Unselfishness
Do you mean to say that the Spirit of God can ever be impure? Of course not! But, alas, it has been covered over with the dust and dirt of ages, through our own actions, good and evil. Various works that were not correct, that were not true, have covered the Spirit with the ignorance of ages. It is only necessary to clear away the dust and dirt, and, when we do, the Spirit will shine immediately.
How can you cleanse the Spirit? By renunciation. This is the one ideal Jesus preached, and this has been the ideal preached by all the great Prophets of the world. What is meant by renunciation? Unselfishness. Be selfless. That is the only ideal in morality; perfect unselfishness.
Here is the ideal: when a man has no more of his little self in him, no possessor, nothing to call "me" or "mine," when a man has given up that little self to God, destroyed his selfishness –– in that man God is manifest; for in him, all selfish will is gone, crushed out, annihilated. That is the ideal man. We cannot reach that state yet; nevertheless, let us worship the ideal and slowly struggle to reach it, though it may be with faltering steps. It may be tomorrow, or it may be a thousand years hence, but that ideal has to be reached. For it is not only the end, but also the means. To be unselfish, perfectly selfless, is salvation itself, for the little man within dies, and God alone remains.
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From Pathways To Joy. Copyright © Dave DeLuca 2006. All rights reserved.