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"Marks of an earnest disciple are: An intense longing for the removal of sorrow and attainment of joy and an intense aversion for all kinds of mundane pleasure." Sri Ramana Maharishi
This quote of Sri Ramana Maharishi cannot be extended in any way, either. Disciples who want to achieve and to combat their ignorance in the form of the ego must sacrifice everything to this goal. This goal must be the greatest value to them. They must not submit to doubt, but proceed towards to goal steadily, determinedly, peacefully and with forethought. Many books have been written for their benefit, and the answers to all their questions can be found in them. The disciple must dedicate all their attention to the mind, how it processes sensory perception, and how it produces the image. They must search for hidden bondage in the mind, for blocks and illogical instances, and eliminate them using appropriate methods and procedures, always realising that all they experience is but a product of the mind, and seeking their real existence in the source.
Disciples must truly seek and long for knowledge and freedom. They must cast aside all that binds them, abide in the silence of solitude, steadily examine their mind, and solve the problems created by the existence of the ego. There is no half-way. Either you proceed towards freedom, or you remain a slave. There is no compromise, because the ego knows no compromise.
To reach the goal successfully, one must first liberate themselves from the addiction to smoking, alcohol, and other bad habits. No weak person, unable to shed the ordinary habits, can achieve liberation. Nicotine is pure poison. Alcohol intoxicates the mind already in very little quantities and prevents abstract thinking from developing for a very long time. This abstract thinking is necessary to examine and purify the mind. Eating meat is not directly detrimental to the mind's abilities, but in consequence, this attachment to needless cruelty does prevent one from achieving ultimate freedom. Each win, however small it be, is important for the overall victory, and the ego must not be left with any weak spot that could grow stronger again. The ego will never give in and it will use any opportunity to spring back to life. 
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