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THE WAY OF LIFE
of amity, etc. they cannot be called religious activities even if they conform to the prescriptions in the Shastras. If you want to be a man of dharma, your heart must abound in the quality of amity for all beings. One must be completely filled with compassion and thrilled with love. One's speech must be characterised by the attitude of neutrality.
SPIRITUAL AUSTERITIES ARE BEING PERFORMED WITH AN IMPURE MIND
You have enmity against benefactors. You hate your own relatives, your kith and kin. You are angry with your friends, .and acquaintances. You cause harm to other jivas. Yet, you come to the temple; you come to the Upashraya (religious centre); you come to the choultry (Dharmashala); you perform Samayik and Prathikraman (two spiritual activities) and you believe that you have performed spiritual activities. How long do you live this kind of illusory and pretentious life? How long will this spiritual intertia last? When will your heart be chastened?
From the Audience: Will not our hearts become pure in course of time if we continue to perform the spiritual activities in the same manner?
Maharajashri : For how many years have you been performing spiritual activities? What is the extent to which your hearts have grown pure on account of them? Have you really aimed at self-purification? Is the impurity of your heart abating? No. No. You have become fearless by performing outward rituals with substances. Do the religious activities performed with an impure heart bind you with Punyakarma ? Enough, that means you are concerned with Punyakarma and you are bound by it. If that is so why should you purify your heart?
Question: Will not the spiritual activities carried out with an impure heart bind us with Punyakarma (merit) ?
Answer: It does bind you with Punyakarma! Can you not prepare food using impure oil? How does food get prepared? You can make a cake even out of rotten wheat flour. But how? If you perform external austerities with an
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