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Aptavani-8
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you can still take birth as a donkey. Because Dadar station was only half a mile away, why did you roam for twenty-two miles? You ruined the road. So go become a donkey! It was only half a mile away, but you traveled twenty-two miles, and even then Dadar did not arrive, but some other town came instead. Then one will say, 'I did travel for twenty-two miles, so at least I gained the benefit of the twenty-one and a half miles!' But the response will be, ‘No, you are the one who traveled, and so you have to pay for the wear and tear of our road.' Therefore you have to pay a penalty. So this is how it is! The Atma is not easy to attain, and no one has ever found the Atma. Everyone will say, 'I am the Atma (Brahmaswaroop). I am the Atma.' But you will know, as soon as you insult him. He will immediately strike back.
Obstructive Causes in Spirituality
Questioner: Does race, caste, religious sects (pantha) and all that, create an obstruction to the direct experience of the Atma (Atma-sakshatkar)?
Dadashri: Nothing obstructs it. Anyone can attain the direct experience of the Atma (Atma-sakshatkar).
Questioner: No, but surely would all these religious sects (pantha), and race or caste (jaati) not present an obstacle?
Dadashri: They are an obstruction as long as the egoism (ahamkar) of race or caste (jaati) exists. The egoism of belonging to a religious sect, and the egoism of belonging to a particular race or caste, is all obstructive. And if one manages to extricate himself, and finds himself a Gnani Purush, then his problems will be resolved. Besides, these dogmatic people in religious sects still have a lot of wandering to do. That is because in the realm of the Lord, there is no need for opinion (matt), race (jaat), or anything else. There is no need for any religious sect, or even attire.
