The Three Obstacles

There are three kinds of obstacles on the path of Self-realization:

Prospective obstacles Current obstacles Past obstacles
Past obstacles: You do want to tread the path of God-realization, but are constantly reminded of the pleasures you have enjoyed in the past, of a person having given you happiness, or of some good thing that you happened to possess at some point of time. Alternatively, you may also be pestered by the thoughts of having quarreled with, having taken a loan from or having lent some money to somebody. One does want to persue his sadhana, but then, he has some pending job, which he thinks is more important to be done first. Some good or bad thoughts may come to one’s mind when he sits to meditate on God. Aversion towards an unpleasant thing and attachment towards a good one keeps our mind occupied in the thoughts thereof. This is the prarabdha caused obstacle based on some past deed or experience; and is a big hurdle in the process of the mental modes assuming the form of Brahman towards attaining Self-realization and is removed through practice and dispassion.

A certain fellow renounced his house and belongings to become a recluse. The Guru instructed him in meditation and told him to meditate inside a cave. Ten days later, the Guru visited the cave and inquired him how he was progressing in his meditation.

“Guruji! Whenever I sit for meditation, I see a black buffalo. We had brought a new one to our house. When I served with fodder, it would look at me. I had great affection for it.”

The Guru saw that this fellow was attached to the buffalo. This is what is called past obstacle. The Guru knew what to do. He told the fellow to meditate on that buffalo only.

Then it didn’t take him long to achieve accomplishment in meditating on the buffalo. His mind got fixed on the buffalo. The Guru then revealed to him that the Soul of the buffalo was verily the same as his own Real Self, thus directing him towards Self-knowledge. This was an obstacle brought about by past impression.

Current Obstacles: Attachment towards sense-objects, dullness of the intellect, lack of faith and fallacious reasoning are the current obstacles. One with a weak intellect will not attain realization even on being blessed with the company of an enlightened Guru. To make the intellect sharper, chew some basil leaves, offer libation to the Sun-god, and practise Suryanamaskaras. Discrimination, dispassion, contemplation and meditation on the percepts of the scriptures will make the intellect sharp and eradicate attachment towards sense-objects. Faith eradicates stubborn insistence. The holy company and discourses of noble and saintly personages and incantation of the Divine name eradicate the current obstacles.

Prospective obstacles: If one is predestined to take another birth, then too he won’t attain enlightenment even if he comes by a Guru. As it happened in the case of King Bharata, who renounced his kingdom and practiced penance on the banks of the river Gandaki. But there he developed attachment towards a fawn and ultimately, he died remembering the same fawn. As a result, he had to take birth as a deer in his next life. But the austerities practiced by him did not go waste, by virtue of which, he observed fasts on Ekadasi days even in the body of a deer. He wouldn’t even eat grass. He then attained a third birth, in which he was named Jadabharata on account of being inactive and inert (Jadu). He attained liberation through knowledge. This was the prarabdha in the form of prospective or predestined obstacles.

A rare few are faced with predestined obstacles. The sadhaka should not feel discouraged by the thought that he would have to face such obstacles. What he should do is to keep eradicating the past and current obstacles through discrimination, dispassion and satsanga.