Life is complicated. But a pure mind is simple. It is truthful and straightforward. It is intelligent and sensitive and reacts to circumstances in positive manner and is not bound by old conditioning. It responds from inner conviction and freedom of thinking. The pure mind has no time to indulge in falsehood or in deceptions.
The mind has four fold qualities of discrimination (viveka), detachment (vairagya) forgiveness (shama) and intense longing for liberation (mumukshutva). When these four qualities are well developed in a person, he lives with a pure mind and his life is wonderful. He sees the world with pure eyes and has the right and higher reaction to all events in his life. When there is right understanding about people and events, there are no problems.
When we live in right awareness of the Self as the Universal Consciousnesses, our mind is less likely to fall prey to temptations and desires. The pure mind has the ability to see beauty and harmony around despite the raging needs and demands of life. It can go deep into the problems of life and find the right solutions easily. It can easily see through self imposed limitations, baseless assumptions, limited knowledge and pinpoint the crux of problems and offer the apt solution. It is steady and can see the differences between the real from the unreal.
A pure mind rises from the mundane to the divine levels where it sees God in all. It enjoys making all living beings happy. It does not impose on others or seek favours from others. A person with pure mind lives with awareness of the higher goals of life and fulfils them. Let us see the life of one such person:
In the days of yore, there was a king name Rantideva. He was loving and generous towards all his subjects. His mind was simple and pure and he saw only goodness in all. For him, all creation was a reflection of his God Shri Hari (Lord Vishnu). He gave generous donations to the needy and treated the rich and poor, old and young and men and women alike. He believed that he was made king and given wealth so that he could serve all. He was very popular with his subjects and was well known for his ability to solve problems and give justice. Rantidev walked the path of bhakti of Shri Hari and performed his daily chores as offerings to the Lord.
Once there was a severe famine. Rantideva shared the food in the granary with all. He distributed all his wealth to the needy. He and his family would eat only after the subjects were fed. There were days when he and his family went hungry. The famine continued and conditions turned worse. Rantideva fasted for 48 days and someone brought him a bowl of porridge made of wheat flour, sugar and ghee. Overcome by hunger and thirst, he and his family sat down to eat. An old Brahmin appeared at the door seeking food. Rantideva received him with respect and offered him a portion of the food. As they all sat down to eat again, a beggar appeared at the door. His face was pinched with hunger and the king offered him a portion of the food. Then a sweeper appeared at the doorway with several dogs and begged for food. The king offered him the balance of the porridge.
The king and his family had no food to eat and sat down to have a bit of water to drink. Just then a low caste man appeared exhausted and dying of thirst. The king saw in him the form of Shri Hari and offered him water to drink praying to God: O Shri Hari, give me strength to help all my subjects. Let me be your instrument in serving all. As soon as the man drank the water, he looked refreshed and surprisingly, all the tiredness, fatigue and hunger disappeared from Rantideva and he felt refreshed and rejuvenated. Maya the Illusionary Power of Sri Hari appeared in front of him. She blessed him and offered him vast riches. Rantideva’s mind was absorbed in the form of Shri Hari and he refused the wealth as he has no more desires left. Maya disappeared and the enchanting, effulgent form of Shri Hari appeared. Rantideva worshipped Him and sought blessings that his mind should always be one with the Lord. He became a great yogi and finally attained salvation. All this was possible due to the pure mind of Rantidev, his love and service towards his subjects and all living beings.
