Now the four obstacles that one has to overcome, the four obstacles of a meditator; […]

The first obstacle is that we don’t recognize our essence because it is so close, so good, and so intimate. It is like our eyes, we cannot see our eyes. In the same way we are not able to see. That is one obstacle.

The second obstacle is that we have so many experiences; we have been born and have died countless times. We have encountered all kinds of extreme situations countless times; we have encountered subtle situations countless times, very sacred and holy situations countless times, unholy and dreadful situations countless times, and each one of those times was a very precious moment to recognize the essence. But we have not recognized it up to today. That is another obstacle; because we have so many experiences we therefore don’t recognize them.

The third obstacle is we don’t have trust and confidence in our essence, we don’t have trust and confidence in our gurus and we don’t have trust and confidence in our lineage. As a result of that we somehow don’t manage to get the best out of it, we don’t get the best fruition out of it.

The fourth obstacle is that it is something that we cannot comprehend. We are supposed to be Buddha, our essence is Buddha but we cannot comprehend that because we see so many undesirable things within ourselves and around us. Therefore, how can I be Buddha? So this kind of habit and obstacle is the fourth obstacle.

Tai Situ Rinpoche

source: “Nectar of Dharma: The Sacred Advice”. Vol. Three, pp. 129-130


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