Touching a spiritual Master

Some spiritual Masters do not allow people to touch their feet because they may develop gout and all kinds of other diseases. In my case, on rare occasions I allow people to touch my feet. Indians want to show their Indian devotion. Some of my attendants are very strict. They will not allow anybody to touch my feet.

One boy at the Ashram was eight or nine years old. His mother told him that the Divine Mother was far beyond suffering and she felt no pain. The following day he went to the Mother while she was giving blessings. He said to himself, “My mother said that the Divine Mother is beyond, beyond, beyond pain.” He wanted to examine the Mother, so he pinched her very hard. The Mother screamed. He did not know why. He said, “My mother told me that you are beyond pain.”

When a mother tells her children something, they take it literally. Parents have to be careful.