FROM A STATE OF BONDAGE TO A STATE OF FREEDOM
Meher Baba
Right from the beginning of human evolution, the problem of
emancipation consists in cultivating and developing good sanskaras
so that they may overlap and annul the accumulated bad sanskaras.
The cultivation of good sanskaras is achieved by fostering
experiences and actions opposite to those that predominate in animal
life.
The opposite of lust is love, the opposite of greed is
generosity, and the opposite of anger is tolerance or patience. By
trying to dwell in love, generosity, and tolerance, man can erase
the tendencies of lust, greed, and anger.
The general process of freeing oneself from the limitation of
sanskaras has therefore to be accompanied by the process of
renouncing the bad for the good. But whether a person happens to be
good or bad at any given time is dependent upon the inexorable
operation of his sanskaras. From this point of view the sinner and
the saint are both what they are according to the laws operative in
the universe. They have both the same beginning and the same end.
The sinner need not have the stigma of eternal degradation, and
the saint need not have pride in his moral attainments. No one,
however saintly he may be, has attained the heights of moral virtues
except after a life of moral failings; and no one is so bad as to be
unable to improve and become good.
Everyone, no matter how depraved, can gradually become better and
better until he becomes the best example for all mankind. There is
always hope for everyone; no one is utterly lost, and none need despair.
It remains true, however, that the way to divinity lies though the
renunciation of evil in favor of good.
The gradual unfoldment of good brings in its train love,
generosity, and peace. The good sanskaras deposited by the
manifestations of these qualities overlap and balance the opposite
bad sanskaras of lust, greed, and anger.
When there is an exact balancing and overlapping of good and bad
sanskaras, there is at once a termination of both types and the
precipitation of consciousness from a state of bondage to a state
of Freedom.
DISCOURSES, 7th ed, pp. 62-63
1987 © Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust
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