Thursday, February 17, 2011

Can we purify our thoughts?


Hmmmm. Here's something that cthat conveys a lot of wisdom:isciple cameo the celebrated Master of the Good Name with a question. “Rabbi, how are we to distinguish between a true master and a fake?” And the master of the good name said, “When you meet a person who poses as a master, ask him a question: whether he knows how to purify your thoughts. If he says that he knows, then he is a fake."

A disciple came to the celebrated Master of the Good Name with a question. “Rabbi, how are we to distinguish between a true master and a fake?” And the master of the good name said, “When you meet a person who poses as a master, ask him a question: whether he knows how to purify your thoughts. If he says that he knows, then he is a fake."

-- Elie Wiesel

Yes, we can try to purify our thoughts. We will not succeed. The master who does not know this is not a master.
~~~

6 comments:

  1. Hi Ellie,

    Would you mind expanding on your comment that we "cannot purify our thoughts"....I understand that someone else can't, but aren't we called to "renew" our minds?
    annie c

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  2. Good question from Anna, and stimulating. Several thoughts come to mind - I think these are relatively pure anyway. : ) First, I heard Ellie's statement as meaning we will not succeed in eliminating all that is impure from our thoughts; that, no matter how hard we try, impure thoughts will return. That has been my experience – when I try that is. : )

    But scripture does teach that, on his return, Christ, the messiah, will purify not only our thoughts, but also our whole being. And this brings to mind the famous chorale from Handel's Messiah, "And he shall purify” preceded by Handel’s recitative and aria “Thus saith the Lord” and “But who may abide.” In writing these Handel used the words of Malachi 3:1-3. But the passage seems to indicate that the one who would do the purifying would be God’s messenger, which in this case appears to be the Messiah. See Malachi 3:2 “But who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth – as used in the aria that precedes the chorus, “And he shall purify.” I think it is interesting to note that Malachi 3:1 echoes Isaiah 40:3. Jesus, however, uses the Isaiah passage to point to John the Baptist, “This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord . .’” (Matthew 3:1-3) Yet, in Matthew 3:11-12, John the Baptist himself could easily be pointing back to the images of Malachi 3:1-3 to say that it is Jesus who is the messiah. Indeed it is difficult to imagine, without doing some convenient parsing, how the passage from Malachi can be interpreted to refer to any other than the prophesied Messiah. Yet in the Malachi passage it appears the messenger is the Messiah and that it is the destiny of the Messiah to prepare the way for God. I point these things out only because it fascinates me how the imagery of scripture is used differently in different places and by different speakers within scripture. To be clear, I see no contradiction here, only that different characters in scripture used their own history and spiritual heritage with different perspectives in different times and circumstances.

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  3. We are called to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, but I've always viewed it as an ongoing process--a process without end. In truth our mind is going to be new each day, but what sort of "new" will be there--pure, impure, positive, negative, angry, loving? We can always strive to purify our thoughts, but it isn't going to happen just as we should strive for perfection in life, but it isn't going to happen. I'm trying to think of a better comparison, but can't at the moment.
    Carolyn L.

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  4. Ha! This conversation suddenly reminded me of a meditation I sometimes do. You know the cleaning product, Scrubbing Bubbles? Sometimes when my mind really feels kind of contaminated or icky, I just imagine that there are scrubbing bubbles in my brain cleaning everything up. As meditative supports go, it's not a bad one!

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  5. Just remember not to inhale the Scrubbing Bubbles fumes:)
    Carolyn L.

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  6. Yup! We can always count on you, Carolyn, to caution us regarding the medical safety side of things! :-)

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