Progressive Purity

Question: Master, what is the best way to maintain permanent purity on all levels of my being?

Sri Chinmoy: To be very frank with you, to establish permanent purity at this stage is not possible. I am in no way throwing cold water on you. It is not that that day will never dawn. That day will come. But if you use the term ‘permanent’ right now, you will create difficulties for yourself. Today if you are extremely pure and tomorrow if you become impure, let us say, you will be disappointed, disgusted and disheartened. That would not be beneficial.

Only try to observe one thing in your life: progress. You know how much purity you had before you accepted our path. Now that you have accepted our path, try to see if you have established an iota of purity. Definitely you will see that you have established an iota of purity! Then, for a few months kindly pray for purity. You are bound to feel more purity than you have now. It is a gradual progress. As you progress, everything increases; even so, purity also increases.

When you want to see your spiritual growth and your real progress in developing purity or another quality, you have to pray most soulfully for that particular thing, let us say, purity. While you are breathing in and breathing out, please repeat in silence ‘purity’.

Quite a few years ago I told some seekers how they could achieve considerable purity. It can be done by repeating God’s Name daily in a specific manner. Kindly meditate and repeat God’s Name 100 times the first day, then 200 times the next day, 300 times the following day, then 400 times and so on. Every day increase the number, up to 700 times. Then, every day come down: from 700 times to 600, then 500, 400, 300, 200 and 100. This is a very significant process. If you try, you will definitely be helped by this process. This is known as japa. Seekers for hundreds of years have used this process. If you use japa beads, it will help you keep track of the repetitions. Again, during your prayer, during your meditation, if you just repeat ‘purity’ while you are inhaling and exhaling, you are bound to develop purity.

Instead of using the term ‘permanent’, you could say ‘progressive’, if you want to make progress in your purity-life. Today you know how much purity you have. Tomorrow, please try to see if you have made progress in your mind’s purity. Try to observe how many new pure thoughts you have, and how many old impure thoughts have left you. If you make a comparison between the purity-world of today and the purity-world of tomorrow, you will be happy to learn that you have made progress. It is progress that is of paramount importance. There shall come a time when you will be able to have abiding purity. But right now, only try to increase your purity every day. That will give you the joy and encouragement to progress.