To illustrate the working of sanskaras, Baba one day took a mirror out of his coat pocket and explained:
Suppose this mirror represents the mind’s sanskaras while Chaitanya is Unconscious Consciousness. Now the moment Chaitanya is created in the unconscious mind, it arouses the sound sleep state of God to know its Self. Also at that moment sanskaras begin. The mirror, which was placed aside, now begins to move toward the eyes.
Drawing a diagram on the chalk board to illustrate his point, Baba continued:
One of the first movements of consciousness takes the mirror to the stone form where only a corner of the mirror falls within the boundary of one’s vision. The next movement, to the vegetable form, brings a greater area of the mirror within sight. The next, to the worm, fish, bird and animal kingdoms, brings a still greater area into view. Then the final movement, toward the human form, brings the entire area of the mirror before the eyes and one sees his own reflection therein and believes the reflection – the shadow of the Self – to be the Real Self or I, which is not true.
So the mirror, which was slanted with the evolution of forms, is slowly brought upright with heightened consciousness. But the soul, instead of seeing itself inside and toward its own body, sees into the reflection in the mirror and what it sees is illusion.
So what should it do now to see the Self? It must remove the mirror; not only remove it, but destroy it! That is, one must destroy the sanskaras which create illusion. If you do not destroy them, they remain as they are and present themselves again and again whenever you take birth. For example, the mirror is there, even when you have left bodies after bodies and taken another. Therefore, remove this mirror of sanskaras and see your own Real Self.
–www.lordmeher.org,p977