self-purification...

from BeliefNet's "Daily Hindu Wisdom" today:

The spiritual weapon of self-purification, intangible as it seems, is the most potent means of revolutionizing one’s environment and loosening the external shackles. It works subtly and invisibly; it is an intense process though it might often seem a weary and long-drawn process. It is the straightest way to liberation, the surest and the quickest, and no effort can be too great for it. What it requires is faith—an unshakable mountainlike faith that flinches from nothing.

-Mohandas Gandhi

One of the best ways to "loosen the external shaclkes" is a purification bath, or ritual bath. I suggest everyone give it a try, particularly on a Monday evening. We come home with the psychic dust and grime of the world on us after our first day back at work, and what better time to purify ourselves a bit?