they say what they experience. There are also some who, after reading Vedanta, realize that they have no such experience, but they still say, 'I am God.' This is hypocrisy. Also there are some imitation saints who, after reading Vedanta, have a genuine feeling and say, 'I am God,' though in reality they do not have any conscious experience.

"If anyone confers greatness on you and begins to worship you, and garlands you, you know yourself that you do not deserve it. At the outset, you are tempted to accept this greatness which makes you feel happy. But your conscience will be constantly pricking you and you will be always in a state of anxiety about future developments. You will be frequently in a fix whether to accept or reject the greatness which is thrust on you.

"Once you accept this conferred greatness it becomes very difficult for you to get out of the situation. After a time, even the pricks of conscience cease troubling you, for you get used to them. Then it becomes an addiction and you cannot do without it. You then pose as a real saint. This posing will cause you to take additional innumerable births; so why pose as a saint without inner experience?

"As for myself I say, 'I am the Highest of the High.’ Had I not been the Ancient One I would have encouraged you to visit the so-called saints. I would have even praised them and they too would have praised me in return. Thus a clique would be formed that would promote mutual praise to dupe the public.

"If any one of you meets an imitation saint or an imitation Avatar, what would he say to you? He would say the same thing as I do. If you tell him that Baba is the Avatar, he may even say, 'I am the real one, and that Baba is a fraud’! When anyone approaches an imitation saint and is attracted by the outward atmosphere which he creates around him, and if, owing to his faith in the imitation saint, he gets experience, he is likely to attribute them to that imitation saint. This creates confusion.

'Now I will tell you about an incident. During my recent visit to America, a gentleman who has been staying in America for a long time, remained by my side during some of my programs and particularly when the films and photographs were taken. This gentleman has studied and intellectually grasped what I have said, but misused it. From one of the letters from U.S.A. I hear that this gentleman has started telling people