The heart must be pure...

"I am blind and do not see the things of this world: but when light comes from Above, it enlightens my heart and I can see, for the eye of my heart sees everything: and through this vision I can help my people.

The heart is the sanctuary at the center of which there is a little space, wherein the Great Spirit (Wakantanka) dwells, and this is the eye. This is the eye of Wakantaka by which He sees all things, and through which we see Him.

If the heart is not pure, Wakantanka cannot be seen, and if you should die in this ignorance, your soul shall not return immediately to Wakantanka, but it must be purified by wandering about in the world. In order to know the center of the heart in which is the mind of Wakantanka, you must be pure and good, and live in the manner that Wakantanka has taught us. The man who is thus pure contains the universe within the pocket of his heart."


Black Elk
in Whitall N. Perry
_A Treasury of Traditonal Wisdom_
Varanasi: Indica, 1998 (1971), pp. 819-820