To John the bee maker,
the prerequisite for the right practice is to associate with people of right view, people having attained right view or on the way to attain right view. It is hard, it is not easy for a person living a householder life to see, who has reached one of the four path to liberation, walks even in the direction of the four paths. And to learn to judge that, there is no other way as to start to practice by oneself. Just like a bee builder trainee would not know of whom is actually a real skilled person or just somebody who talks his way along, or a botcher, one who never start to take on serious practice, learns some basic skills by oneself would never know what the way is about, the skill is about nor where it leads or better where it does not lead to, not having even seen or recognized a skilled made bee. And without bee, the offshore will be failed easily.
There are less opportunities left and there are less people who have not fallen into great illusion, so it would be good to seek first for a association of people having reached one of the four paths and to be able to, to stick to serious practice.
If one is not a little secure and founded in the teachings, maintains the association with people of wrong view, of deep attachment so sensuality, deep attached to the world, seeking refuge in identification, there is no possibility for the ordinary man to find a way out.
If one seeks for the affirmation of his thought and his ideas of defilement, yet not overcome dependencies, desires, wishes, hopes even on a raw level, he will maybe find them here or there, but as the nature of constructed worlds are, even if there is a agreement of nourishing on each other, this relation will also fall apart, as a matter of compounded thing. Not that it is not natural that relations break apart, but what would be the reason, if the seek is just in regard of relations and no further, maybe even lasting aim?
It is not for sure that one has the outward prerequisites and if not, it would be much wiser to stay just with the simply stuff, practicing generosity and virtue as much as ones capacity might allow. There is no lost, if the walk is done even slowly in the right direction, but a whole lose if it is done quick in the wrong direction
Its up to you, your past merits and the choice you would be able to take in every present moment, as long as there is time. Nobody can do that for you.