How does spiritual cleansing work?

Although we are granted the blessing of a new opportunity on earth, we generally forget our essential aim. Instead of cleansing ourselves through constructive efforts, we incur heavier debts and imprison ourselves through our own actions. We return to the world to rid ourselves of our impurities, knowing that they are utterly inconsistent with the higher spheres. 

All that is superfluous and useless unbalances the harmony of life.