The Power of Cleanliness
Monday November 15 2004 08:06 IST
By Karmayogi
The Supramental Force
needs cleanliness to descend on objects. It is the external form of
cleanliness.
Inner cleanliness is purity.
Sincerity to the Divine is that purity. Our tradition has two
extremes. At the higher end, it says through proverbs 'Cleanliness will
feed one with food'; 'Even if you wear rags, wash them
daily'. At the other end people believe that if you clean too much, you
will lose what you have. A devotee married into an affectionate family. It was
very dirty. She started cleaning. Everyone who was fond of the new arrival of a
daughter-in-law suddenly frowned and abused her. They successfully prevented
her from cleaning.
One cannot take cleaning to great heights without orderliness. To put your
things in order, and that too in perfect order, especially when you have an
abundance of objects, will leave no time for anything else.
Cleanliness attracts grace. Grace comes to one in
every conceivable form, as accomplishment, appreciation, cheerfulness, rain,
money, good will, etc. etc. Often Grace comes only in one form.
For various reasons, cleanliness, especially perfect cleanliness, attracts a
greater measure of grace. It comes in floods in one field or in some measure
from several fields. It depends on the readiness of the soul and its ripeness. If
cleanliness attracts grace, its opposite also is true.
Any amount of grace can shower on one in spite of
dirt.
That is true of one who lives in the cave or one who has attained realisation
and awaits for the final departure. For us mortals, we can say cleanliness
attracts prosperity, one expression of grace, in direct proportion.
In the
experience of innumerable devotees,
cleanliness is more money, a smaller expression of grace. Rain is a
richer expression of grace. A further expression of grace is not to think of
rain or money or any methods.
One labours hard to bring down grace, especially in copious measures. And the
answer is instantaneous. Of course it is instantaneous after a prolonged work
of skill and efficiency spreading over all your activities. It is the unfailing
experience of the devotees that rain responds at once when we have no arrears
in homework. Also, it is the experience of the same devotees that 30 people
sitting in calling for 12 hours evokes a response of rain after a week or a
month.
Sometimes no response comes if the homework is in arrears. But one negative
comment of frowning against the pouring rain stops it at once. Often people ask
why a mountain of labour is needed to move grace and only one word is needed to
destroy it. It is the Power of Decision and the nature of negative work. He who
invokes grace sometimes finds the descending rain - grace - inconvenient as the
roof leaks or the floor oozes water. It only shows that though one successfully
evokes a richer expression of grace - rain - his foundation in grace is shaky.
Faith is that Foundation.