Although a distinction can be drawn between spiritual and physical purity, the use of physical rituals of purification to demonstrate spiritual cleansing means that much emphasis is laid in most religions on being physically purified. Islam, for example, lists sexual intercourse, menstruation and childbirth as religious impurities, and certain objects and discharges as actual impurities; all of these have physical rituals of purification usually involving pure, running water. Other examples of religious significance attached to physical impurity are the complex regulations in Judaic law involved with the preparation of food, the "untouchables" of the Indian caste system, and the taboos related to leprosy in many systems. The emphasis on physical impurity and taboo is characteristic of animist cultures where the widespread belief in supernatural power attached to material (or natural) things and persons involves a danger which, if it cannot be avoided, can only be mitigated by ritual purification. In the Baghavad Gita, among the treasures of the godly are listed purity of heart (satya samshuddhi) and purity or cleanness (shaiycha), the latter relating to the vedic law "Be clean: reflect the absolute; do not steal". In the Christian tradition, sin or spiritual impurity "builds up" on original sin, creating spiritual disorder; order can only be restored by suffering, purification or "nights of the soul" and "nights of the senses".
Purity connotes the singleness or simplicity of a nature which finds satisfaction in it desires in God. The opposite of purity is uncontrolled or misdirected desire. It forms a part of that self-control which includes sexual purity but extends to include renunciation of the world and mortification of the flesh. It is not only the abstinence of illicit pleasure but the positive integrity of a will dedicated to God in perfect simplicity of purpose. It is not simply the sacrifice of innocent desires but the consecration of them, in striving after goodness in the widest sense. Purity of intention consists in seeking to please God in all things and to make His glory the object of every act and word. The pure heart constantly seeks God, holding fast to that purpose amid the multiplicity of calls and duties, responsibilities and claims.
The reward of purity is vision, insight and illumination. It is a certain freedom from intellectual illusion and error. The pure heart seeks not God's gifts but Himself. It knows that He is, not what He gives is the source of the true life of humans.
