Only by removal of ego/Ahamkaar i.e. "I am this or that" one can become spiritual and for it there are only 2 main paths for spiritual progress, either Bhakti Marg of Prakriti(from Puranas), you call yourself to be servant of God and than live in world like Tulsidas, Kabirdas, Ramanujacharya etc., did or Gyana Marg of Purush(from Vedas), accept Sanyas/monkhood and in which you identify self to be infinite Brahman and do sense-restraint and call this world and your body to be a temporary dream and live for selfless work for the welfare of society like Swami Vivekananda, Ramana Maharshi, Shankaracharya etc., did.
The Remedy of Kaliyuga
(16) The honorable king [Parîkchit] said: 'By what means my Lord, do
the people living in Kali-yuga eradicate the faults accumulating
because of that age? Please explain to me how it is. (17) How about
the yugas, the duties prescribed for them, the time they last and when
they end, as also the Time itself that represents the movement of the
Controller, of Lord Vishnu the Supreme Soul [see also time quotes
page].'
(30) Sri Suka said: 'Kali-yuga is known as the age of ignorance, where
there is deceit, false testimony, sloth and lethargy, violence,
depression, lamentation, delusion, fear and poverty. (31) As a
consequence the mortals will be shortsighted, unfortunate, eating too
much, lusty and poverty-stricken while the women will act of their own
accord and be unchaste. (32) In the populated areas uncivilized people
will take high positions [and act like thieves], the Vedic scriptures
will be slighted by false doctrines [heretics], the political leaders
will devour the people and the twice-born souls will be dedicated to
their bellies and genitals. (33) The youngsters [the students] will be
averse to vows and impure in their engagements, the householders will
be beggars [with what they claim], the withdrawn souls [the
middle-aged, with no nature left to retreat into] will be
city-dwellers and the renounced order will greedily endeavor for
wealth [be engaged in 'reli-business']. (34) Smaller in size,
voracious and having many children, [the women will have] lost their
timidity and constantly speak harshly and with great audacity be as
deceitful as thieves. (35) The merchants will indulge in cheating so
that their business dealings will be wicked while the people
unnecessarily will consider any contemptible occupation [in the sex
industry or gambling business] a good job. (36) Servants will abandon
a master who lost his wealth - even if he is the best one around,
masters will abandon a handicapped servant - even when he belonged to
the family for generations, and cows will be abandoned [and killed] as
soon as they stopped giving milk. (37) Under the control of women, men
in Kali-yuga will be wretched and forsake their fathers, brothers,
friends and relatives, while regularly associating with their brothers
and sisters-in-law in a conception of friendship based upon sexual
enjoyment. (38) Laborers being dressed up as mendicants of austerity,
will accept religious charity to earn their living and mount a high
seat to speak about religious matters without any knowledge of dharmic
principles. (39-40) With their minds constantly full of stress,
emaciated by famine and taxes in times of scarcity with droughts on
the surface of the earth, oh King, the people of Kali-yuga will be
troubled by countless worries and live in fear. Lacking in clothing,
food, drink, rest, sexual love [vyavâya, also called 'change'],
bathing and personal ornaments they will appear like ghostly
creatures. (41) In the age of Kali one will even over a single coin
develop enmity [5.14 and 5.14: 26], reject friendly relations, kill
oneself [be suicidal] and even kill one's relatives [domestic
violence]. (42) Only interested in the petty service of the stomach
and the genitals one, even being born in a respectable family, will
not protect the elderly parents, the wife and the children. (43) Oh
King, with their minds diverted by atheism the mortals in Kali-yuga in
general will not worship the Infallible One, the Personality of
Godhead who is the Supreme Spiritual Master of the three worlds at
whose feet the various masters bow down. (44) In Kali-yuga the people
do not worship Him, even though He is the One by whom a person, who
dying in distress collapsing with a faltering voice helplessly chants
His name, is freed from the chains of karma and achieves the topmost
destination [see also B.G. 8: 10 and 6.2]. (45) The objects [and
food], places and the individual nature of man are as a result of
Kali-yuga all polluted [diseased, full of faults], but when one
installs Bhagavân, the Supreme Personality in one's heart, He takes
all this contamination away.
(46) Of those human beings who but even heard, glorified, meditated,
worshiped or venerated the Supreme Lord, the inauspiciousness is
cleansed away that from a thousand births accumulated in their hearts.
(47) Just as the discoloration one finds in gold because of other
metals is removed by fire, the impurities of the mind of yoga
practitioners are removed when Lord Vishnu has entered their heart.
(48) Education, penance, breath control, friendship, bathing in holy
waters, vows, charity and praying with prayer beads do not realize as
full the purification of the mind as the presence of Him, the
Unlimited Personality of Godhead, in the heart. (49) Therefore oh
King, do your utmost best to establish Lord Kes'ava in your heart; the
moment you die [here after this week] you will with your attention
focussed on Him attain the highest destination. (50) The Supreme Lord
meditated upon by those who are dying is the Supreme Controller, the
Soul and Shelter of All, who leads them to their true identity my
dearest. (51) In the ocean of faults of Kali-yuga, oh King, there is
luckily one great good quality: just by singing about [and meditating
on] Krishna['s name, see bhajans] one can be liberated from material
bondage and achieve beatitude [see also bhâgavata dharma and kîrtana].
(52) The same result one achieves in Satya-yuga by meditating on
Vishnu, one achieves in Tretâ-yuga by worshiping with sacrifices and
one achieves in Dvâpara-yuga by serving the lotus feet [of Him in the
form of a king], is in Kali-yuga achieved by singing about [and
meditating on the names of] the Lord [see also 11.5: 38-40].'
Every man has an subtle memory of animal nature inherited from his past births that drags him back to sense gratification and slavery of matter, goal of spiritual person is to win over that nature. Once succeeded permanently, one has realized himself. Self is master of matter, not its slave.
Swami Vivekananda
That man has reached immortality who is disturbed by nothing material
You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can
make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.
The goal of mankind is knowledge. . . . Now this knowledge is inherent
in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say
a man "knows," should, in strict psychological language, be what he
"discovers" or "unveils"; what man "learns" is really what he
discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of
infinite knowledge.