Teachings
Purity of Mind - part 2
Why Doesn’t the Mind Turn Inward?
The mind is naturally inclined to focus on sense objects. This tendency gives rise to desires. Desires make it difficult to think of God or give an inward turn to the mind. Sri Ramakrishna explains the need for purity of mind: "The mind is like a needle covered with mud, and God is like a magnet. The needle cannot be united with the magnet unless it is free from mud. Tears wash away the mud, which is nothing but lust, anger, greed, and other evil tendencies, and the inclination to worldly enjoyments as well. As soon as the mud is washed away, the magnet attracts the needle, that is to say, man realizes God. Only the pure in heart see God."
How to Grow in Purity of Mind
Faith in ourselves: The Bhagavad Gita (4.38) teaches that there is nothing more purifying than Self-Knowledge. So as a first step in gaining purity of mind, we should remind ourselves of our true divine nature, our inherent divine strength. Says Swami Vivekananda: “The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength. Teach men of the strength that is already within them. Instead of telling them they are sinners, the Vedanta takes the opposite position, and says, ‘You are pure and perfect, and what you call sin does not belong to you.’ Sins are very low degrees of Self-manifestation; manifest your Self in a high degree.” We should look upon God as the whole of Reality, and ourselves as parts of that Reality; God as the divine Fire, and ourselves as sparks of that Fire.
We need to practice thinking about our higher nature and let that thought permeate all our other thoughts and actions. Swami Vivekananda calls this “selfconscious activity.” He explains its beneficial effects: “Teach yourselves, teach everyone his real nature; call upon the sleeping soul and see how it awakes. Power will come, glory will come, goodness will come, purity will come, and everything that is excellent will come when this sleeping soul is roused to self-conscious activity.”
Japa, or repetition of the divine name: God and His name are not different. The more we repeat the divine name, the less will we be able to think worldly thoughts. In Sri Ramakrishna’s words, the more we move toward the east, the more the west is left behind. But for japa to be effective, we need to repeat the divine name consciously, with an alert mind. Says Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi: “Repeating the name of God once, when the mind is controlled, is equivalent to a million repetitions when the mind is away from God. You may repeat the name for the whole day, but if the mind is elsewhere, it does not produce much of a result. The repetition must be accompanied by concentration. Only then does one obtain God’s grace.” Patience and perseverance will improve the quality of our spiritual practice and help us grow in purity of mind.