Later the same day, while explaining about sanskaras, Meher Baba stated:
By keeping company with a God-Realized being, a person’s worldly sanskaras get burned up through the Master’s spiritual heat. That is why those near a Sadguru derive great spiritual benefit, and the merit of those who serve the Master is indeed immense.
But their contact can only be formed if you have good sanskaras and deep devotion – the preparedness of past lives. Whatever we are, it is because of our sanskaras. When we are completely free from the bindings of sanskaras, we realize God.
Take the example of a ball of twine with many knots in it. The twine itself is in illusion because it finds itself bound by knots. The knots are the sanskaras and the twine is the soul. Because the soul is unconscious of its own Self as God, its attention remains focussed on the knots. To be freed from its knots, it must be taken hold of at both ends and twisted in the opposite direction – then all the knots will automatically come undone. The instant the twine is free of knots, it becomes conscious of the reality that it is twine (soul) and not knots (sanskaras), which had formed a snare of the body and mind. At first the soul had no real knowledge of its freedom, but now it knows itself.
Who is it who can twist the twine in the opposite direction and make it free of knots? It is the Sadguru. If one were to exert force and try to pull the knots apart, there would be the risk that the twine would break. To come down after realizing God the twine must be preserved intact. Otherwise, the abrupt and haphazard breaking of the threads here and there – to clear its intermingling – would render the person unconscious after Realization and he would be a majzoob (conscious of God but unconscious of the world).
So it is best to surrender yourself to a Perfect Master, who then takes upon himself the responsibility of eradicating your sanskaras and emancipating you. Once you surrender to him, it becomes his duty to lead you toward Knowledge and God-Realization.
–www.lordmeher.org,p796