Spiritual adepts teach us those practices which will help us clean off the grime of ages. There are two things which will help to purify us faster: the cleansing water of Naam and ethical living. Once we are taught the method of meditation and are given a contact with the light and sound of God, we need to engage in the inner practices every day. We need to set aside daily some time from our workaday life to commune with the current of light and sound within. The more we see and listen to the inner light and sound, the more our soul is cleansed, and the worldly impressions are washed away. The second helping factor they teach us is to lead an ethical life. In order to progress on our spiritual journey within, we need to overcome anger, lust, greed, attachment, and ego. These are the five pollutants that cover the purity of the soul. They drag our attention into the world. If we analyse these five negative traits, we find they are all motivated by our desire for transitory and worldly pleasures.
For example, we become angry when anything interferes with attaining our worldly desires. Lust is caused by the desire to gratify our senses. Greed results from our insatiable desire to amass either possessions, riches, and power, or name and fame. When we attain any of these we become attached to them and forget the spiritual values and our spiritual nature. Ego arises from pride of our transitory attainments: pride of wealth, worldly knowledge, and power. To help us overcome these five negative qualities, we need to review our thoughts, words, and deeds each day. This gives us a realistic picture of the pollutants which defile the soul. We can then resolve to improve the following day.
Spiritual adepts lay great emphasis on ethical living and speak of it as a stepping-stone to spirituality. Sant Kirpal Singh used to say that it is difficult to become a human being in the true sense; but once we have accomplished this, it is relatively easy to find God. What is required is nothing short of the total transformation of one’s life. Let us devote our time to the spiritual practices so we can recover our innate God-given beauty. Once we develop it, we will reflect that radiance to all those with whom we come in contact. We will, in fact, shower
that love on all living things and on our planet earth. By restoring the ecological health of our soul, we will be purifying and uplifting all creation. Then, this world will return to the divine stage of godly bliss and ecstasy for which we were created.
Let us conclude with some verses from the poem, The Cry of the Soul, written by the famous poet Sant Darshan Singh Ji:
We are but drops of the same fountain of divine beauty,
We are but waves on the great river of love.
We are diverse blossoms in the Garden of the Lord,
We have gathered in the same Valley of Light.
We who dwell on this earth belong to one humanity,
There is but one God, and we are all His children.
