Once, while I was on my way back from a trip to San Francisco and Las Vegas, I had various thoughts in my mind around wealth, success and the true purpose of life. Which was not surprising as I was returning from the land of the extremes – the US in general and Las Vegas in particular – where there is an excess of consumption, drinking, gambling, desires for material things.
I was wondering how to lead one’s life spiritually , be truly happy and fair to all ? A tough question. The answer, as always, came from remembering Swami Vivekananda’s teachings.
One has to be ready to receive the spiritual knowledge. One also has to be ready to see one’s true nature. We can try to be ready by reading our holy books, listening to the teachings of our Gods and spiritual men , etc. But we will not advance spiritually until we are pure. By that , I mean, indulge in clean living, thinking and speaking. In other words, one has to be pure first , to perceive one’s true divine and spiritual nature.
A necessary condition of purity is truthfulness. You cannot be pure if you speak untruths, or use falsifications in your daily life. Speaking the truth always can be very difficult in today’s world and can certainly cause us a great deal of discomfort and problems. However, there is no other way. To see God, you have to be always truthful.
One also needs love. Not the romantic or sexual love, but unselfish universal brotherly,or sisterly or kindred love for each and every being of this Universe.
So, the choice that we have is between purity and impurity. Also, between being sexual or non-sexual. If you think for a while, you will realise that being non-sexual is another way of saying ‘purity’.
Let your every thought, speech and action be guided by the 3 point test –
- Is the action pure
- Is it motivated by the truth and
- Do you let universal love guide you ?
