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DISCOURSE 17
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delights. But you acquire fresh merit if you use those means properly. If you misuse those means, you will acquire sin. If your punyakarma can bring a fresh merit to you, you will have a mind to utilise your merit properly and if it is such that it causes you to commit sin then you will have a mind to misuse it.
HOW DO YOU GET THE MERIT WHICH IS PUNYANUBANDHI ?
If you perform a pure austerity with an impure mind, you acquire from it the kind of punya or merit which only binds you with sin. If the austerity is pure and if your mind also is pure, you acquire punya or merit which is called Punyanubandhi (that which brings you auspicious fruits). By means of the merit called Punyanubandhi, the mind grows strong and perfect and only such a mind can perform great austerities. That is why I tell you repeatedly that you should have a pure mind and that you should perform spiritual austerities with a pure mind. Always keep endeavouring to dispel the impurities of your mind.
NEVER BE UNKIND OR HEARTLESS
Being unkind to those in distress; being ungracious and being indifferent towards the sorrows of others constitute one great impurity. "If somebody is in sorrow, what can I do? He must have committed some sin. If he is in sorrow, what can I do ?” Saying this is the worst kind of unkindness. "He has to experience sorrow because his sorrow is the result of his own sin of causing sorrow to others. Now, let him suffer and die". This is how a callous heart feels. "What is my relationship with him? I do not mind whether he is happy or unhappy". This is indifference and it is a disease of the mind. A mind which thinks thus is unfit to perform spiritual austerities. In the sphere of Dharma, extreme kindness and compassion for those in sorrow is considered essential. No one can enter the sphere of Dharma without possessing the virtues of kindness and compassion.
When someone is starving and is in distress, would you eat sweets and enjoy yourself? When somebody is lying naked on
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