Even though we all seek happiness and the spiritual path promises the highest form of bliss, why do people not stick to the path?

Men are eager to get happiness and when there is a prospect of earning undiminishable happiness, they jump at the idea; but, they are soon tired of the effort. They seek shortcuts, lean on others to carry their weight, and aspire for much fruit in return for little cultivation. But, rigorous discipline and steady faith are absolutely necessary for success in the spiritual struggle. To have that discipline, one has to control the senses which drag the mind towards the pleasurable attractions of the external world; to have the steady faith, one must control the wayward mind that paints attractive pictures in false colours to lure you on from birth to birth. If your intellect is sharp and free from prejudices and predilections, the Reality will reveal itself to you in a flash, for it is quite a simple thing. Only, one must be capable of seeing the problem in its basic essence, apart from all the jumble of irrelevancies.

– Divine Discourse, Aug 19, 1965.