PVPF 2024

Interview with Mohanji, author of ‘The Power of Purity: Essential Essays and Answers About Spiritual Paths and Liberation’

on Nov 16, 2021

Mohanji has written numerous books and published articles in spiritual and secular literature.

His book ‘The Power of Purity’ was published in 2011.

Mohanji is a Philanthropist and a Humanitarian. He is the founder of→ Ammucare, ACT Foundation, Mohanji Foundation, Himalayan School of Traditional Yoga, Dance, Language Martial Arts and World Consciousness Alliance. He has dedicated his life to serving the world. He is a lover of humanity believing humanity to be the best religion for humans.

Here is the interview with Mohanji –

Share something please about the book The Power of Purity.

The Power of Purity is a reflection of my teachings. It is a compilation of what I was speaking to the world from 2008 until 2011. When I started having public programmes, all the questions that I answered, which were pertaining to life and living, of usual individual paths, journeys, individual dilemmas, were recorded and transcribed. I had been sending some of them as messages, as questions and answers. So, Power of Purity is a compilation of all these things, categorized as per the topic of the discussion for the easy reference of an average reader. The Power of Purity is basically a manual of life. It’s about oneself.

After your daughter’s demise, you gave up everything materialistic and started seeking the path of contentment. How does a beloved person’s death change the family? Share your own experience,

I did not give up anything. In fact, I started viewing life differently. Before the death of my daughter, Ammu, I was looking at life as an opportunity, as a platform for explorations, achievements of terrestrial nature and stuff like that. After her death, the whole idea changed. It became more about contentment, fulfilment, which wasn’t anymore necessarily connected to material attachments or material accompaniments. I did not give up anything and some of the things I never needed dropped off. Some of the achievements, which probably were very important before the demise of my daughter Ammu, became completely insignificant later. So, when you have other preferences, or when your preferences change, certain things drop off from life. It’s not a deliberate thing. It happens that way.

The loss of a dear person from life makes you introspect, makes you contemplate, makes you look within and explore what is truth and what is not. Also, it makes you think in-depth about the follies of the blind pursuits of life. It realigns your life based on purpose. What is essential, what is not essential? Accumulation of wealth, for example, is only an emotional satisfaction. Many times, when you accumulate a lot of stuff, you don’t enjoy anything. You don’t experience anything. So, the death of a dear one puts a mirror on your face. It gives you an opportunity to look clearly at yourself and understand or analyze what is real and what is essential.

How can someone romanticize their life even if they’re surrounded by adversities and negativity?

Just like a child, when you look at life without expectations, in wonder, life is a romance. When you look at life with the weight of expectations, the weight of desires, inclinations and tendencies, life can’t be romantic all the time. But when you decide to change or when your attitude changes, and you start looking at life as an everyday happening, as an every moment thing, then you experience life with eyes of wonder, like a child. Then, everything is a surprise, everything is romance, everything is beautiful because when expectations leave, everything is fresh.

What have you felt till now on this journey of self-inquiry and searching for the truth of life?

I got clarity of purpose. I shifted from my gains, my material supports or achievements to that of what I can provide to this world. The purpose got clear. That was a major difference. When you live for the world, the world lives for you. When you give yourself to the world, the world gives itself to you. So, the major change is that there is clarity, there is a purpose and there is no stress of achievements, there is no stress of expectations. Finally, there is no stress of time, no stress of ownership and of doership. Things are simply happening, life is flowing. I’m delivering as best as I can, within my capacity. No expectations, no disappointments.

Can you please elaborate more about the book The Power of Purity, especially for seekers or non-casual readers?

Power of Purity, if you just turn the page, I think you will get an answer. If you just open a page and look where your eyes fall, most probably you will find some explanation to your situation. It’s more like a companion. It’s a manual of life. And if you know the manual well, life is easy. Like a machine, when you know how to use it well, when you are thorough with the manual, you can make the best use of that machine. This body is a machine. Life is mechanical, based on karmic flow. And when you know the pattern, when you know the flow, it’s easy to use, easy to experience. We hardly know anything about life while living, because we are occupied with the emotions connected to the events. But when you take a step backwards, when you look at life as you are witnessing it, it gives you much more meaning and purpose. It gives you clarity, it also gives you the reason why certain things happen. Even if you don’t understand the reason quite well for why certain things happen in life, you will know that there is a reason for everything, you will know that there is a past, present and future for everything. So, life becomes more meaningful. Power of Purity may give you that clarity, that meaning and that definition, which, of course, is a continuous process.

Life changes with time. It is something that always evolves; life evolves all the time. It is never static. It’s always changing. And as we start moving like a surf-rider, we will start to experience life with much more clarity, and much more alertness and effectiveness. So, I hope that the Power of Purity can give you more effectiveness to life.

When did you get the idea of establishing the Mohanji Foundation, and have you reached the objective of this initiative?

When activities started flowing and growing, the need for local authenticity became essential. Because of certain charity activities and money transactions, it became necessary to have proper accounts, proper audits and to be legally perfect. That’s the time when having a proper registered Foundation became a necessity. And eventually foundations happened. Now, it’s spreading in many countries – we have charity activities in 21 countries or more. So, wherever there is an activity, there should be authenticity and there should be transparency and accountability. As we handle public money, we have to handle it in tune with the government’s rules and regulations. So we had to have an organization to back it up. Every activity demands a certain structure, the increase in activity demanded a certain pattern too. So, this is the cause of our Foundations.

Your book, the Power of Purity described, describes the knowing path of spirituality and liberation. Why do you think the readers will resonate with this book?

Well, this is every man’s quest. Every person is asking themselves, WHO AM I? WHAT AM I? WHY AM I?

All those questions keep coming. I believe that every person has something to pick up from this book because there is something about all people in that book, something which resonates to all people, something which you can connect to. And that’s not something that will die with time. It will transcend through generations. Because life is kind of stereotyped in that way- it repeats, there are patterns: repeated emotions, desires, inclinations, tendencies. So people may pick up more and more details, clarity from the book, so they do resonate and that’s also why it is popular. Also, because of that, we are communicating further. So there is a reason, if there is no demand, there’s no supply. Here, there is a demand, there is a need for answers. That’s exactly where this book fits in.

How do we achieve being oneself? And why is it so hard to liberate from all illusions?

Being oneself is being natural, we are ourselves. When we try to compare; when we try to compete, when we try to imitate, we lose our identity. But when we look within and we decide to be our authentic self, then we are definitely unique and thus we are authentic. However, we mostly think that it’s easy to imitate, it’s easy to compare, easy to compete, and in that whole bargain, we lose ourselves.

Any quote you would like to share with our readers?

Life is full of changes. When we look at the catastrophes, we don’t see the transformation. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, a master calls a butterfly. This is life.