07. Obstacles in Practice
There are many different possible obstacles that can arise in one’s practice: lack of motivation, time, uncomfortable emotions, the list goes on and on. In this article we’re going to take a closer look at one obstacle in particular and it’s usually the first obstacle to show up under one of its many guises. We somewhat affectionately call it “The Honeymoon Is Over”.
Maybe you can resonate with the feeling of going to a new class, it could be Yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, etc. The studio is beautifully set up, the teacher and students seem so lovely, centered and glowing with health. You feel uplifted, inspired and full of motivation so decide you’re going to sign up for six months.
Then after several weeks (or months, it differs for everyone), despite all the wonderful things about the practice, YOU feel very differently. The accumulated early mornings have left you feeling tired, your muscles are aching from all the new ways your body has been moving, you feel less motivated and you’re starting to have second thoughts.
As you touch on these discomforts, it’s common for the monkey mind to think … “Arghhh!!! This practice isn’t for me. These other people are so strong and flexible, they do it effortlessly and they look like they’re loving it. I’m definitely not! Maybe I could check out that other yoga class around the corner that might be softer? Or maybe I should try Tai Chi or Qigong or Vipassana meditation… or perhaps transcendental meditation. They look pretty interesting … hmmm?”
So, the question is, who is it that’s speaking? Is it the aspect of you that with wisdom helps you to evolve and grow? Or is it an aspect of you that in other stages of your life has held you back and stopped you from pursuing something you would consider worthwhile and that has real benefit? Or is it an aspect of you is always too quick to find a solution or an easy way out?
Now, it’s not necessarily bad to try different things. It can be beneficial to understand what schools of thought and practices are out there so you can choose something that feels right for you and is in line with your values. It can also help you develop a rich and powerful toolkit and open you up to parts of yourself you never realized even existed. However, it is very important to recognize that when something is fresh and new it stimulates your mind and opens up your body in new ways that make you feel “good” … good is great, but ultimately you will need to move beyond “feeling good” and expand into “feeling more”.
Any effective healing practice will eventually touch on disCOMFORT or disEASE. When we recognize these exist within, we have a ground on which to resolve these tensions and move forward through life with less resistance. This process of overcoming obstacles is all about working patiently and persistently and following through. It leads to “feeling more”, growing ones capacity and deeper self understanding.
The monkey mind would have you running around the real issues for eternity, nit picking and in search of the next “shiny” thing to “feel good”. In this pursuit one finishes with a workshop full of tools and no space to work; endless “spiritual shopping”; or as the Vipassana teacher Goenka would say, digging many pot holes but making no well to drink from.
Our Qigong teacher would often say with a smile on his face “You must do this exercise 10,000 times before you can really master it; you’re still a baby until you’ve done it 10,000 times! When you’ve done it 10,000 times do it another 10,000 times again and again and again …” The longer you stick with your practice, the more you realize that obstacles do not exist in themselves... it is our judgment placed on phenomena that creates perceived obstacles. The more we realize and gain direct experience of this, the more we can transform our “obstacles” into teachers and opportunities.
In Daoism there is a wonderful text called the “The Fifty Barriers of Liu Yi Ming”. This text defines 50 different barriers in self cultivation and how to address them. It is a detailed and valuable text which we will cover in more depth in a separate article. For the time being here is a list.
“love, lust, rank and influence, wealth, poverty, the illusory body, arrogance, jealousy, irritability, argument, resentment, selfishness, laziness, talent and understanding, will, adversity/trials and tribulations, dishonesty, conjecture and opinion, absent mindedness, wishful thinking and delusion, life and death, complacency, fear of difficulty, slight, cowardice, shortsightedness, resignation, debt, loftiness, adornment, false conviction and misunderstanding, evil, alcohol, fear of bitterness, faithlessness, masterlessness, quick results/impatience, carelessness, waste, retreat from will, boasting, the furnace, disgrace, karma, the demon of the book, emptiness, grasping images, war of appearances, illusion.”
We hope you’ve enjoyed this article, please share it with anyone you think it would benefit.
Till next time, smile ... do it one more time … feel more … one more time … with gentle persistence … one more time … allow your self understanding to grow … one more time … until you reach 10,000 times … smile … & then do it one more time!
No Mi & Dawa.
