What are the impurities of the mind?*

Thoughts are very whimsical. Thoughts also leave an impression on the mind, whether good or bad. The things that a person thinks will also affect his personality. If someone is thinking of beauty, if a person is constantly reflecting on beauty, it is quite natural that it will also make his personality more beautiful. If someone is thinking about God, about the divine, and his thoughts revolve around this, it is natural that his life will become filled with the divine. If someone is thinking about truth it is natural that truth will become part of him.

In this context I would like to ask you to reflect on the things which are constantly on your mind. What do you think about all the time? Most of you are either thinking about money, sex or power.

Many years ago there was a king in China. One day he went to the border of his kingdom which was by the ocean, and he took his chief minister with him. They were both standing at the top of a hill watching the ocean which stretched for miles. There were many ships sailing by, coming and going, and the king asked the minister, “How many ships are coming in and how many are going out?”

The minister replied, “My lord, if you want the truth, there are only three ships coming in and three going out.”

The king said, “Three? There are so many ships out there, don’t you see them?”

The minister replied, “I have seen only three ships: one of money, one of sex and one of power. We spend our whole lives traveling on these three ships.”

This is true: our thought processes travel on these three ships. And anyone who travels on these ships will not become pure in thought. He will have pure thoughts only when he gets off these three ships. So it is important for everyone to observe the thoughts that recur in his mind; what are the wounds in his mind around which his thoughts revolve. The thoughts to which his mind returns again and again will be his basic weakness. So everyone must discover this: is it money, is it sex or is it power? Do you constantly think about one of these things? Do you think about lying? Do you think about dishonesty, about cheating? These are all the minor things, the first three are the major points. If your mind revolves around these three then your thoughts are impure. They are called impure thoughts because as long as you are thinking them you cannot know truth.

Purity of thought is the same as what in India we call truth, goodness and beauty. Pure thoughts focus on these three states. How much do you think about truth? Do you think about truth at all? Do you ever wonder what truth is? In a quiet moment, does your mind ever wonder about it? Are you ever in anguish over the thought of truth? Do you ever feel you want to understand what beauty is? Do you ever feel you want to understand what happiness is?

If your mind is troubled by impure thoughts, then your mind is impure, and it is not possible to attain to enlightenment with an impure mind.

Impure thoughts take you outwards and pure thoughts take you inside. Impure thoughts flow outwards and downwards and pure thoughts flow inwards and upwards. It is impossible for someone who is thinking of truth, of goodness, of beauty, to not find his life colored by them.

<...>

So much depends on what you think about all the time. If you are constantly thinking of money and you are trying to meditate, then you are moving in two opposing directions. It is just as if you were to tie two buffalos, one on each end of a cart. The cart will break in two with the force of the buffalos pulling in opposite directions, and it will not move forward.

If your thoughts are pure then you will find that there will be immense changes in even your smallest acts. Life is not made of great deeds, it is made up of small things. How you get up, how you sit, how you talk, what you say –much depends on this. And the main source from where all this action emerges is the mind. <...>

So your thoughts should be oriented towards truth, goodness and beauty. Let there be a constant remembrance of truth in your life. Whenever you find time, reflect on truth, reflect on goodness and on beauty. And whenever you are about to do something, before you begin, think for a moment whether what you are about to do will be in harmony with truth, goodness and beauty or against them. If there are thoughts in your mind, consider whether this flow of thoughts is conducive to truth, to goodness and to beauty. If it is the opposite, then stop these thoughts immediately, don’t encourage them. They will be harmful to you, they will pull you down and ruin your life. So be aware of the kinds of thoughts that are running through your head and with courage, effort, perseverance and determination divert them towards purity and truth.

* excerpt from OSHO. The Path of Meditation