Walmart is the most “popular” store in terms of sales, but that doesn't make it the best. McDonald's is the biggest restaurant chain but that doesn't make it the best. China is the most populous country in the world, followed closely by India. That doesn't make them the best countries to live in.

    On the other side of the equation, restaurants that serve healthy, nutritious and tasty meals are often not very popular. And when those surveys are done that find where the best places to live are, the healthiest places, the places where people live the longest, etc., they are usually small countries, small islands, or small cities; places that are not very popular. So, apparently, being popular is not always the best thing.

    When it comes to spiritual growth, the most popular approaches are usually very simple ones because the idea of hard work is definitely not popular. But what results do the people get who attend those popular schools, or follow those popular spiritual writers with books that sell in the millions. Have they resulted in millions of enlightened and highly advances spiritual people? Unfortunately, they have not because those simple, effortless approaches simply don't work. All real spiritual schools going back to the Essenes, the Pythagoreans and even earlier ones have always taught the need to work hard at it and, while the arrival of the Sun of Righteousness make it somewhat easier today, it still takes work and dedication.