Practice—is it futile?

It is morning time.  Sun is rising.  A ray of sun enters inside the cottage through a tiny hole of cottage wall made of straw.  There are millions of dust particles floating in that ray of sun.

Is it possible to clear up all those dust particles from the ray or is such an effort necessary and effective?  If this is considered just from the point of the shinning ray alone, it seems to be redundant.  Let there be dust or not, the shine of the ray remains as bright as ever unsullied by the dust.  Appearance or non-appearance of dust are passing phases.  So also, any process of cleansing.  Sometimes there may be water particles appearing in that streak of ray.  At another point of time, there may be nothing at all.  The ray is there to be in existence all the time, dust or no dust.

Sometimes the ray is invisible due to heavy load of dirt.  Some other time, it is quite clear and clean.  Rays are bright and effulgent.    

Same goes for Brahman.  Brahman remains always unaffected by all ups and downs, dust or no dust.  This is an ideological standpoint.  

Practical approach would be different from ideology. It is prudent to keep the surface of mirror clean so that the true image is reflected without any distortion.  This is why even the grand masters, who are highly evolved, had to take the guidance from their spiritual mentors on this line.  All great masters had their designated gurus.  Personal ego, born out of body attachment, is another reason for the initial process of learning under a master.  Additionally, association with a spiritual mentor helps in getting rid of attachment to body etc. which is an impediment to see the true Self.