" Though God-realisation is the ultimate destiny of all persons, there are very few who have the necessary preparation for the fulfillment of that glorious destiny. The mind of the worldly-minded is darkened by the thick layer of accumulated sanskaras, and these sanskaras must be considerably weakened if the aspirant is even to enter the Path.
The usual method to gradually dissipate the heaps of sanskaras is to follow, as strictly as possible, the external code of religious rituals and ceremonies.
This stage of external conformity to religious injunctions or traditions is known as the pursuit of shariat or karma-kanda. It covers actions like the offering of daily prayers, the visiting of holy places, the performance of duties prescribed by scriptures, and the observance of well-established rules of the ethical codes generally accepted by the moral consciousness of the times.
The stage of external conformity is, in its own way, useful as a spiritual discipline, but it is by no means free from evil effects, for it not only tends to make a man dry, rigid and mechanical, but it often nourishes some kind of subtle egotism. However, most persons are attached to the life of external conformity because they find it to be the easiest way of placating their uneasy consciences. "
~ Meher Baba ❤ ❤ ❤
