The Bowl of Saki Commentary

That is to say, the root cause of our misery is our wrong attitude, and this comes mostly from our selfish outlook. The interesting thing about this selfishness is that while it may cause some harm to others—we may rob, steal, injure, or deceive others—the greatest and by far the greatest injury is done to the self. It is seldom if ever that one finds a happy rogue or thief. The very law under which they operate brings them poisoned fruit.

Repentance toward God which lifts one from the vestiges of selfhood is the one thing which will save humanity. If one has been a thief it may lead one to learn to be skillful, astute, wide-awake, faithful to one's profession, to acquire ability in concentration, and so develop many arts and faculties which can do one good. Those acquisitions are never lost, and whether one repents here, now, or hereafter, they will sometime help one in one's evolution. Only blinded by one's selfishness, one spends long years in the abuse of the Divine Attributes and so finds no satisfaction.