Sanskaras prevent Self-illumination.: Human beings do not have Self-illumination because their consciousness is shrouded in sanskaras, or the accumulated imprints of past experience. In the human form the will_to-be-conscious with which evolution started has succeeded in creating consciousness. ... The experiencing of sanskaras keeps it [consciousness] confmed to the illusion of being a finite body trying to adjust itself in the world of things and persons.

Problem of securing release from sanskaras.: Individual souls are like drops in the ocean. Just as each drop in the ocean is fundamentally identical with the ocean, the soul-which is individualized due to bhas, or illusion-is still the Oversoul and does not really become separate from

the Oversow. Yet the envelope of sanskaras, by which. consciousness is covered, prevents the drop-soul from having Self-illumination and keeps it within the domain of

duality. In order for the soul to consciously realize its identity with the Oversoul, it. is necessary that consciousness should be retained and that sanskaras should be entirely removed. ... Henceforth the problem with which

the will-to-be-conscious is confronted is not that of evolving consciousness but that of releasing it from

sanskaras.

Five ways of securing release from sanskaras.: The release from sanskaras takes place in the following five

            ways:

1. The cessation of creating new sanskaras.:

This consists in putting an end to the ever-renewing

activity of creating fresh sanskaras. If the formation of the sanskaras is compared to the winding of a string around a stick, this step amounts to the cessation of the further winding of the string.

2. The wearing out of old sanskaras.:

If sanskaras are withheld from expressing themselves

in action and experience, they are gradually worn out. In the analogy of the string, this process is comparable to the wearing out of the string at the place where it is.

3. The unwinding of past sanskaras.:

This process consists in annulling past sanskaras by mentally reversing the process that leads to their formation. Continuing our analogy, it is like unwinding the string.

4. The dispersion and exhaustion of some sanskaras:

If the mental energy that is locked up in sanskaras is sublimated and diverted into other channels, they are '

            dispersed and exhausted and tend to disappear.

5. The wiping out of sanskaras.:

This consists in completely annihilating the sanskaras.

In the analogy of the string, this is comparable to cutting the

string with a pair of scissors. The fmal wiping out of sanskaras can be effected only by the grace of a Perfect Master....

Renunciation: If the mind is to be freed from the bondage of ever-accumulating sanskaras, it is necessary that there should be an end to the creation of new sanskaras. Fresh multiplication of sanskaras can be stopped through renunciation. Renunciation may be external or internal. External, or physical, renunciation consists in giving up every thing to which the mind is attached-home, parents, marriage, children, friends, wealth, comfort, and gross enjoyments. Internal, or mental, renunciation consists in giving up all cravings, particularly the craving for sensual objects.

... The person who renounces his possessions disconnects himself from everything that he had or has. This means that the things he renounces are no longer a source of fresh sanskaras. ... This is not all that'is achieved

through external renunciation. With the renouncing of

everything, he also renounces his past bindings. The old sanskaras connected with his possessions get detached from his mind; and since they are withheld from expressing themselves, they get worn out. ...

The renunciation of all superfluous things helps the wearing out of sanskaras and is therefore contributory to the life of freedom.

Solitude and fasting: The two important forms of

external renunciation that have special spiritual value are solitude and fasting. Withdrawl of oneself from the storm and stress of the multifarious worldly activities and ocassional retirement into solitude are valuable for wearing out the sanskaras connected with the gregarious instinct. But this is not to be looked upon as a goal in itself.

        Like solitude, fasting also has great spiritual value.

Eating is satisfaction; fasting is denial. Fasting is physical 22

when food is not taken, in spite of the craving for the enjoyment of eating; it is mental when food is taken not for

its delights and attachments but merely for the survival of the body. External fasting consists in avoiding direct contact with food in order to achieve mental fasting.

Food is a direct necessity of life, and its continued denial is bound to be disastrous to health. Therefore, external fasting should be periodical and only for a short time. It has to be continued till th€re is complete victory over the craving for food. ... When external and internal fasting are wholehearted and faithful, they bring about the unwinding of the sanskaras connected with the craving for food.

Penance: The unwinding of many other sanskaras can be brought about through penance. This consists in augmenting and expressing the feeling of remorse an individual feels after realizing that he has done some wrongful act. Repentance consists in mentally reviving the wrongs with severe self-condemnation. ... Self­condemnation accompanied by deep feeling can negate the sanskaras of anger, greed, and lust. ...

Self-condemnation sometimes expresses itself through different forms of self-mortification. ... To those of strong will and stable character, penance can bring the desired good effect through self-humiliation, which unwinds and eradicates the different sanskaras connected with good and bad actions. ...

... Penance should not be like everyday repentance that follows everyday weaknesses. ... Sincere penance does not consist in perpetuating grief for the wrongs but in resolving

to avoid in the future those deeds that call forth remorse. If it leads to lack of self-respect or self-confidence, it has not

served its true purpose, which is merely to render impossible the repetition of certain types of action.

Denying desires their fulfillment: The wearing out and the unwinding of sanskaras can also be effected by denying to desires their expression and fulfillment. People differ in their capacity and aptitude for rejecting desires. ... Even if someone has no control over the surging of desires, he can prevent them from being translated into action. Rejection of desires by controlling actions avoids the possibility of sowing seeds of future desires. ...

When desires arise and their release into action is barred, there is plenty of opportunity for spontaneous cogitation about these desires. This cogitation results in the wearing out of the corresponding sanskaras. ... When desires are denied their expression and fulfillment in action and are allowed to pass through the intensity of the fire of a cogitative consciousness that does not sanction them, the

seeds of these desires are consumed. The rejection of desires and the inhibition of physical response effect, in time, an automatic and natural negation of the past sanskaras.

Desirelessness : Rejection of desires is a preparation for desirelessness, or the state of nonwanting, which alone can bring about true freedom. Wanting is necessarily binding, whether it is fulfilled or not. When it is fulfilled, it

leads to further wanting and thus perpetuates the bondage of the spirit. When it is unfulfilled, it leads to disappointment and suffering, which-through their sanskaras-fetter the freedom of the spirit in their own way.

There is no end to wanting because the external and internal stimuli of the mind are constantly alluring it into a state of wanting or disliking (which is another form of

wanting) something. ... When the mind is trained to remain unmoved and balanced in the presence of all external and internal stimuli, it arrives at the state of nomvanting. And by not wanting anything (except the absolute Reality, which is beyond the opposites of stimuli) it is possible to unwind the sanskaras of wanting.

Poise of nonwanting and principle of neti neti : Wanting is a state of disturbed equilibrium of mind, and

nonwanting is a state of stable poise. The poise of nonwanting can only be maintained by an unceasing disentanglement from all stimuli-whether pleasant or painful, agreeable or disagreeable. In order to remain unmoved by the joys and sorrows of this world, the mind must be completely detached from the external and internal stimuli. ...

... If the mind is to remain unmoved by the onslaughts of the opposites, it cannot continue to be attached to the expressions of agreeable stimuli and be influenced by them. The equipoise consists in meeting both alternatives with complete detachment.

... Detachment should not be allowed to form any nucleus upon which the ego could fasten itself; and at ihe same time, it should not be an expression of one's inability to cope with the storm and stress of worldly life. ... Detachment can be integral and wholehearted only when it becomes an inseparable part of one's nature.....

Meditation; its nature and purpose.: Meditation is deep and constant concentration upon an ideal object. In such concentration upon an ideal object, the person is conscious only of the object of meditation, completely forgetting the mind as well as the body. Thus no new sanskaras are formed and old ones are dispersed and

exhausted through the mental activity of dwelling on the object of concentration. Finally, when the sanskaras completely disappear, the soul as individual_zed is dissolved in the intensity of concentration and is merged in the ideal object...

... The more successful and deeper forms of meditation are preceded by deliberate and constructive thinking about God, the Beloved. Meditation on God is spiritually most fruitful. ... Meditation should be spontaneous and not forced. ... It should not be influenced by the currents of the diverse feelings of lust, greed, or anger.

Selfless Service: ... When a person is completely absorbed in the service of humanity, he is completely oblivious of his own body or mind or their functions, as in meditation; and. therefore new sanskaras are not formed. Further, the old sanskaras that bind the mind are shattered and dispersed. ... Selfless service is therefore one of the best methods of diverting and sublimating the energy locked up in the binding sanskaras.

Selfless service is accomplished when there is not the slightest thought of reward or result, and when there is complete disregard of one's own comfort or convenience or the possibility of being misunderstood. When you are wholly occupied with the welfare of others, you can hardly think of yourself. ... Your act of help or word of comfort supplies to others whatever might be lacking in them; and through their thoughts of gratitude and goodwill, you actually receive more than you give.

Freedom and fulfillment through ­

Service, Love and Devotion: Thus through living for others, your own life finds its amplification and expansion.

... Selfless service is completely achieved only when an individual derives the same happiness in serving others as in being served himself. The ideal of selfless service frees him from the sanskaras of craving for power and possession, of self-pity and jealousy, of evil deeds actuated through selfishness.

Love: Selfless service and meditation are both spontaneous when they are inspired by love. Love is therefore rightly regarded as being the most important avenue leading to the realization of the Highest. In love the soul is completely absorbed in the Beloved and is therefore detached from the actions of the body or mind. This puts an end to the formation of new sanskaras and also results in the undoing of old sanskaras by giving to life an entirely new direction. Nowhere does self-forgetfulness corne so naturally and completely as in the intensity of love. Hence it has been given the foremost place among the methods

that secure release of consciousness from the bondage of sanskaras.

... Thus there is no room for the diversion of mental energy, and concentration is complete. In love the physical, vital, and mental energies of man are all gathered up and made available for the cause of the Beloved, _ith the result

that this love becomes a dynamic power............... .

[Devotion] : When love is deep and intense, it is called bhakti, or devotion. In its initial stages devotion is expressed through symbol worship, supplication before the deities, reverence and allegiance to the revealed scriptures, or the pursuit of the Highest through abstract thinking. In its more advanced stages devotion expresses itself as interest in human welfare and the service of humanity, love and reverence for saints, and allegiance and obedience to a

spiritual Master. These stages have their relative values and relative results. Love for a living Perfect Master is a unique stage of devotion, for it eventually gets transformed into para-bhakti, or divine love.

... The purity, sweetness, and efficacy of the love that the lover receives from the Master contributes to the insuperable spiritual value of this highest phase of love.