How to Resolve Karmic Obstacles

When one progresses in their Buddhist practice and is on the verge of a breakthrough, karmic obstacles will immediately obstruct the path ahead. These karmic obstacles possess a kind of discernment; they specifically await practitioners at critical junctures, guarding the very passages of spiritual ascent. Those with slightly weaker resolve become stuck there, while the very weak may regress, even falling back to their starting point. I have seen many Buddhists who either become trapped or regress; a few even abandon their faith altogether. Merely losing faith might be understandable, but what is truly feared is that they might then slander the Three Jewels and denounce all they previously cultivated and learned. The consequences of that are truly terrifying to contemplate.

The path of Buddhist practice is exceptionally arduous because everyone carries heavy karmic burdens—countless and immense karmic debts accumulated since beginningless time. It is like sailing against the current: if one does not advance, one will surely retreat. Without the protection and support of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Dharma protectors, none of us could achieve even the slightest accomplishment. The barrier of karmic obstacles alone is something we could never surmount by ourselves, no matter how hard we try. The power of karmic obstacles is so immense that we must be extremely vigilant in guarding our actions, speech, and thoughts, refraining from creating unwholesome karma and avoiding overconfidence.

Since beginningless time, each sentient being has undergone different experiences, resulting in distinct natures within the manas (the mental faculty). Stubborn individuals certainly exist, but the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas employ skillful means—sometimes gentle, sometimes firm, sometimes encouraging, sometimes admonishing—to ultimately guide all beings onto the path of liberation. The process is inevitably winding, the path undoubtedly arduous. One must endure bone-chilling cold before the fragrance of plum blossoms can be savored.

When karmic obstacles manifest, how should one overcome them? While willing endurance is one aspect, actively striving to transform the karma is also crucial. Karma can be transformed. Through upholding precepts, repentance, and the practice of wisdom through contemplation, karma can be transformed and its obstacles alleviated. We have created immeasurable unwholesome karma since beginningless time. Relying solely on endurance cannot possibly bear or exhaust it all. Moreover, without eradicating afflictions, we will continue to create new unwholesome karma, forming fresh obstacles. If karmic obstacles leading to the hell realms manifest, how could one possibly endure them? After decades of diligent Buddhist practice, if hellish karma ripens at the moment of death, would one willingly go to hell to receive retribution? Ascetics who smear themselves with ashes seek liberation by endlessly tormenting themselves with suffering, believing this will eliminate and exhaust their karma, leading to liberation. The Buddha taught that the immense volume of unwholesome karma accumulated since beginningless time cannot possibly be eradicated merely through suffering. It is fundamentally impossible. Therefore, passive endurance alone is not the ultimate solution; one must also actively use wisdom to eliminate and transform it.

How does one use wisdom to transform karma? Karmic obstacles arise from ignorance and delusion—mistaking the five aggregates as a real self and acting for the sake of this "self," thereby creating karmic obstacles. To dispel this ignorance and delusion, one must contemplate the selflessness of the five aggregates. Since there is no "I," the unwholesome karma created by this "I" also lacks inherent existence. By eradicating the view of self, the karmic obstacles pertaining to the three lower realms will be eliminated. The greater the wisdom, the more ignorance and delusion are dispelled, and the more and greater the karmic obstacles are eliminated. Thus, ignorance gradually thins, and karmic obstacles become increasingly light. Wisdom is like hot water; karmic obstacles are like solid ice. As long as one continuously pours hot water, the ice will eventually melt away. Finally, one must cultivate abundant merit. Great merit subdues obstacles; little merit is subdued by them. With great merit, karmic obstacles will circumvent you, and the path of Buddhist practice will become smooth.