type of the Divine in the conditions of the human manifestation, a perfection founded on a certain free universality of being, of love and joy, of play of knowledge and of play of will in power and will in unegoistic action. This integrality also can be attained by the integral Yoga.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/23/the-synthesis-of-the-systems#p19</uref>

== Self-Purification ==

The world will be made better only in proportion as we make ourselves better. The Vedantic truth that the world is only a projection—a function—of our consciousness is as pragmatically true as it is spiritually true. The ills that humanity suffers from—collectively and individually—stem from the errors that lie at the roots of our ignorant nature. We must be cleansed of these evils—individually first of all—if we ever hope to see a clean world outside. A yoga of self-purification is the condition precedent to a yoga of perfection.[<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14/helping-others-and-the-world#p23 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14~~</~~helping-others-and-the-world#p23]~~ref>

== Divine Purity ==

The Divine Purity is a more wide and all-embracing experience than the psychic.[<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/29/purity#p15 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/29~~</~~purity#p15]~~ref>

Divine purity: it is happy just to be, in all simplicity.<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14/purity#p16</ref>

Divine purity: it is happy just to be, in all simplicity.[http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14/purity#p16 http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14/purity#p16]

For it should be said, surely, that purity as conceived on earth has nothing to do with divine purity. At the best it is an approximation.<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/06/14-april-1954#p19</ref>

~~For it should be said~~It is like the word "purity"; one could hold forth interminably on the difference between divine purity and what people call purity. The divine purity, ~~surely~~at the lowest, allows no influence other than the divine influence—at the lowest. But that is already very much distorted; the divine purity ~~as conceived on earth has~~ means that there is only the Divine, nothing ~~to do with divine purity. At~~ else—it is perfectly pure, there is only the ~~best it~~ Divine, there is ~~an approximation~~nothing other than Him.<~~span style="background-color:transparent;color:#0066cc;"><u~~ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/0610/14aphorism-~~april~~63-~~1954~~64-65#~~p19~~p31</~~span~~ref>

It is like the word "purity"; one could hold forth interminably on the difference between divine purity and what people call purity. The divine purity, at the lowest, allows no influence other than the divine influence—at the lowest. But that is already very much distorted; the divine purity means that there is only the Divine, nothing else—it is perfectly pure, there is only the Divine, there is nothing other than Him.[http://incarnateword.in/cwm/10/aphorism-63-64-65#p31 http://incarnateword.in/cwm/10/aphorism-63-64-65#p31]

We are the deforming intermediary between the purity of the animal and the divine purity of the gods.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/15/19-july-1958#p13</uref>

== Ascetic Purity ==

Once and for all it swept away not only all the ordinary notions of morality, but everything that is considered here in India as necessary for the spiritual life. From this point of view it was very instructive First of all this kind of so-called ascetic purity. Ascetic purity is simply the rejection of all vital movements; instead of taking up these movements and turning them towards the Divine, that is to say, instead of seeing the supreme Presence in them and letting the Supreme act freely on them, you tell Him, "No, that is not your concern." He is not allowed to interfere with them.[<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/10/aphorism-69#p8 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/10~~</~~aphorism-69#p8]~~ref>

== Moral Versus Spiritual Purification ==

For example, if you take your stand on a moral viewpoint—which is itself altogether wrong from the spiritual point of view—there are people who apparently lead an altogether perfectly moral life, who conform to all the social laws, all the customs, the moral conventions, and who are a mass of impurity—from the spiritual point of view these beings are profoundly impure. On the other hand there are some poor people who do things... who are born, for instance, with a sense of freedom, and do things which are not considered very respectable from the social or moral point of view, and who can be in a state of inner aspiration and inner sincerity which makes them infinitely purer than the others. This is one of the big difficulties. As soon as one speaks of these things, there arises the deformation produced in the consciousness by all the social and moral conventions. As soon as you speak of purity, a moral monument comes in front of you which completely falsifies your notion. And note that it is infinitely easier to be moral from the social point of view than to be moral from the spiritual point of view. To be moral from the social viewpoint one has only to pay good attention to do nothing which is not approved of by others; this may be somewhat difficult, but still it is not impossible; and one may be, as I said, a monument of insincerity and impurity while doing this; whereas to be pure from the spiritual point of view means a vigilance, a consciousness, a sincerity that stand all tests.[<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/06/22-december-1954#p20 ~~http:~~</~~/incarnateword.in/cwm/06/22-december-1954#p2]~~ref>

== Mental Purity ==

== Mental purity: a mirror which does not distort.<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14/purity#p11</ref> ==

== Perfect mental purity: a spotless mirror constantly turned towards the Divine.<ref> http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14/purity#p12 </ref> ==

== Integral mental purity: silent, attentive, receptive, concentrated on the Divine―this is the path to purity.<ref> http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14/purity#p13 </ref> ==

== Vital Purity ==

Vital purity: it begins with the abolition of desire.[<ref> http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14/purity#p14 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14~~</~~purity#p14]~~ref>

It is therefore no integral Yoga that kills these vital energies, forces them into a nerveless quiescence or roots them out as the source of noxious activities. Their purification, not their destruction,—their transformation, control and utilisation is the aim in view with which they have been created and developed in us.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/23/the-three-steps-of-nature#p6</uref>

The purification of the vital takes a long time because until all the parts are free, none is quite free and because they use a multitude of movements which have to be changed or enlightened,—and moreover there is a great habit of persistence and resistance in the habitual movements of the nature. One therefore easily thinks that one has made no progress,—but all sincere and sustained effort of purification has its result and after a time the progress made will become evident.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/31/wrong-movements-of-the-vital#p31</uref>

== Purity in Health ==

Light in the cells: the first step towards purity in the cells.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14/the-body-the-physical#p19</uref>Purity in the cells cannot be obtained except through conquest of desires; it is the true condition for good health.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14/the-body-the-physical#p20</uref>

Thinking too much about one's impurities does not help. It is better to keep the thought fixed on the purity, light and peace that one wants to acquire.[<ref> http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14/mistakes-no-torment-worry-or-sadness#p5 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14~~</~~mistakes-no-torment-worry-or-sadness#p5]~~ref>

…  there are two forms of impurity which are at the root of the whole confusion. One is a defect born of the nature of our past evolution, which has been a nature of separative ignorance; this defect is a radically wrong and ignorant form given to the proper action of each part of our instrumental being. The other impurity is born of the successive process of an evolution, where life emerges in and depends on body, mind emerges in and depends on life in the body, supermind emerges in and lends itself to instead of governing mind, soul itself is apparent only as a circumstance of the bodily life of the mental being and veils up the spirit in the lower imperfections. This second defect of our nature is caused by this dependence of the higher on the lower parts; it is an immixture of functions by which the impure working of the lower instrument gets into the characteristic action of the higher function and gives to it an added imperfection of embarrassment, wrong direction and confusion.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/24/the-instruments-of-the-spirit#p3</uref>

Now, there are stages, there are degrees. For example, insincerity, which is one of the greatest impurities, always arises from the fact that a movement or a set of movements, an element of the being or a number of elements, want to follow their own will and not be the expression of the divine Will. So this produces in the being either a revolt or a falsehood. I don't mean that one tells lies, but I mean that one is in a state of falsehood, of insincerity. And then, the consequences are more or less serious and more or less extensive according to the gravity of the movement itself and its importance. But these, if one sees from the point of view of purity, these are the real impurities.[<ref> http://incarnateword.in/cwm/06/22-december-1954#p19 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/06~~</~~22-december-1954#p19]~~ref>

It is obvious that in the purity of its essence, only that which is perfectly divine can feel that suffering; but partially, momentarily, like flashes of lightning behind the dark clouds of egoism, it appears in all who have a vast and generous heart. However, most often, in the individual consciousness it is mixed with that mean and petty self-pity which is the cause of depression and weakness. Nevertheless, when one is vigilant enough to refuse this mixture or at least to reduce it to a minimum, one soon realises that this divine compassion is based on a sublime and eternal joy which alone has the strength and the power to deliver the world from its ignorance and misery.[<ref> http://incarnateword.in/cwm/15/5-february-1956#p5 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/15~~</~~5-february-1956#p5]~~ref>

There is another danger; it is in connection with the sex impulses. Yoga in its process of purification will lay bare and throw up all hidden impulses and desires in you. And you must learn not to hide things nor leave them aside, you have to face them and conquer and remould them. The first effect of Yoga, however, is to take away the mental control, and the hungers that lie dormant are suddenly set free, they rush up and invade the being. So long as this mental control has not been replaced by the Divine control, there is a period of transition when your sincerity and surrender will be put to the test. The strength of such impulses as those of sex lies usually in the fact that people take too much notice of them; they protest too vehemently and endeavour to control them by coercion, hold them within and sit upon them. But the more you think of a thing and say, "I don't want it, I don't want it", the more you are bound to it. What you should do is to keep the thing away from you, to dissociate from it, take as little notice of it as possible and, even if you happen to think of it, remain indifferent and unconcerned.[<ref> http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/14-april-1929#p6 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03~~</~~14-april-1929#p6]~~ref>

== Ego ==

The ego seems to have been indispensable at one time for the formation of the individual consciousness, but with the ego were born all the obstacles, sufferings, difficulties, all that now appears to us as adverse and anti-divine forces. But these forces themselves were a necessity for attaining an inner purification and the liberation from ego. The ego is at once the result of their action and the cause of their prolongation. When the ego disappears, the adverse forces will also disappear, having no longer any reason for their existence in the world.[<ref> http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03/the-fool#p20 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/03~~</~~the-fool#p20]~~ref>

<div style="color:#000000;">In human egoism and its satisfaction there can be no divine culmination and deliverance. A certain purification from egoism is the condition even of ethical progress and elevation, for social good and perfection; much more is it indispensable for inner peace, purity and joy. But a much more radical deliverance, not only from egoism but from ego-idea and ego-sense, is needed if our aim is to raise human into divine nature.</div>

[<ref> http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/23/the-release-from-the-ego#p2 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/23~~</~~the-release-from-the-ego#p2]~~ref>

As is said in the Upanishads, our whole mind-consciousness is shot through with the threads and currents of this Prana, this Life-energy that strives and limits, grasps and misses, desires and suffers, and only by its purification can we know and possess our real and eternal self.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/23/the-release-from-the-heart-and-the-mind#p4</uref>

= Yoga and Purification =

Thus purification, liberation, perfection, delight of being are four constituent elements of the Yoga,—śuddhi, mukti, siddhi, bhukti.[<ref> http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/24/the-perfection-of-the-mental-being#p12 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/24~~</~~the-perfection-of-the-mental-being#p12]~~ref>

Very often the earlier stage of the sadhana is successful, because there is an opening of the mind to first workings of the Force—afterwards the lower vital consciousness and the physical rise up and if these are not ready or inclined for the sadhana, it ceases. The sadhaka has first to purify and open them and call in the Force to work there and make all ready until he can bring the true consciousness and experience there. Yoga implies a long and difficult work and one must be ready to accept the necessity of years of preparation and purification and increasing consecration before the greater results can come.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/29/purity#p7</uref>

= Symbols of Purity =

== Water ==

The water is the symbol of the power of purification and no hostile being or force can resist this power handled with goodwill and sincerity.[<ref> http://incarnateword.in/cwm/12/arts#p151 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/12~~</~~arts#p151]~~ref>

== Frankincense ==

Frankincense: purification of the vital.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/15/christmas-messages#p51</uref>

== Agni ==

Agni: the flame of purification which must precede all contact with the invisible worlds.[<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14/will#p18 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14~~</~~will#p18]~~ref>

<div style="color:#000000;">If you had understood and reacted in the right way, you would have passed the test and got rid not only of this special difficulty but probably of this hostile's influence altogether. But you failed and got possessed. And only one thing was left to me to do, it was to flood you with the pure light, the white flame of purification to chase from inside you the intruder. It is what you took probably for a cut in our relations, a wall of separation between us; there was nothing of the kind; I was inside you, penetrating you as usual, but in the form of this supreme purity which is so foreign to all that is anti-divine or even to all ordinary human movement.</div>

<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/15/adverse-forces#p35</uref>No wall at all—only the pure light, the white flame of purification penetrating right through, from outside inside, from inside outside.[<ref> http://incarnateword.in/cwm/15/adverse-forces#p37 ~~http:~~</~~/incarnateword.in/cwm/15/adverse-forces#p37]~~ref>

The fire is always the fire of purification—it is very red when it is acting on the vital; when the vital no longer covers the psychic, then the rose colour of the psychic comes out more and more.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/30/sun-moon-star-fire#p38</uref>It is the purification of the physical that is usually indicated in the symbol of burning.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/30/sun-moon-star-fire#p39</uref>

== Lamb ==

It is a lamb, which means "purity".[<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/15/symbols#p13 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/15~~</~~symbols#p13]~~ref>

== White ==

White indicates a force of purity.[<ref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/30/colours#p13 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/30~~</~~colours#p13]~~ref>

The white sun indicates the purity and peace of the Divine Consciousness.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwsa/30/sun-moon-star-fire#p12</uref>

= Recommended practices =

Even if you were the only person in the whole world to give himself entirely and in all purity to the Divine—and thus being alone, misunderstood naturally by everyone upon earth—even if it were so, there is no reason why you should not do it.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/14/opinions-of-others#p24</uref>

== Writing ==

Sometimes it is easier when you write it down; you imagine that I am there and then take a paper and write on it what you wanted to tell me. Then just the very fact of formulating it clearly sometimes gives you the true picture of the situation and you can have the answer more easily. It depends, sometimes it is necessary, sometimes not, but if you are in a confusion, a kind of whirlwind, above all, if there is a vital upsurge, the fact of compelling yourself to put it on paper already quietens you, it begins the work of purification.[<ref> http://incarnateword.in/cwm/07/30-march-1955#p38 ~~http://incarnateword.in/cwm/07~~</~~30-march-1955#p38]~~ref>

== Instrument for Purification ==

Self-denial is a mighty instrument for purification; it is not an end in itself nor a final law of living. Not to mortify thyself but to satisfy God in the world must be thy object.<uref>http://incarnateword.in/cwm/10/aphorism-352-353-354-355-356#p7</uref>

Anugraha

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