Truth is a highly valued quality that is equated with God. It is, in fact, the basis of bringing people close to God. Truth achieves this purpose when it is visible in our life and our actions.
The basis of truth is cleanliness, or purity, and fearlessness. When we inculcate these two qualities on the basis of truth, divinity begins to radiate from our person. But this will not happen if there is any kind of dishonesty, carelessness or lack of cleanliness.
To be true means to have the consciousness of being a pure soul. We lose this awareness when we are influenced by any weakness. Complete purity is the original condition of the soul. Along with this awareness, there needs to be purity and truth in our words and deeds.
We need to check if our words and actions have any trace of falsehood. Are we naturally truthful or do we need to make effort to be so? Just as God is called the Truth, the soul is originally truthful. Truth indicates purity. Is that our natural state?
If we allow any defect or weakness in our thoughts, it will diminish our cleanliness. We avoid stepping on or touching any kind of dirt, but having bad thoughts is the same as stepping on dirt. Listening to or speaking of anything negative is akin to taking the dirt into the self. Being truthful and clean means not having the slightest impurity in our mind.
Fearlessness is another aspect of truth. What does it mean to be fearless? We need to be fearless in order to change our harmful habits. To say that one cannot change because one’s habits are too strong is not fearlessness.
Freedom from fear is also needed to harmonise our nature with that of others and to inspire change in others with our example. If we are afraid and wonder whether or not we will be able to achieve our goals, or if others will accept what we say, that too is not being fearless.
Being influenced by others because of their strong principles or their aura, to the extent that you hesitate to make known your own principles, is also a symptom of fear. We need to be fearless in all circumstances, even when we know that something untoward might happen.
Checking our purity and fearlessness will tell us how true we are, and how close we have come to divinity.
B.K. Geeta is a senior Rajyoga teacher at the Brahma Kumaris headquarters in Abu Road, Rajasthan.