SADHANA : TPPTSP | SEL0187 | SWAMI SIVANANDA

|| GOODNESS , PURITY & TRUTHFULNESS | 299 - 300 ||

You must have a Pure mind to realise the Self < : GOD , BRAHMAN , THE ABSOLUTE : > .

Unless the mind is set free and casts away all desires , cravings , worries , delusion , pride , lust , attachment , likes and dislikes , etc , it cannot enter the domain of Supreme Peace and unalloyed felicity or the Immortal Abode .

Mind is compared to a garden . Just as you can cultivate good flowers and fruits in a garden by ploughing and manuring the land , and removing the weeds and thorns , and watering the plants and trees ; so also you can cultivate the flower of devotion in the garden of your mind by removing the impurities of the mind , such as lust , anger , greed , delusion , pride , etc , and watering it with divine thoughts .

Weeds and thorns grow in the rainy season , disappear in summer ; but their seeds remain underneath the ground . As soon as there is a shower , the seeds again germinate and sprout out .

Even so , the Vrittis ( modifications of the mind ) manifest on the surface of the conscious mind , then disappear and assume a subtle seed-state — the form of Samskaras , or Impressions , again become Vrittis either through internal or external stimulus .

When the garden is clean , when there are no weeds and thorns , you can get good fruits .

So also , when the mind is Pure , you can have the fruit of profound Meditation .

Therefore , cleanse the mind of impurities first .

SOURCE | SATYAVEDISM.ORG