How to Stay Well
	Purity Of Mind And Body <  Previous Contents Next  >

That the body must be pure in order that health may be maintained is self-evident, and most systems of prevention and cure have given due attention to the insuring of physical purity; but physical purity is not sufficient to perfect health. There must also be mental purity, and mental purity means not only wholesome thought and right thought, but also the right mental conception of purity itself. We must know what purity actually is before the mind can be pure, because a false belief about purity would constitute mental impurity, just as much so as any form of unwholesome thought or desire.

A certain view of purity has declared that "To the pure all things are pure," implying the idea that things in themselves are always pure, and that impurity can exist only in the human mind. This view, however, though true in a certain sense, does not from the ordinary viewpoint express the whole truth; and the reason why is evident when we realize that it would be impossible for a mind to conceive of impurity that was living in a world where all things were always pure.

This same view has led many to the conclusion that if you are pure in motive, or mean well, you can do what you like; your action will be pure and right and good. In other words, so long as you think the action is pure it will be a pure action, regardless of what the moral code may decide in the matter; but such a conclusion can come only from a mind that does not understand the real meaning or the real purpose of purity.

When we know what purity means, we know that every thought or action that does not conform to the law of purity will be impure, no matter whether we think it pure or not. Our influence cannot make a natural cause modify its natural effect, and our thoughts cannot change the inevitable action of law. It is only superficial thinkers who believe that every action will be pure if we think it is pure, and that they can accordingly do as they please.

However, the power of thought is immense, and in the last analysis constitutes the cause of every condition that appears in the personal being of man. Nevertheless will any line of thinking be pure simply because you think it is pure? That is the question; and it is a question that the majority have neglected to consider.

When we say that thought is the cause and the only cause of whatever transpires in the personal man, we refer to the thought of the heart; that is, subjective thought action. Mere objective opinion cannot be cause, and has no effect whatever upon the forces of mind or body, nor does it affect circumstances or things in the least. You may think objectively that a certain action is pure, and at the same time there may be impure subjective mental states in your mind that are causing that very action to be impure.

In other words, if there are impure subjective states in your mind, the actions coming from those states will be impure, no matter how much you may objectively think and affirm that those actions are pure. As long as there are impure states in the within, there will be impure actions in the without, and your objective thought, or opinion, or belief about the matter will count for naught. This should be clear to everybody, and those who see it clearly will realize that a great deal of the thought that passes as profound metaphysics today is nothing but illusion; in brief, foundationless ideas that have sprung from minds that could not see the difference between objective opinion and subjective causation.

It is subjective causation that determines whether things are to be pure in your world or not. What you think of the matter in your outer mind will have nothing to do with it. True, you can so direct your objective thinking that it will gradually change subjective causation, but to do this your objective thinking must be according to mental laws, and not according to opinions.

The statement, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," might read, "Everything in the mind, body or environment of any man is the direct or indirect result of the subjective causations that are active in the being of that man." This being true, whatever change we wish to produce anywhere in life, the desired change must first be made in the causations within the subjective mind. There are many minds that change their opinions, only permitting subjective causes to remain unchanged, and then wonder why everything in their lives continues in the same way as before.

Most of these changes that are made in the objective opinions are not made according to the psychological laws, but according to the passing views that come from the various sources in the without. If you have changed your thought, but find no change for the better in your life, you may know that it is only your outer thought, your objective opinions, that you have changed; the subjective causes remain unchanged.

Whenever your subjective or subconscious mind is changed, there will be a corresponding change in your life, no matter how that subjective change was brought about, whether it came from old fashioned conversion, modern metaphysics, esoteric experiences, or profound scientific thought. But in this connection we must bear in mind that subjective changes, though coming in many ways, can be permanent only when we fully understand the laws of mental change and act accordingly.

This is why so few systems have fully satisfied, why nearly all of them have developed one-sidedness in their disciples, and why they have, in nearly every instance, become creed-bound. The full understanding of life is lacking in nearly all such systems of thought, because that full understanding is not sought. Nevertheless, they all possess a power for good, having the power of changing for the better subjective causations in one or more places.

To find the great laws through which subjective causations may be changed as we desire, it becomes necessary to learn what is really meant by the statement, "To the pure all things are pure." Since the statement was made by one of the greatest psychologists in history, it must possess absolute truth when understood from that viewpoint of consciousness from which it was expressed.

To find the true meaning of that statement is not difficult, however, when we realize that purity means to be in the proper place, and that impurity means to be out of place. In the last analysis, elements, forces and substances are not impure, but impure conditions may be formed amongst them when something transpires to cause those elements to be misplaced.

Since all impurity comes directly from the misplacement of things that are in themselves pure, we can readily realize that all things could be pure to those who are pure, because those who are absolutely pure would have the power to cause all things in their lives to be properly placed. Things would not be pure because those pure minds believed all things to be pure, but because they would naturally, through their superior power, change impurity into purity. When you attain such a complete mastery of yourself that all the elements, forces, functions and activities in your being are always in place, always doing what they are created for, and are never misdirected, you will have the power to properly place everything in your world.

Your understanding of purity and the proper placing of things will be so thorough that you will know exactly where everything belongs, and will have the power to place it there. Having become conscious of the true order of things, and being master of the situation, you will be able to establish true order, both in the within and in the without.

Having established absolute purity in your subjective mentality through your consciousness of absolute purity, everything that enters your system will naturally become pure at once, though it might have been impure before coming in contact with your life. Everything becomes warm when it enters a warm room, provided the heat is sufficient to overcome all opposite conditions; that is, when the heat in any place is absolute heat, everything that comes into that place will become warmth, no matter what it was before.

In the same way, when the purity in any place is absolute purity, everything that enters that place will also become pure. In other words, when everything is properly placed in a certain place and held in place by an irresistible power, everything that enters that place will also properly place itself. Negative conditions are powerless when in the presence of such positive conditions as are completely positive; and disorder cannot possibly exist in the midst of order when that order is complete.

When we realize the transmuting power of positive forces, we shall soon understand the full truth of these statements. It is a well-known fact that a strong personality naturally appropriates and makes a part of himself any force that he may come in contact with, provided that force is not as strong as the predominating positive force in himself, and he naturally transforms that force so that it becomes similar, both in quality and action, to the predominating states of his being.

A personality that is in perfect harmony, and that continues in harmony, becomes stronger and stronger, even when passing through conditions of extreme discord. The forces of discord are transformed as they come in contact with the system of a strong, well-poised personality, and become harmonious forces which he can appropriate and use. He meets the enemy, so to speak, and makes it his own. In like manner, the mind that remains unshaken in his convictions increases in power, influence and supremacy the more opposition he encounters.

It is the mind that falls down in the midst of opposition that fails utterly, while the mind that remains untouched and undisturbed becomes a giant; he not only retains his own power, but adds to his own the power of the losing opposition. Consequently, when the subjective states are properly placed, in harmony, in order, and in absolute purity, and you hold all those subjective states in absolute purity, the force of purity in your system will be so strong and so positive that it cannot be disturbed or changed by anything.

Whatever may enter your system while it is in this condition will become pure, no matter what it was before. The most impure elements and conditions will crumble into atoms in the presence of a force of purity that remains unshaken, and then reassemble again in a new compound, substance or condition that is absolutely pure. Whatever comes into your system, therefore, or into your world, will be transformed into purity at the very door, provided you continue in the consciousness of absolute and irresistible purity.

Upon the arch, above the entrance to the mansion of your life, you may safely write: "Whatever enters here leaves impurity behind." The demon becomes an archangel the very moment he passes through your door, metaphorically speaking, and the poison becomes a nourishing food the very moment it enters your system.

The wrong thoughts and hatreds, and the ill-will that may come to you from minds that do not understand you, will be transformed at once into valuable energies that you may use to develop yourself or build up your health, strength and power.

Those who do not accept this extreme conclusion, and it is certainly extreme, should suspend their judgment until they have examined those laws in nature that govern transformation and transmutation in the realms of nature. When we experiment in the chemical world, we can readily demonstrate that one force can entirely transform another force and make it a part of itself, provided the ruling force remains unshaken while the new combination is being made; and when we look into the human world we find innumerable illustrations to prove how an undisturbed mind, a mind forever standing firm upon his convictions, finally sweeps everything before him; but it remains for the new psychology to reveal the real secret back of these phenomena.

It has also been demonstrated through recent experiments that a positive mental force can, by remaining positive, transform every negative force or condition that may come into the same sphere of action; and when we know that all phases of impurity are negative conditions, perpetuating themselves simply through the indifference or the inactivity of the positive forces about them, we understand clearly the real truth that is back of the whole matter.

Then it becomes clear to any mind that the pure can cause all things to become pure, and that in the world of him who is pure, everything else will naturally tend to become pure. It could not be otherwise. He is the master when he chooses to be; and there is no greater mind than the pure mind. We conclude, therefore, that in this sense the statement is true, "To the pure all things are pure," because, in the life of the pure, impurity is at once transformed into purity.

Looking at the subject from a still higher viewpoint, we find that the pure mind enters that state of consciousness where everything is discerned in its original nature, and in that state everything is in place; that is, everything is right and in perfect order. In other words, the pure mind, having become conscious of absolute purity, can see all things as they are in that original state, or before they became misplaced, or misdirected by ignorant minds.

The pure mind naturally dwells in that sublime state, therefore to such a mind all things are pure, not because he simply thinks so, but because in that higher field of consciousness all things are properly placed; that is, in the realm of pure reality, everything is pure, and right, and good. By becoming pure, he has entered that loftier realm where everything is pure, and consequently he sees everything as such.

Every thorough student of life will eventually learn that there is an inner world back of the exterior, phenomenal side of things. It is the cosmic realm, and this realm, being beyond the interference of the human mind, understanding always remains pure. To enter this realm is to see everything as it is in a pure state of being, as in this realm everything is forever in its pure state; but no mind can enter this inner state and discern cosmic life until purity is attained, both in physical and in mental action. The disturbed, misplaced mind can discern only the discord on the surface, while the calm, serene, absolutely pure mind gravitates naturally to its own higher plane and enters the consciousness of that state of existence where everything is absolutely pure.

To train one's self to consciously dwell in that world within, beyond the turmoil of the personal man, is of the highest importance, not only to the health of the body, but also to the development of all the higher qualities latent within. It is ideal living; and it is not simply imagination; it is profoundly real and indescribably beautiful.

Back of the disturbed surface of life there is a pure, calm, beautiful state of being, as tangible and as real as reality itself. It is the kingdom within, and the source of all the unbounded possibilities in man. When one becomes pure, he enters that pure world; therefore "to the pure all things are pure"; because when one becomes pure he enters a state of being where everything is pure, always was, and always will be.

In perfect health there is always purity, and in absolute purity there is always perfect health. Disease can thrive only in the impure, and the impure always tends to produce disease. Therefore, one of the royal paths to health is to be absolutely pure in all things and at all times; that is, to be pure in body, in mind, in thought, in feeling and desire.

There is strength in purity, because in purity there is no waste of life; and in strength there is wholeness and health. The clean body becomes vigorous and virile. The clean mind becomes able, forceful and brilliant; and clean thoughts, feelings and desires invariably lead to greater and better things. Purity means life in abundance, and when life is abundant all the good things of life are invariably added.