THE WINDING AND UNWINDING OF SANSKARAS

 
The winding process of sanskaras starts at the beginning of each one's entry into creation as stone, and this winding process is necessary for the evolution of the individual's consciousness. This winding process remains natural from the stone through the animal kingdoms. This process becomes unnatural at the human level of consciousness, because human beings do so many things which are not required for the progress of their individual consciousness.

Consciousness is fully evolved in the human form, and there is nothing required for furthering the evolution of the individual. Now what happens is that the human consciousness of every individual becomes stuck, because of the unnatural winding of sanskaras.

This happens because every individual mind is loaded with the impressions of previous lives, and while in different human forms, and while spending those sanskaras, mind becomes involved in many things that have nothing to do with the progress of his consciousness toward the goal. In this way, the once natural winding and unwinding of sanskaras becomes unnatural, and so it becomes extremely difficult to be free from the binding of unnatural winding, because these unnatural sanskaras do not unwind!

To keep the body healthy, food is necessary, and if anyone eats food necessary for the body's health, the sanskaras produced by the act of eating are natural. But if anyone commits suicide, or murders, or does some sexual perversion, the sanskaras produced by such acts are unnatural.

These unnatural sanskaras lie in the mind like knots. These knots are unnatural impressions of unnatural actions, and the binding of such impressions are very firm.

These knots are tight inside the individual's mind. The knot of unnatural impressions becomes so firm and tight that unwinding simply becomes impossible. For example, if one commits suicide one is stuck in the astral form for centuries, and if one commits murder one is stuck in the hell state for a long, long time.

Sanskaras must be spent. In human consciousness, if the individual's sanskaras are spent in a natural way, then the process of spending is short. Therefore the individual can fulfill what is required to prepare for his involution.

But when the sanskaras are spent in unnatural ways, then the process of spending becomes long and complicated, and it becomes virtually impossible to untie the knots of unnatural binding.

The Avatar works to keep the winding and unwinding process in a natural state. If this help was not rendered by the Avatar to humanity, it would be virtually impossible for human beings to unwind their gross sanskaras, and thereby enter the planes of involution.

Thus during the Avatar's manifestation human consciousness in the winding and unwinding of sanskaras is brought back into a natural state. Such work is unimaginable because the Avatar has to achieve this natural state in every individual human mind.

For the furtherance of the individual's own evolution or involution, natural sanskaras are essential for one's progress. Natural sanskaras are those impressions which are absolutely essential for the consciousness to evolve and involve.

For example, one must eat to live, so one must earn a livelihood, but one does not have to cheat, or steal, or murder to live. It is not during the process of evolution that one takes on unnatural sanskaras, it is in human form.

Human beings collect those sanskaras not necessary for the progress of their consciousness. Such sanskaras are called unnatural, because they have nothing to do with the real purpose of creation.

As a further example, suppose one decides to go on a pilgrimage to India. The way there is by plane. But if one decides not to take this trip straight through, and decides to sightsee in London or Paris, he will not be able to reach India for some time. Because of sightseeing, he gets more involved in these cities than involved in the purpose of his trip. If he gets entangled in the cities, he could forget his intended purpose, which was a pilgrimage to India.

The sanskaras collected while sightseeing represent unnatural sanskaras, because these sanskaras were not required to reach his goal — India. These sanskaras have nothing to do with India, which represents his destination.

In human form, such things as this happen again and again, and it is because of these unnatural sanskaras that the journey toward God becomes very, very long. And because of the complications that the unnatural sanskaras produce, it becomes always more and more difficult for one to reach the divine destination.

The path to God is straight like a rod. One has to travel straight from one end of the rod to reach the other end. If one has natural sanskaras, he follows the force which propels him on his journey, and so he reaches the other end soon.

But if one has unnatural sanskaras, he cannot help but zig-zag his way and he inevitably remains stuck in the same place. These unnatural sanskaras are like a rope that wraps itself tighter and tighter around the same spot, and one cannot continue his progress along the length of the rod. The natural sanskaras are also like a rope, but they wrap progressively around and around the rod, reaching further and further toward the end.

In the gross world, physical actions are necessary. In the subtle and mental worlds, subtle and mental actions are necessary.

Physical actions produce gross impressions, and if the physical actions are not natural, but are unnatural, then one gets very firmly bound in the gross world. One is stuck in the gross world, and it becomes virtually impossible for that person to progress toward the subtle and mental worlds.

When the Avatar comes as a man it is in order to wipe out these unnatural impressions, and he wipes out these impressions by severing them. Since these unnatural impressions have been produced by physical actions, the Avatar also has to perform physical actions to annihilate them.

Annihilation of unnatural sanskaras is his physical work in the gross world, and it is only when these unnatural knots of human consciousness are severed that we see he has come with a sword! For his work in the subtle and mental planes, the Avatar does not have to exert. It is only for the gross world that he must exert, and when he exerts, he suffers in order to cut through the unnaturalness in human consciousness. When his sword severs, it severs through to the root.

The Avatar cuts through all the unnaturalness in the world, and gradually makes a path that becomes clear and natural for mankind to follow.

These unnatural sanskaras are called the "sins of the world," because they are obstructions to the path of Truth.

The natural sanskaras are called the "seeds of destiny," because they are what is necessary and essential for making the journey toward God.

These unnatural sanskaras are obstructions in human consciousness in approaching the path of Truth, and because of them little progress in consciousness is ever made until the sword of Truth has severed their knots.