Sanskaras

"Sanskaras" is the plural form of the Sanskrit word "sanskara" that is translated usually as "impression" or "imprint". However, I'm reluctant to use the word "sanskaras" when speaking with people who are unfamiliar with the term but using the terms "imprints" or "impressions" is equally unsatisfactory because these words by themselves don't convey what I'm trying to communicate. Interestingly and not surprisingly, the Wikipedia article on the term makes mention of Meher Baba in the following context:

According to Meher Baba, in the course of evolution sanskaras play a vital role in that they aid in the formation of conscious experience, and thus eventually bring about self-awareness in the human form, but then serve no further purpose. According to Baba they are actually a hindrance once full consciousness is achieved in the human form because they slant our experience of things as they are. The goal for the human being then is to be rid of them by "unwinding" them or through "shakings" caused by progressive variously opposite life experiences over many human lives in reincarnation, thereby eventually unveiling and revealing the true nature of reality and the true identity of the self. According to Meher Baba the ridding of sanskaras can be quickened by the help or guidance of a perfected master or satguru.

The article likens the effect to Sanskaras to that of "a lens through which the subjective aspects of our experience arise. Thus when we perceive (either thoughts or external objects) we apperceive those objects through the lens of past experience. We perceive through the imprint or conditioning of past impressions or sanskaras." Apperception is explained as:

The process by which new experience is assimilated to and transformed by the residuum of past experience of an individual to form a new whole" (Ledger Wood in Runes). In short, it is to perceive new experience in relation to past experience.

Example 1: We see a fire (visual perception). By apperception we correlate the appearance of fire with past experiences of being burned. Having combined present and past experience we realize this is a situation in which we should avoid placing our hand in the fire and being burned.

Example 2: A rich child and a poor child walking together come across the same ten dollar bill on the sidewalk. The rich child says it is not very much money and the poor child says it is a lot of money. The difference lies in how they apperceive the same event - the lens of past experience through which they see and value (or devalue) the money.

I was sitting in the garden this morning pondering such matters. Nearby somebody was revving a motorcycle and I was observing the impression that the sound was having on me. As always the impression was negative and I thought about some related words. One of them was oppression because from my perspective I was being oppressed, in the tranquillity of my garden, by the sound of the motorcycle. I struggled to suppress negative thoughts such as wishing the offender ill-fortune when he finally mounted his steed and roared away. It would seem that impressions may be the source of oppressions, suppressions, repressions and depressions so it is important to properly understand their mechanism.

The sound of the motorcycle was not loud enough to cause discomfort, only annoyance, and I was certainly apperceiving by taking the perception of the sound and relating it to my mainly negative experiences with motorcycle riders on the streets of Jakarta. Somebody else, hearing the same sound, might be reminded by happy bike riding days, wishing to be in the saddle once again and heading off on the open road. So I sat there and got slightly annoyed but at least I was reflecting on my annoyance. Reflecting on ones reactions is the best that can be done initially by becoming a witness as well as a participant in what is happening subjectively. If lost completely in subjectivity, there is no chance to perceive rather than apperceive. All spiritual masters are unanimous on the importance of this witnessing.