 The magic of cleanliness
by Amal Hewavissenti
How far is cleanliness important
to man? Do you think his endeavours to stay clean are adequate in the
modern world? There is a tendency for any person who does not adhere to
the norms of cleanliness to fall aside. It is a simple truth, globally
acknowledged that poor health and uncleanliness are interwined and the
absence of both brings one within the realm of vibrant health that is
the greatest asset in life.
We tend to speak of cleanliness just when uncleanliness threatens us
with a variety of maladies and virtually cripple as health springs from
cleanliness.
Health and cleanliness gives rise to a dazzling personality and
infuses him with positive values. To make a long story short,
cleanliness promotes healthy human relationships and the mere lack of it
may alienate you even from your loved ones or make you basically unfit
to do the routine work with self-confidence and sureness.
 One can make the practice of keeping clean part and parcel of one’s
life from childhood and experience wonderful effects of it. One’s
behaviour is closely connected with and determined by one’s immediate
environment and nature itself. Being simple and light in our attitudes
in keeping with nature is highly rewarding and it is best if we can keep
thinking of what best matches our lifestyle and capacity.
Chemicals to cleanse
We should be extra careful of what we use to keep ourselves clean and
healthy. Constantly we should keep awake to the standard and
appropriateness of chemicals that are popularly used for body cleansing
purposes. Unidentified skin diseaces and other related disorders will be
the downright legacy of the non-standard chemicals that are daily
applied on the body.
Perhaps you may not be aware of the general truth
that with the exception of a very few harmful bacteria, all other
bacteria which are at work in our bodies are propitious to our health.
Uninterrupted use of chemicals to clean the body can possibly destroy
the bacteria which are much conducive to health and protect the body
against diseases and all changes of environment. Someone may be elevated
to high spirits by the fostered notion that he/she has applied cosmetics
on the body and thereby has become pleasant to everybody.
But he/she may
suffer the virtual effects of such chemicals on his/her body and thereby
develop various types of allergy and a tendency to be sick.
Environment counts
 Once the environment one lives in, is deplorably polluted and
unclean, it undermines one’s cleanliness and healthy living. The
bottomline is that however much extra careful we are about personal
hygiene, it is completely pointless if the surroundings fail to meet the
minimum standard of cleanliness.
The wave of diseases and epidemics currently causing a high mortality
rate in the country is the direct outgrowth of widespread negligence of
the environment we live in. Here it is a matter of man’s spirituality.
Man’s due respect for his environment is an absolute imperative because
his way to health and cleanliness depends largely on the cleanliness of
his surroundings.
More often than not, we are lamentably negligent of our own behaviour
pattern and attitudes when it comes to the healthful atmosphere just
around us. We are strongly used to take healthy children to hospitals on
our visit to a patient or we may touch or come in unnecessary contact
with the patients or beds in the hospital that are indubitably over
stuffed with germs.
Bright apple rotten inside
Physical cleanliness promotes mental vivacity and that in turn brings
physical well-being to a culmination.
 Someone, who abounds with mental health has the highest level of
physical calibre and both are interdependent to a larger degree.
Dispelling or effectively suppressing the negative feelings such as
anger, jealousy and hatred is proved to be the most successful method to
maintain ‘mental cleanliness’ which is perhaps the best.
Light
meditation practices will keep stress of mind and malaise at bay and
will heighten one’s power of concentration.
A malfunctioning mind will assuredly render outward cleanliness
ineffective because even a ‘clean’ face may reflect a bad heart. We
should not be a bright, fresh looking apple that is completely rotten
inside.
An unclean, negative mind can never be masked by a glamorous
appearance of outward cleanliness alone. We can achieve real cleanliness
and life’s pleasure through conformity to nature.
|
