What is the great obstacle to spiritual contemplation mentioned at the beginning of Chapter 35?

The beginning of Chapter 35 identifies a significant barrier to spiritual progress. It states that when one sets out to contemplate the supreme truth, "pride in one's own path becomes a terrible forest." The chapter emphasizes that there is "no obstacle more difficult and formidable than this pride." This concept is then illustrated through the example of people who, secure in their worship of a formless reality, look down upon devotion to a saint with a physical form like Sai Baba. Their intellectual pride and preconceived notions prevent them from experiencing the truth, a barrier that, as Chapter 35 later shows, can only be broken by direct experience and surrender.