It is a very necessary thing in the life of an adept to adapt one's mind and body to the spiritual life. In other words, it is necessary for one to become one's natural self before beginning one's journey on a spiritual path. It is this naturalness that is called by the orthodox "purity". For pure water or pure milk, means water or milk in its own essence; when another element is mixed with it, then the purity is lost.
To become spiritual means to purify one’s spirit from the foreign elements which take away the natural feeling of the spirit. Concentration, meditation, all these help to make the spirit its natural self again, but the vehicles that the spirit uses in order to experience life must help the spirit to become natural. These vehicles are the mind and the body. However great the musician, if the instrument is out of tune one can do nothing with it. To say that only the spirit matters, the body does not count, is not right. Therefore it is necessary that both mind and body be made fit vehicles first for the spirit to use.
The difference between a pious person and a spiritual person is this, that the pious person makes the mind and body ready for his own spirit to use, and the spiritual person, after making them ready, gives them to God. Piety is the first step and spirituality the next. There is no exaggeration in the saying that cleanliness is next to godliness. The body must be considered as the temple of God, and this sacred house of God must be made pure in every way; then the light of God is reflected in it.
Beasts and birds all have a tendency to be clean and pure, and for people it is necessary that they should develop this tendency. It helps, not only on the spiritual path, but also in the development of the mind. To artists in their art, to scientists in their science, in all aspects of life it gives happiness. When one neglects it, that does not mean that one does not like it, it is only out of negligence that one overlooks things that are of the first importance.
One’s body is of all things in the world the closest to oneself, and its influence has a great effect, and an immediate effect, upon one's mind and soul. A great many illnesses are caused by lack of consideration of the necessary cleanliness of the body, which is a science and an art in itself. On the soul and mind one’s own body makes the first impression; all other things come afterwards.
Yes, there are souls that have arrived at such a plane of spirituality that the condition of the body does not matter to them. But they are not to be followed as examples. It is the normal path which is safe and is for all. The question, “Would this not give one too much the thought of self?” may be answered thus: The thought of oneself exists when the light of God is absent; in the presence of every beautiful object one forgets oneself.
|
