In good magazines, there are many advertisements about jobs. In that, the prerequisites of the post are mentioned. Generally, a part/page of the newspaper is allotted for this. A person who wants to pursue a job opens that page first. Each and everybody likes to see whatever they want to - like movies, politics, ads, jobs etc.

Similarly, what is the actual eligibility criterion to live in this world? Let us now know about the eligibility required for the worldly and spiritual lives. In this eon of Kali (Kaliyuga), for man to live happily, he must possess intelligence and knowledge. Sometimes, we may need to praise others only to satisfy them even if they are unfit. We cannot help it. Few people approach big Gurus to achieve success in the spiritual field. They may go to them either for fame or to satisfy their selfish motives, but they will not progress in that just because they have approached a big Guru. Having kindness, patience and a steadfast mind are the mandatory virtues in the worldly life. By possessing these qualities, one must search for a Guru otherwise; it is of no use at all. This means that we must be kind at least externally. In spite of listening to others, one must have a deep concentration on one’s goal. Remember that even if you have hatred in your mind, you must be very soft and patient externally. Else, you cannot sustain in this worldly life. Remember this! By being so, you can prosper and thrive. But in the spiritual field, for a seeker to progress ahead, he must necessarily possess the virtues like vairagya (dispassion), disposition and jnana (knowledge). Let us understand about these three qualities.

The first is vairagya. It is to understand that the worldly life is temporary. One who does not learn this has no entry into the spiritual field. This is the basic eligibility.

Secondly, we have disposition. Giving up deception in the worldly life indicates good disposition. Only then it is possible for us to attain vairagya.

The third is vijnana (knowledge). The spiritual field has more importance for jnana than in the worldly fields. In the worldly life, it is enough for the deeds to be pure. But, in the spiritual life, one’s thoughts also must be very neat and clean.

These are the main qualities that decide the eligibility into spiritual field. Basing on these, we can examine ourselves whether we have entered the spiritual field or not. We may also know whether we have progressed in spirituality or not in case we have entered. Hence, you yourself must check whether you have such eligibility in you or not. I pray Lord Datta to bestow his grace on you in this effort. Our inner self must be checked like a computer time and again about our growth with respect to our patience and disposition. These two are the tests for you. If we behave as per the eligibility mentioned for the spiritual and worldly lives, then alone we succeed.

Jai Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!