Suppose a small child was in a shipwreck and managed to swim to a small island where there were no people.  The ship was far off course in a storm so no one is searching in the area where the island is located and the child is not found.  The child survives on the island and is not found until twenty years later.
    Would you expect the child to speak fluent English at the time he is found?  Would you expect that during his stay on the deserted island, he had managed to learn several languages, advanced mathematics and be a brilliant brain surgeon?  Of course not.  The child could not have learned those things while stranded on an uninhabited island.
    The same is true for spiritual development.  You don't develop spiritually by accident.  You don't develop spiritually when trapped among people who have become total materialists with no belief in God or spiritual worlds.  Even when there are spiritual people around, if you avoid contact with them, talking to them, or training with them, than your ability to develop spiritually will be very limited.
    Let's say, for example, that you wanted to learn to play golf.  Would you learn best by:

• A.  Just get out there and try it
• B. Ask a friend who also has never played golf to teach you
• C. Get lessons from a local golf pro
• D. Get lessons from Tiger Woods

I hope you are smart enough to recognize that D is the best choice, followed by C.  That is why, especially in today's very materialistic world,  If you want to develop your spiritual side, you have to join a group that can provide that training.