Once HISLOP asked SWAMI, "Last night, while speaking to the students, Swami said something very puzzling, that another person's sins would pass to oneself through the touch of that person's skin!!!" "Does Swami mean that if I touch a person, I then commit sin in the same way as he?" BABA replied, "For that reason only, some Swamis will not allow devotees to touch the feet. Since one cannot be sure who is bad and who is good, it is best to refrain from touching." BABA continued & gave an amazingly beautiful answer: "When the tender plant of devotion begins to grow, it must be protected. When a young tree is growing various animals will eat it and may kill it. For this reason a fence is placed around the young tree to protect it. When the tree is grown it needs no protection. The same animals that would have first destroyed it now seek and find shade and shelter beneath its branches. When devotion is grown strong and intense, it will burn all sins. Until then, the person whose devotion is just new would see bad as bad and good as good. The person grown strong in his devotion may see bad as good and see good only. It is not just physical touch wherein lies the danger, but in mental intimacy also bad influences may flow from one person to the other. Your children are not your children; they are God's children. You should love them, but your bad thoughts should not pass to them. There is body relationship with mother, from whose body you came, and with grandmother from whose body mother came. Sisters and brothers are to be treated with respect. But with other people there is no body relationship. There is always good and bad in dualistic phenomena. Even when there is an Avatar, there must always be bad. Rama's foster-mother was his enemy. Krishna's uncle was his enemy even before he was born. Shirdi Baba was much abused. Not long ago, there was a man who challenged Swami to some tests. Stories appeared over a broad area, even in other countries. This man had some foreign people in his camp. Some of Swami's devotees urged Him to reply. But to reply would have been shameful. This yogi was eating nails and glass and so on. He created a special tank for a test of water walking. He sold tickets to spectators for up to 100 rupees and more per ticket. On the appointed day he stepped on the water and sank in the water. The police had to put him in a cell to protect him from abuse, and all the money was refunded. Now, people said, what a fool he had been to challenge Swami. His disaster was a result of the foolish challenge. Later, the man wrote to Swami disclaiming any serious intent to challenge, and confessed that he had used Swami's name just to increase ticket sales. The man is gone and now nothing is heard about him. The man was actually walking on water. But ego and greed arose, and that finished it. (Attached SWAMI's photos) Thought, word, and deed must be the same."
