We have been discussing about internal exploration and internal search to realize the Brahman. Jesus Christ underlines the importance of internal purity than the external cleanliness. Some people from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. There were offered food. They started eating the food without washing their hands. This was noticed by their master, who never liked Jesus. Great saints too have enemies. Take the case of Shankaracharya and Sri Ramnujar. They had a lot of enemies. There is a general rule that Pharisees and Jews should wash their hands before taking food. The master asked Jesus why his disciples were not following the rule of the law laid down by ancestors, meaning the external cleanliness. Jesus replied that the master was attaching more importance to man-made rules than the laws of the Lord.

Jesus clearly means that internal purity is important than the external purity. “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark7.3) and further adds “ For Moses said, Honor thy father and mother” (Mark 7.10). Here Jesus makes two points very clear. The first message He delivered was about the gross physical body which is of no importance in realizing God. The second message is respecting our parents. If we do not respect our parents and take care of them, there is no use of doing anything else. This is what Hindu scriptures also insist. Mother, Father, Guru and God in that order one has to worship. Jesus says “Listen to me and understand what I say. There is nothing that goes into a person from outside which can make him ritually unclean.” Thus Jesus does not attach importance to external rituals and external cleanliness. It is said that siddhas (worshippers of Shiva) do not care for the upkeep of their physical bodies. Christ continues “Rather, it is what comes out of person that makes him clean or unclean”. This can be explained as follows. Food that goes inside does not reach the heart (here it means the heart chakra.

We have already seen that the God resides inside a cave in the form self illuminating atman in the heart chakra). The food enters the stomach, which is of no importance to God-realisation. This means that the quality or purity of the food is not important in realising the Brahman. We have heard about many people living without food for a year or even more. What comes out of a person make that person either clean or unclean. What comes out means the thoughts of a person which get converted later into action. If thoughts are good, it results in good acts. If thoughts are bad, he does only evil things. If evil acts are done, your karmic account starts swelling, which results in miseries and sufferings in this birth and in the births to come.. So, we have to keep our thoughts clean and this is what Jesus said in Mark.