Question: Once a seeker becomes advanced, do all the obstacles to God-realisation vanish and does his realisation become a certainty in this incarnation?

Sri Chinmoy: Until you reach the Goal, there is no certainty. You may even be only one step from the Goal, and still you may fall. Even at the last moment you do not know whether you are going to win the race or not. Before God-realisation, the last trial is extremely difficult. Many really sincere seekers are about to realise God — believe me, in the inner world there is no more than an inch gap — but hostile forces attack them mercilessly and they fall. Then it takes such a long time for them to get up again. Some people take six months or two years or four years; others may have to wait for another incarnation. So always be on the alert and run as fast as you can towards your Goal. Do not stop until the race is won; otherwise, the pull of ignorance will take you back again to the starting point.