From: The Divine Companion by James Allen

 

 

Purity of Heart

 

 

Disciple:  While I am undergoing thy discipline and purification,

While walking the holy way of renunciation let me behold the beauty of thy Purity;

Reveal to me the Purity which is divine; for I would know the Highest, even Truth:

I would gaze upon thy face, O Master! I would behold thy glory;

I would see thee as thou art.

 

Master:  He who rightly renounces, who humbly purges his heart of self,

Who diligently searches for Truth not for selfish pleasures,

He, my lonely one, shall find my Purity; He, my faithful one, shall surely see my face,

He, my chosen one, shall come to me at last.

 

Disciple:  Thou art my refuge and my dwelling-place;

My eyes, I know, will rest on thee at last; my heart at last will stay itself on thee.

Show me the highest and holiest way, even the stainless way of Purity.

 

Master:  Thou art ready to be washed free from thy defilements;

As a vessel thou art ready to be cleansed;
and when thou art cleansed thou shalt be filled with the pure Water of Truth.

 

By these four things is the heart defiled: the craving for pleasures,

the clinging to temporal things, the love of self,

and the lust for personal continuance.

From these four defilements spring all sins and sorrows,

 

Wash thou thy heart; put away sensual cravings;
detach the mind from the wish for possessions;

Abandon self-defense and self-importance; and do not long for personal immortality.

Thus putting away all cravings, thou wilt attain to satisfaction;

Detaching thy mind from the love of perishable things, thou wilt acquire wisdom;

Abandoning the thought of self, thou wilt come to peace;

And not lusting for eternal life, thou will realize the incorruptible Truth.

 

He is pure who is free from desire; who does not crave for sensual excitements;

Who sets no value on perishable things; who is the same in riches and poverty,

In success or failure, in victory or defeat, in life or death;

Who does not set up his own opinions; who is willing not to be;

Lo, he it is who possesses my Pureness.

His happiness remains; his rest is sure; his peace is not disturbed;

He knows what constitutes holiness; he understands the stainlessness of Truth.

 

Disciple:  I will cleanse my heart with the cleansing of Truth;

I will be pure as thou art pure; I will put away the thought of pleasure;
I will not covet perishable things; my personality I will regard as of no importance,
ceasing to crave for its eternal continuance.

Death comes to all men, and the tears of sorrow flow;

But Truth is eternal, and its knowledge leads to peace.

 

I followed self, but it was filled with pain;

I followed the world but it was fraught with heavy sorrow;

But now, O Master of Truth I follow thee,

And thou art leading me to bliss unspeakable;

Thou direct my steps into the way of purity and peace.

 

Master:  Be strenuous in effort, strong in resolution;

Patient in endurance; so will thou overcome all sin;

Thou will become divinely pure;

Sorrow and pain thou will altogether subdue

And thou will acquire joy, strength and equanimity.

 

 

 

 

Renunciation

 

Disciple:  Teacher divine! Thy light is breaking in upon my mind,

I now know the cause of my sorrow and suffering;

I apprehend the sorrows of mankind,

For my sufferings are the sufferings of the world;

 

I see that sorrow and suffering are rooted in self.

That evil and woe are in the desires of self,

And that all the desires of self must be relinquished,

Guide me, O Master! into the way of self-sacrifice;

Teach me how to abolish self from the mind;

Reveal to me the truth about renunciation.

 

Master:  Renunciation, O disciple! is twofold;

There is renunciation in the letter;

There is also renunciation in the spirit.

The renunciation of outward things and particular acts only

This is the false renunciation in the letter;

 

The renunciation of inward desires and defilements

This is the true renunciation in the spirit.

Beware, O learner, of the renunciation which is false;

Perform thou the renunciation which is true.

 

Disciple:  Instruct me further in the renunciation which is according to Truth,
then I will embrace and perform it;

So shall I avoid the renunciation which is erroneous and misleading?

 

Master:  Seek no gratification in the things which thou do;

Look not for reward in the things wherein thou strive

Do all thy duties meekly, putting away desire,

This is the true renunciation.

 

Do not think of gain or loss to thyself,

Think not to obtain pleasure and avoid pain in thy acts;

Do all things faithfully that are necessary to be done,

This also is the true renunciation.

 

Sever not thyself from the world,

But relinquish all love for the world and its pleasures;

Do thy work in the world without thought of personal ends,

This, again, is the true renunciation.

 

Not by the outer things of the world is a man defiled;

He is defiled by the low desires of his heart.

To renounce the world and not to relinquish to clinging to self,

This is the false renunciation.

 

Not from riches or poverty,

Not from wife or children,

Not from power and servitude,

Not from these things do afflictions spring.

 

From indolence and self-indulgence,

From lust and covetousness,

From hatred and pride,

From these things only do afflictions spring.

 

Renounce the evil within, and the things of the world will not defile thee;

Put away all thought of self and whatsoever thou do
 it will bring to thee no suffering;

In all thy duties forsake the thought of self
and sorrow will never overtake thee.

 

He who quits a duty that is irksome, seeking happiness thereby;

He who flees from the scene of temptation,

Seeking strength thereby;

He who abandons his obligations, seeking bliss thereby,

Such a man, O disciple, falsely renounces;

He is deluded, and will not attain to purity of heart.

 

As a brave soldier, when death is inevitable he does not desert his post,

thinking of duty only and not of self-preservation;

So he who renounces truly, remains in his place in the world,
performing all his duties steadfastly, not thinking of self.

 

Renounce self, O disciple!

Renounce all the tendencies of self;
renounce all the passions and prejudices of self;

Renounce all the errors and egotism of self; such is the true renunciation;

Such is the sacrifice which leads to enlightenment and peace.

 

Disciple:  What, O Master, are the tendencies of the self?

 

Master:  Lust and self-indulgence, self-seeking and avarice, hatred and anger,

vanity and pride, doubt and fear, these are the tendencies of self.

These are the things that must be renounced.

 

Disciple:  And these things, O spirit immaculate! I will renounce;

I will obliterate them from my mind;
I will abolish them from my inmost heart;

For now I see how they lead men into ways of blindness;

they make snares of suffering for the feet of men;

they dig deep pits of sorrow for men to fall therein.

 

I rejoice, O Divine One, in that which thou hast revealed to me;

For thou hast opened unto me the highway of holiness;

Thou hast pointed out to me the straight path of peace;

Thou hast shown me how to walk the sure way of wisdom.

Thee will I follow; lead me to thy Law.

 

Master:  Blessed is he who follows where I lead;

He shall ascend unto high and Heavenly Places;

He shall behold with a vision that is faultless;

He shall see with the eye of truth which comprehends all things.

 

 

Galahad and the Holy Grail

 

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