BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART

Sant Kirpal Singh, 17.10.1972, Franklin englisch

The Bible says,  Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. What is meant by „purity of heart“?  Purity of heart means,  that no other thought strikes your mind except God and God alone – no foreign thougt. For they shall see God. When there is no other thougt except of Him Whom you want to see, that, I think, leaves ample room for Him to come. When the room is full of all unnecessary things – dirt and other things – how can we expect anyone to come into it? So all Masters say, if you want to see God, have nothing else except God in our mind, in our heart of hearts. This is true purity of heart. If any thought does occur to us, it should no be eliminated. But what do we do? In our worldly thoughts, we just forget God altogether. Truly spaking, in the thought of God we should forget the world.

Even the thought of our body is a foreign thought. Either you remain or He remains – nobody else. God is all alone; do you know? All scriptures say that He has got no parents, no brothers, no sisters .... so He wants everyone to come to Him all alone; not even with the body, you see; not even with the intellect. So truly speaking, this is want by „purity of heart“. Do you follow me?

You abide in me and I abide in you. What does that mean? You abide in me and I abide in ?-you, and no one else. If you have got anyone in your mind, in your heart of hearts, you keep Him in your heart of hearts, then naturally you will be in the heart of hearts of Him Whom you remember. Like radio; like television.... if there is no dirt in the instrument, then everything will be face to face. The first thing advised by all Masters is purity of heart.

Hitherto, you know, people used to sit at the feet of the Masters for years before they were given something to start with.  But now they cut the story short. So there should be nothing else except Him. When we go to Him, we should have Him in us and naturally we will be in His mind. What do we mean by the word „meditation“? Just the withdrawal of all our attention from outside and from the body below, is it not? With our whole attention, then ... He hears. He will sup with you and you with Him. So the whole thing depends on purity of heart.

For purity, many things are helping factors. Fist of all: you want to wash a cloth stained with blood; you want to wash the blood away. Can you wash it in blood? No. By water. So for that, the first thing required, you see, is honest earning. Somebody asked me about the phrase „sweat of the brow“. I never meant that they had to work hard, you see. Working hard is not necessary, but the earnings should be honest; whatever sort of earnings you have, you will develop that very effect in you. If you have gotten anything by ill means, naturally that will give that effect to anyone who uses those things. So that is the first thing.

Then comes chastity of thought. If we are not chaste, our attention is always drawn outside; that is the inspiration of our hearts – where we are attached.

So heart is the throne of God, you might say; let nobody sit on your heart except God. As we are now, everyone can sit there; and that stands between you and Him. This is what is meant by „cleanliness“.

Body is the temple of God, you know; God resides in it; and we also reside in it. Body works so long as we are in the body. We enliven the whole body. Even with so many doors open, we cannot run away out of it; some Power is controlling us in the body. That Power is the God-into-Expression-Power, which is controlling all creation.
So you and that Power both reside in the human body, which is the true temple of God. But if you want to have that God Power manifested in you, you must have your thoughts clean. We clean our bodies from outside; that`s all right; this house is to be kept clean outside. But we don`t pay any attention whatever to  the other, the inner, side. If a fish goes into very limpid waters, in which even the sand can be seen from outside, do you think the fish will leave its bad odor? No. So that Power within us sees our heart, you see – what we are doing. That Power sees the very tendencies by which we are being dragged out – unknowingly. Desire is the basis of all, as I told you this morning.

So outer cleanliness is all right, for health`s sake; but inner clenliness is what is wanted. Inner cleanliness is when we have love for all – no evil thoughts for anybody, what of speak of words or actions. As God resides in every heart, and we also reside in the same heart, if we love God, can we deceive anyone when God is with them? No. So you never have recourse to untruthfulness; he who does so must have a good memory. Suppose you tell a lie to somebody, or usurped another`s rights, or anything like that; if you have said anything about anybody to somebody else, you are always afraid of them , lest the secret be out. And if someone is telling lies, simply go on hearing what he says: today he will say it one way, tomorrow another way, after ten days a third way; the whole statement changes. But the man who is true to his own self, you ask him tomorrow or ten days after ot ten months after, he will say the same thing. He has got chaste thoughts; he will not like to deceive the God in you all, in me, in his own self too.

If God resides everywhere and we are children of God, brothers and sisters in God, and we love God, we necessarily love His children. Then why should we do something  usurping? For one`s own sake? If we have got dirty clothes on which give a bad odor, can we expect anyone to allow us to sit by him?  I don`t think so. If you have dirty clothes on, you will give out a bad odor; you won`t allow anybody like that to sit by you, and neither will he allow you. This is by way of explaining what is what. Guru Nanak says at one place, If a man is wearing dirty clothes with bad odor, can he ever expect those whom he loves the embrace him? No. So the first thing is, you see, purity of heart.

What is that purity? Again I say, all foreign thougths should be eliminated, except God. As I submitted already, God is all alone. He wants everybody to come all alone. When we go to Him, we take our bodies, our brothers, our sisters, our families our worldly affairs, this and that things – pleasures of this world or the next world. They are dirty clothes. Good or bad actions, you see, have the same effect. Of course, we have to start with good actions. But you see, love unifies; it eliminates all ego. An outer sword, if it is struck against anything, it will cut it into two. If the sword of love is struck, then two will become one. Than you will feel that I and my father are one.

It is spoken of Laila, the beloved of Majnu (in Persia), that once an injection was made and blood was taken out from her arm; and it is said that Majnu was so much in love with her, in unison with her, that when blood was taken from Laila`s arm, Majnu`s arm began to bleed. Thoughts are very potent, mind that. I have read books in which I have seen that he who thinks of the Christ being nailed to the cross, within a few days, his palms begin to bleed. You follow? When between you and Him remains nothing else, then, that thing will happen to you.

So it is said: People, where does this filth come from? Mind. Is it? Mind is under the control of outgoing faculties, and enjoys outward enjoyments so much that it is attached to them. You see, if a rabbit passes through a dung heap, he will have bad odor; there is radiation there. Each man has his radiation; whatever thoughts are there are radiated. Guru Amardas, when he succeeded Guru Angad, said I was some day like you – Saints don`t have to come down from Heaven; some were made here – I was some day like you but now I have risen through the grace of God, through my Guru. He dragged me up from the depths of  the poison of the outgoing faculties and brought me up. Then he compared his previous life and his present life; what did he say? He said, Sometimes bad odor came out of my body; there was radiation like that. Now perfume radiates from me. Do you know why? Just go into the thing. Thoughts have their own color, and their own parfume or bad odor also. I give you an example: every day you wash your face and hand with soap, and you may also use some perfume. Leave it for a week; you will see that there is a bad odor coming from your head. Where does that come from? That is the result of the thoughts within our minds. So Guru Armadas said once: People are after cleaning the body: the poor fellows do not know the whole thing is due to the mind within you.

Again, you see, every thought has its own color too. By radiation you can find it, if your yogic eye is developed. If there are thoughts of lust or anger, then the radiation will be as though a red black  color is coming up. Those who have got greedy thoughts, it is just like fire burning. If you have pure thoughts, then perfume will come. Our Master used to relate that once when he was passing by he smelled a sweet fragrance. He said, „I looked all around – where is it coming from?“ When he passed further, he found one man sitting there. He was a Saint – a  God-intoxicated man – and the sweet fragrance was his radiation. Those who have got noses, I would say now, they can smell that thing. Our Master was pure; he smelled it. We don`t, because there is so much dirt. If there is a ton of dirt, and we add a little more, what difference does it make? That`s why we don`t feel it. But those who have got pure hearts, if they even have the slightest addition of dirt, they will feel it.

When I was in active service (I was on the firing line for five month) I was given one orderly to cook my food – this was in 1921. I admonished him, „Look here: so long as you are in the kitchen, mind that, let no foreign thought enter you. Your thoughts may be in reciting the scriptures or in love of God“. He said, „All right.“ A day or two passed all right; at night on the third day when I sat for my meditations I felt something wrong. I called him at once in the morning: „Tell me, who was in your kitchen today? What were you thinking of?“ He said:“Nothing“ I said: „Don`t you tell lies!“ Then he said: „Yes, there was a man; we were talking.“

So my point is, if there is already too much dirt, and a little more is added, what difference does it make? But if there is no dirt – purity of heart means that thing.

So if you want, I will give you an instance: see to your aura. Each man has his personal aura: some are six inches long, some one foot; a spiritual man`s is much longer – as our Master said, you can feel that from a distance. Stand in the sun with your back toward the sun, and look to your shoulders, very intently, you will find smoke coming up. A little more attention and you will find that color there which is proceeding from your thoughts. That is why the Masters say,  whatever sins we have within us, they  give effect. Thoughts are very potent. Once Birbal, the minister of Akbar the Great, Emperor of  India, told Akbar, „Whatever you think of other people, the same thought strikes the other man too.“ Akbar asked, „What is the proof of that?“ Birbal said, „All right, let us go outside.“ Akbar the Great and Birbal both went out. At a distance a man was coming, from a furlong or so, Birbal said, „Have some idea about this man in your mind.“ So Akbar kept on his mind, „I will shoot him.“ When the man reached him, the Emperor
said: „Well, you are excused for anything you say; tell me truly, what struck you when you saw my face?“ The man said, „When I saw your head like that, I wanted to beat it down with my fists.“ These things are to be calmly considered, you see; ignorance of the law is no excuse. Don`t be foolish, I would say.

So purity of heart means no foreign thoughts: of anyone or of the world or of  your own self. This is what is needed. First is self-introspection – whatever you can witness by self-introspection, then weed it out. But last – all of the filth  can be taken out by coming in contact with that Power within you, the Water of Life within you. The sins of hundreds and thousands of births are washed away by coming in contact with that Light. Guru Ramdas says that if there are heaps of firewood there, and you put a litte fire to it, then the whole thing will burn to ashes. Similarly, there are heaps of our sins of the past ages – heinous sins. If you come to a Master and take a litte ray of that Light within you, that will burn it all away. So the outer things come first (through self-introspection). If we have to cut a tree down, it must be shorn of its branches first – to enable you to cut the trunk easily, that` s all.

So all Masters say, we want spirituality. Spirituality means knowing one`s Self  and knowing God – nothing more, nothing less. But that wants purity of thought. That is why two things are given to you. Times have changed; you are given something to start with the very first day, the soul which is overburdened with sins of the past, hundreds of births, is given a boost. The burden is a little shaken off. You are dragged upward. You see the Light to start with. And further you are asked to weed out all imperfections, to maintain diaries. And this is what is called spirituality.

When you introspect your lives, you see, don`t spare yourself. Criticize youself as you criticize others. And whatever is there, weed out. Simply saying. „I am a sinner, I am a sinner.“ that won`t do. So the first step is like that. You want spirituality, you want to meet God, is it not?

Desire is the basic thing, as I told you this morning. Desire. You desire something – to meet somebody, to have something, to take possession of something or somebody – what  do you do? You do your best by hook or crook to have it, to take possession of it. You won`t care what means you have adopted. And the attraction in the beginning, it appears to be very attractive, that thing. But later on, what is the result? You will find out ........ Sometimes you cannot have it, then you have to go through very evil means. That very thing is dragging your mind day and night to the outward things. You feel misery, you see. If you leave off that desire – then?

You see, suppose a man wants money, possessions. If he is after a hundred dollars, he will be after two hundred dollars, if he is after two hundred, he will be after a thousand. It will go on like that. Day and night he will be headlong into it; no time to even think of himself. What will be the result? You are drawn too far away from Him Who is within you. You will go where? Where you are attached.

So we people should understand what is what. Spirituality is not difficult; it is a very simple way. All these things which now seems very attractive to us, they result in misery. Guru Nanak says it is a halvah which is poisonous and besmeared with sugar. Even if it is coated with sugar, even then it is poisonous, is it not? All outside things appear to be very attractive, very nice – but the poison is there. They will drag you down, and the world is full of people like that.

So I am just putting before you that desire other than for God gives us misery from day to day. If we try for a thing, and don`t get it, then day and night we are thinking of it, we are ready to use fair means of foul to have it. The result is that we are too much attached to it. Naturally we will go where we are attached. This is what we have been doing in the past, in the man body. But the man body is the golden opportunity in which we could have retrieved our Godhood.

We have got, you know, discrimination. Make the best use of that. Discriminate – if it is right or wrong. The Vedas say, O God, lead me from the unreal to the real. We have got that discriminative power, each one of us. In the beginning, when you are just going to do somthing wrong, you have got a shock from within you – Oh! - from that. Suppose you have gone to steal somebody`s things. The first time you steal, you will be afraid, when you have done it once, twice, four times, ten times, you will be brave, you see. That imperial wall which you once broke, that voice from within, constant voice, does not come. In the beginning that always tells you that you are doing wrong, at your heart of hearts. You do feel, but you are dragged outside so much so you cannot .... you are dragged.

You follow me, what I mean by purity of heart? I am not telling you a new thing. These are all the things wich you allready know, but we have to live up to them. These very things which appear to be very attractive, very lovely, this and that thing – these very things later a result in misery, disappointment, and attachment to the world too. In another birth you will have to be attached like that.

So strange enough, there is one mind, one heart, and there are so many things, so many irons in the fire. Our heart  was meant for what? God. That is the throne of God within us. We should not let anybody take possession of that throne – except God. But every minute we allow everybody to take possession of our heart. And later on we are dragged like anything. What is the result? Every day that desire grows more and more. Mind is in such a position that whatever it wants, you give it. Still it wants more; it is not satisfied. The Upanishads say: „What is that by knowing which you need no further knwoledge?“ By having which you need no further possessiones? If you attach yourself to God – then?  All things shall be added unto you. These are words the Scriptures say.

 We simply luminate over them, you see, we read parrot-like. But we ourselves must go deep down into what is what. In the early beginning of my life, I was a student, you see; I used to read the Siks scriptures (I was born as a Sikh). That was a big voluminous treasure of spirituality, the sayings of as many Saints as Guru Arjan could take possession of. I used to open that scripture and read one hymn each morning – not two, three or four. I could put it in writing. All through the day, I would consider, „Well, what is in there?“ The more you go deep down, the more things come up. Masters`words are few and simple, but they are pregnant with meaning, mind that. The more you think over them, the more you go deep down into it, the same radiation comes to you. Your heart is pure, that`s the point. Thatis why it is said, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Newsletter 10/2005 from Unity of Man