In a Zoom meeting with ‘Yo Soy Tu Mismo’ (a group of Spanish devotees of Bhagavan Sri Ramana) on 17th April 2022, Michael James first answers the question:

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It has always been clear to me that human beings have a formidable potential to exert a positive influence on this world, and to transform it for the better and a more dignified life, but not to do so and to remain passive in the face of unnecessary suffering, I have always seen as a dereliction of our responsibility. To what extent do many people who do not yet feel a deep love for the Self come to this path and cling to it as a lifeline after feeling that their personal/professional life is a failure and so on this path they can free themselves from any doing or responsibilities as the only important thing is to take care of themselves?

and then answers more questions about this and other aspects of Bhagavan’s teachings, particularly the practice of self-investigation and self-surrender.

This episode can also be watched as a video, 2022-04-17 Yo Soy Tu Mismo: Michael discusses how we can help others only by rectifying ourself, and a more compressed audio copy in Opus format (which can be listened to in the VLC media player and some other apps) can be downloaded from here.