Talk on Sanskaras

We will talk for five minutes about sanskaras. What, really, are sanskaras? 'Impressions' is the literal meaning. Whatever impression the mind receives is called sanskaras, and then these sanskaras again have to be spent and experienced. All your actions and desires are given shape by these impressions. For example: In a camera you take different impressions of one certain movement, and many impressions shape that one movement. When you see one movement in the film you know how many pieces go to make up that one film. These are, let us say, sanskaras. They are imprinted on the mind. Now, naturally, any action, any thought, any desire will have its impression. Good actions, good desires, good thoughts will have good sanskaras; bad actions, bad thoughts, bad desires will have bad sanskaras. But good or bad — both bind, because both have to be experienced. Both have to be spent. So it is impossible to be rid of sanskaras by one's own self, because whatever you do, it binds.

You may think the highest thought ― it binds. So, too, does pity, compassion, virtue, gratitude; all these help to bind. 'I pity,‘ I am grateful,' 'I fast,' ‘I pray,‘ ' I want God,‘ ' I want Union with God.' All these bind; — so how to escape from these bindings? You see, and this mere seeing binds. This will leave its impressions on the mind. You scratch your head, this too, binds. There is satisfaction. That is why the soul has to go through numberless phases of illusion, because duality is based on sanskaras. You seek the Supreme. As a matter of fact, you are supreme, but you are entangled in illusion. How can you escape?

Everything binds, everything gives a sense of 'I'. Whatever you aspire to binds, and so everyone, whether poor, rich, healthy, sick, philosopher, sinner or saint, have moments of depression and unhappiness due to the soul being burdened with this load of impressions on its mind. How to escape from this load?

The only wanting, the only desiring that binds for freedom is love. The lover, too, wants. The lover wants Union, but in this union the 'I' gets so feeble that the binding, instead of hindering, helps to free. The moth around the candle-flame wants union with the flame, but the wanting 'I' is so feeble that the moth does not think for a moment about the result and is not a bit afraid of being burnt. Why? 'I' in love is very feeble. It is clear?

Many people do not know what God-Realization means exactly and so they say, "We are realized". One Parsee, who had come to the birthday celebrations here, saw me for the first time and told Dr. Ghani the following: "Up to now I thought people who had mastered any art or science to be God-realized." Many have wrong ideas. In the whole universe at this moment there are only 56 Masters. There are always 56 God-realized on earth.

The universe includes the gross, subtle and mental worlds. Fear, compassion, too, are no good. Only cowards fear God. To fear God is to strengthen duality. By loving God you weaken duality, and the fun of it all is that when you realize God, you know you are God and have always been God. Not by just a logical understanding — but by knowing you are God.