The Multiple Obstacles in Learning Buddhism

Rinpoche first discoursed on 17^th September, 1995
Rinpoche repeated it in the Vajrayana Association (France) in November, 1995
Uploaded to the Website on 11^th November, 2014 (after about nineteen years)

Introduction
1.	There is ‘endgame-investigation’ in playing chess, … , it looks simple but it is actually a kind of trap.
2.	There are advertisements in newspapers recruiting young-girl applicants for vacancies that offer a monthly salary of ten thousand dollars regardless of their academic background or experience. It looks simple, it is also a kind of trap.
3.	Stock and share companies teach you to purchase stocks and you can make a fortune in one night. It looks simple, yet it is another kind of trap.
Content
1.	Scenes of the above affairs have long been appeared in the current society, yet, there are people victimized by the traps again and again. It is thus clear that there are still many reckless people while few persons are cautious. If one can raise one’s vigilance, the chance of falling into the trap will be reduced. In addition, one can also turn peril into safety by being vigilant.
2.	Being pushed into pitfalls by somebody else, it may in fact be said that it is one’s destiny as well as one’s karma in previous existence that lead to one’s hastiness in this present life. There is certainly not only one cause for that.
3.	The types of traps that one will meet in one’s life are too numerous to enumerate. They can be the robbing-money ones, the murdering ones, the bewitching ones, the ‘long-tailed’ (remark: ‘long-tailed’ is a Cantonese term which means a very bad situation that takes a long time to deal with) romantic ones, the taking-away-possession ones, etc. Those who devise the traps have victimized the others, they are sure to bear the resulting evil karma and retribution. For the person who has been reckoned, is it one of the ‘obstacle’ he /she has to face?
4.	A famous militarist sent his two daughters to Berlin to learn music, he admonished them, “Studying music to a certain stage, one will find that it’s difficult to exceed. At that time, you’ve to grit your teeth (remark: ‘grit your teeth’ is a Chinese term which means try your very best to conquer the difficulty) to strive strenuously. Once the barrier has been overcome, the road ahead will be smooth and comfortable.”
5.	The process of learning Buddhism is often divided into many stages. Having learned The Four Initiation Practice, one conceives that it is going to be a smooth ride ahead. However, after a certain period of time, there emerges the second obstacle. In this way, one has to experience multiple obstacles. To surmount the multiple obstacles and karma, it is necessary for one to grit one’s teeth with willpower and determination to defy arduousness. It is only when the obstacles are broken through that one can be said to have attained some slight achievements.
Epilogue
Encountering so many obstacles and hindrance in one’s life, one may not be able to hurdle the numerous difficulties by solely depending on self-learning or researching and dismantling on one’s own unless one is guided by brilliant masters. One will come across extremely difficult breakthrough points during one’s cultivation practice for so many times that some may naturally be discouraged as well as dejected and choose to abandon the learning of Buddhism and cultivation. At this time, if one is blessed, encouraged and also guided by a Guru, one can probably have the breakthrough or yield twice the result with half the effort.