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42
BHAKTI-YOGA
kind. But we may get help from a comparatively inferior class also and as we ourselves do not possess intuition enough to judge the merits of the man from whom we are going to receive teaching and guidance ; so there ought to be certain tests, certain conditions, for the teacher to satisfy, as there are for the taught.
The conditions necessary for the taught are purity, a real thirst after knowledge, and perseverance. No impure soul can be really religious. Purity in thought, speech, and act is absolutely necessary for any one to be religious. As to thirst after knowledge, it is an old law that we all get whatever we want. None of us can get anything other than what we fix our hearts upon. To pant for religion truly is a very difficult thing, not at all so easy as we generally imagine. Hearing religious talks, reading religious books, is no proof yet of a real want felt in the heart ; there must be a continuous strug
