PURITY: THE REAL ORNAMENT

“PURITY IS THE ORIGINAL AND ETERNAL FORM OF SOUL AND NATURE OF BEING CLEAN AND FREE OF VICES AND NEGATIVITY .”

The more you try to identify yourself more purity will come to your body, senses, mind, and intellect, because you have accepted your identity with real.

VISION OF BEAUTY :

Purity happens on the inside and the outside and can have different meanings for each of us. On the outside, of course, it means taking care of our bodies and keeping it clean. Purity on the inside means burning up the excess, burning up the crap that doesn’t feed us or benefit us with fire. The heat in our body-that which we make naturally and that which we build with a physical yoga (or asana) practice.

Something that may help you understand purity and the importance to meditate on purity is the simple Lotus flower. Lotus flowers grow in muddy water. These beautiful flowers grow in dirty water and actually help to clean the dirty water while creating in themselves a vision of beauty.

Saucha, on the inside and the outside, can provide you with a pure body inside and out, and like the lotus flower, help clean up the world around us, providing a better world for ourselves and those around us in a peaceful, building and wonderful way.

ABOUT PURITY :

we are likely to associate purity with the usual meaning of it, its connotation as we are wont to understand in our life in human society. Just as the meaning of the Yamas cannot be understood easily unless it is related to the great purpose of yoga, the niyamas also cannot be grasped with their full meaning unless their relationship to the aim of yoga is properly brought home to one’s mind by self-analysis. No discipline or practice has any sense or meaning unless it bears a connection with the purpose of yoga. The aim that we are after, the great goal of life, should have some connection with our endeavor. We do nothing in this world unnecessarily. Everything has a connection with the purpose that we wish to achieve finally. So, the goal of yoga should bear a connection or relevance to any practice we may engage in, whether it be yama or niyama.

What we call purity is a peculiar attitude of ours with respect to all things related to us in light of the great goal of yoga. It is difficult for an ordinary person to understand what is purity and what is impurity. We have no doubt a standard imposed upon our minds by our social routines, but this does not necessarily explain the deeper significance of saucha as understood in yogic practice. Any entanglement of consciousness in things or circumstances which have no constructive relationship with the goal of yoga is to be regarded as an impurity. This is the essential meaning behind the term saucha. If we do not take bath for several days, our body starts emanating a stink, and we feel that we are bodily impure, inasmuch as the stink or exudation of bad odor from the body on account of our not having bathed for several days is not in consonance with the principles of the maintenance of physical health; and health is regarded as the state of purity of the body. Inasmuch as health is considered as pure, anything that goes contrary to the maintenance of health is impure. Mostly, in orthodox circles, people understand by purity the cleanliness of the body. When we have taken a bath and worn fresh clothes, we feel that we are pure. We feel that we can then enter a holy temple, and perform puja, and sit for our prayers, Japa and meditation. This is a form of purity and a necessary form of it.

So, while the body has to be kept pure, the pranas, the senses, the mind, the intellect—all these have to be kept pure too. Purity implies the freedom of oneself from everything which cannot be set in tune with or set in harmony with, the ideal.

The first two stages are ethical preparations. They are yama (“restraint”), which denotes abstinence from injury (see ahimsa), falsehood, stealing, lust, and avarice; and niyama (“discipline”), which denotes cleanliness of body, contentment, austerity, study, and devotion to God.

Yoga holds with Samkhya that the achievement of spiritual liberation (moksha) occurs when the spirit (purusha) is freed from the bondage of matter (prakriti) that has resulted from ignorance and illusion. The Samkhya view of the evolution of the world through identifiable stages leads Yoga to attempt to reverse this order, as it were so that a person can increasingly dephenomenalize the self until it reenters its original state of purity and consciousness. An aspirant who has learned to control and suppress the obscuring activities of the mind and has succeeded in ending attachment to material objects will be able to enter samadhi—i.e., a state of deep concentration that results in a blissful ecstatic union with the ultimate reality.

BODY CLEANSING : { PURITY OF BODY }- SHATKRIYAS :

Shat means ‘six’ and kriya means ‘cleansing’. Yogic kriya removes the waste materials of our internal organs which are not expelled normally. Therefore, the aims of Hatha Yoga and of the Shatkriyas are to cleanse the internal organs and thereby create harmony between the major pranic flows, Ida and Pingala, and attaining physical and mental purification and balance.

1 -Dhouti (Cleansing the intestine) Dhouti Kriyas are meant for cleansing the upper intestinal tract up to the stomach. There are three types of Dhouti; jala Dhouti or vamana Dhouti, vastra Dhouti, and danda Dhouti. Jala Dhouti or Vaman Dhouti is cleansing the stomach with water. In this kriya, the lukewarm saltwater is drunk and vomited. In Vastra Dhouti cloth is used for cleansing the stomach. In danda Dhouti a rubber tube called ‘danda’ is used. In this technique, saline water is drunk and taken out through the danda which is pushed into the stomach. Dhouti practices are highly useful for gastric trouble, acidity, etc. It is good for asthma. Dhouti kriya activates the digestive fire and helps to have a good appetite.

2 -Vasti (Cleaning of the Rectum) The word ‘Vasti’ is a general term pertaining to the lower abdomen, belly, pelvis, and bladder. Vasti kriya is a Hatha Yoga process of yogic enema to clean the colon by sucking water through anus. The Vasti practices should be done in an empty stomach in the early morning. Vasti is practiced in different ways.

Jala Vasti (Yogic enema with water):- In this technique, the practitioner will be anus by practicing the Ashwini mudra. In other ways, a rubber tube may be inserted into the anus. After sucking the water the same will be expelled through the anus.

Sthal Vasti (dry yogic enema):-This technique may be done, sucking the air into the bowels, by performing Ashwini mudra. Then holding for some time and expel it through the anus.

Vasti cleans the colon by removing the gas and other accumulated waste material from the colon. Vasti helps in curing stomach ailments, increase appetite, a cure for constipation. The body becomes light and active. It helps to cool down the body heat of the advanced practitioner of Pranayama.

3 -Neti (Upper Nasal Cleansing) Jala Neti is intended for the purification of the nostrils. The nostrils must be kept clean. Unclean nostrils will lead to irregular breathing and cause all manner of problems. Neti are in four types namely; Jala Neti, Sutra Neti, Dugdha Neti (milk is used), and in Ghrita Neti ghee is used instead of water. Sutra Neti is a different technique of nasal cleaning where a waxed thread or a thin soft rubber catheter is used. Neti kriya, in general, purifies most structures in the head and neck. Neti kriya not only clears the nasal passage but also renders the nose resistant to many irritants.

4 -Nauli (Abdominal muscle and Viscera) Nauli is one of the important Kriyas to purify and strengthen the vital internal organs as a whole. It is a yogic technique of massaging the whole abdomen and stomach by contracting and rolling the abdominal muscles, especially the rectus abdominis muscle. The practice of Agnisara kriya and Uddiyana bandha are the preparatory practices for doing the Nauli. Naulis are three types:

Madhyama Nauli: – It is the technique of contraction and isolation of the rectus abdominus muscles at the center of the abdomen.

Vama Nauli: – It is the technique of contraction and isolation of the rectus abdominus muscles at the left side of the abdomen.

Dakshina Nauli: – It is the technique of contraction and isolation of the rectus abdominus at the right side of the abdomen.

5 -Trataka (Eye Exercises) Trataka is fixing the mind by gazing steadily to an object (usually a candle) without winking. While doing the practice relaxation of the eyes is important. This practice activates the tear glands and there by purifies the visual system. It improves the eyesight, promotes good concentration and will power.

6 -Kapalabhati (Cleansing Breath) ‘Kapala’ in Sanskrit means skull; and ‘Bhati’ means shine. So the term ‘kapalabhati’ means an exercise that makes the skull shine. This kriya cleanses the skull. Kapalabhati is a breathing technique for purifying the frontal region of the brain. It cleanses the respiratory system and the nasal passage and removes the spasm in bronchial tubes. Carbon dioxide is eliminated on a large scale and impurities of the blood are thrown out. The tissues and the cells absorb a large quantity of oxygen. The practitioner keeps up good health. The heart functions properly and the circulatory and respiratory systems toned to a considerable degree.

PURITY OF MIND :

The word, pure means free from any foreign elements or contaminants which impede our growth. It means being free from any toxins. It is in its original form. Healthy diet too is responsible for keeping our body free from toxic poisons. Over-indulgence of any form leads to abnormality in our health. We have the example of water purity or purity of milk etc. In the same manner, we have the purity of our body and mind. Our body could be made purified when it is kept hygienically clean but could it be applied to our mind or soul? Purity of our body is attained when we remove any unwanted contaminants from it.

Purity of our mind is attained when our mind is naturally pure, is free from unnatural impulses or negative emotions which hinder our onward march. Natural emotions are love, compassion, piety, pity, – these ensure our further growth and unnatural ones are violence/anger, greed, deceit, rancor, etc – stifle reason and further growth. How best to attain the natural beauty or purity of heart (just an innocent child) is by following the righteous course while enjoying all sorts of experiences (good or bad) in our lives.

We identify ourselves with our possessions, our status, our relations, our bodies and so forth. This identification results in attachment and prevents us from becoming more inclusive in our outlook on life. We could be all inclusive when we look inwards for our solutions. Our mind is like a flickering light. It has to be steadied or reined in through our inner resolve. When we keep ourselves away from the attachments, we shall have a different perspective in our life. We’ve to rise above the consciousness and adopt impersonal consciousness. For this to be reality, we’ve to erase the negativity from our system. Purity also means keeping ourselves away all those internal and external factors which defile us.

Then there is a requirement of having a balance of reason and emotion. If we take into account only the former one giving scant importance to latter or vice versa then there would be problem.

Purity is all encompassing. Purity plays a stellar role in our life. All the religions stress the importance of purity in our life. This purity is spotlessness in thought, action, being ethical, moral purity, innocent, have understanding, uprightness, purity in love, speech, faith and worship.

Spiritual life and Purity:

After having ensured cleanliness of our body, we can take the next step of imbibing all those traits which ensure our inner purity. The following are the steps for this:-

1. Keeping our body hygienically neat and clean.

2. For the mental health of ours, it is a must that we possess sound health keeping in mind the dictum: sound mind dwells in sound body. For this, regular exercise or Yogic postures should be regularly done.

3. Next step is to know ourselves, through SELF REALISATION. This could be done through self-analysis in the absence of which our life becomes a hub of contradictions and confusions. Our true nature has to be found out. In this, we’ve to pen down our finer points and weak areas. Then how best to plug those weak areas taking into account the situations / conditions that we have to surmount taking into consideration that everything happens in the temple of our body only. Anything untoward or unnatural has to be weeded out / undone and mental attitude changed. Mental blocks in the form of anger, jealousy, greed, envy, etc should have no place in our daily routines. These mental blocks dissipate energy from our system. Each and every day should be a learning experience for us .

4. We ought to follow purity in social, ethical, moral and religious standpoints for achieving higher plane of our life.

5. We have to act naturally since unnatural speech or actions create impediments not only to our body but also to our mental outlook. Living naturally means living and acting with freedom which our soul cherishes.

6. Meditation/Prayer should be an integral part of our daily routines taking in view that we all are the image of our Creator and cannot live apart from Him. Loving His creations is synonymous with loving our Creator.

When we are living a life which is compatible and amiable physically, emotionally, mentally, socially and finally spiritually means we are living a life as ordained by our Lord and that is a pure life.

Finally, it is opined, we have the freedom of choice whether we like to be pure or puerile in thought and action. None but we’re responsible for it all. Passing buck will stand nowhere neither here on this earth nor in the domain of our Creator.