The Obstacle Is the Path
Most of us treat obstacles like invaders. Something bad happens, and we think it’s blocking our progress, preventing us from living our best life.
The story usually goes like this: If this wasn't happening, I’d be fine. But the truth is that's rarely the case.
It's a beautiful, sunny day. The trees are flowering. Tulips are full bloom. But inside? You’re reliving yesterday's conflict, recycling old wounds, watching your mind tighten around anxiety or regret or fear. The outer world is fine. Your inner world is on fire.
And this is where we meet the real obstacles in our life—not out in the world, but in our refusal to see our present condition clearly and let go of what is truly holding us back.
The battlefield
Without mindfulness, the mind runs its habitual scripts. One negative thought feeds another. Our emotions build, and suddenly you're yelling, zoned out, or spiraling into fear and anxiety because of something that happened hours or even days ago.
The problem isn’t what happened. It’s that we’re not seeing clearly into our own mind and emotions. We’re not in touch with what is. We’re lost in the narrative, identified with the pain, convinced it’s real and there's no way out.
When that happens, suffering becomes self-made. And worse, self-reinforcing.
Cultivating mindfulness and equanimity in our practice isn’t just about staying focused on the breath. It’s a discipline for seeing clearly. It’s learning to look at your own mind in the middle of the storm and not get caught up or turn away.
Your practice isn’t here to make you perfect. It’s here to set you free.
That means not getting rid of problems, but training your mind to relate to them differently. Stress becomes a signal. Conflict becomes a teacher. Grief becomes a doorway.
Our search for living a good life isn’t about life being free of obstacles. It’s learning to work with life as it is.
That’s one of the signs of real practice: the things that used to knock you off course…now wake you up.
The maras: The real enemies of the path
The Buddha named four forces or maras that obstruct us on the path of freedom. These aren't outer demons, they're inner patterns that distort our perception and keep us stuck in samsara. These are the four maras:
- The mara of the aggregates (skandhas): Clinging to form, feeling, identity. Mistaking your thoughts, roles, or trauma as who you are.
- The mara of the kleshas (negative emotions): Anger, craving, jealousy, those habitual patterns we feed instead of facing.
- The mara of death: Not just death itself, but our fear of change. Our clinging to what can’t last. Our refusal to let go.
- The mara of the sons of the gods: The craving for comfort, for peace without practice. The spiritual bypass that wants the feeling of bliss and clarity without having to walk through the fire to get there.
These maras don’t show up baring fangs. They show up in familiar disguises: the drink at the end of a hard day. The silence after an argument. The endless doom scrolling. The false peace of avoidance.
Bringing obstacles onto the path
Fighting obstacles is the work of the ego.
Real practice is turning toward the thing you most want to escape and seeing it clearly. Not dramatizing. Not minimizing. Just: this is what’s here.
I see you, Mara. I see the games you play.
-Buddha
When you can do that, the maras lose their grip. They don’t disappear. But they become fuel on the path.
So next time something hard shows up, don’t ask: Why is this happening to me?
Ask: What is this showing me about my mind? What am I getting stuck on?
That’s where the doorway opens.
The real obstacle isn’t the problem, it’s your unwillingness to practice with the problem.
And the good news? You can change that. Right now.
