“Obstacles do not block the path; obstacles are the path.” – Zen proverb

When we are facing difficult times, it is important that one has faith.  In the Zen realm, this does not mean, however, to have faith in some exterior supreme power, for in Buddhism the supreme power of the Universe is known to work through us, not upon us. This means that we understand there is a Great Intelligence behind all things which allows us to be in harmony with whatever happens in our lives, delightful or terrible, and it is happening through us.  I do not say within us, for this would imply that we are separate from the flow of Life, and that sense of separation is exactly what overwhelms us.  In that state of confined consciousness, we are too small to truly appreciate or master the flow of Life, but when we know, when we can feel that we are one with this flow, this is true faith. We can have faith, because we have experienced our existence as one with the Universe, and there is a Great Intelligence that beats our hearts, breathes our lungs, and guides our minds when we quiet the cacophony of mental noise generated by the shallow, self-obsessed dimension of mind which is the ego. In the silence of focused awareness, it is discovered that awareness IS intelligence, is The Intelligence that created the stars, all life, and created you and me. We discover we are that awareness beneath the noise of our minds and can find peace.

In Buddhism, it is taught not to believe what you are given as religious instruction simply on the authority of the religious source, teacher or script, but to honor the wisdom of centuries of practice and discovery that is being shared through the instruction, and then, to apply the instruction in your own practice to discover the validity of the instruction for yourself. What is asked is, as 20th century Zen Master Dainin Katagiri would say, “wholeheartedness” in your search for truth, in your development of the necessary presence to realize truth when it appears.  There is a saying in Zen, that for one who truly wishes to realize truth, it must be approached with the singlemindedness of one “whose hair is on fire, searching for a pail of water.” All other matters must be suspended, our usual lives brought, to some degree, to a stop.  This does not necessarily mean literally – though it can.  It means we must stop running our old stories in our minds, our old orientation to ourselves in the world.  We must enter into this present moment deeply where Eternity and Truth unfold if we are to discover who we truly are.

Sometimes when I teach a class, the first thing I say will be, “How’re you doing?” to which the responses will be some variation of “good, doing good,” or “okay, doing okay.” To which I will respond, “Isn’t that remarkable with everything you have been through in your life.”  Then, as I go on with the class, I will say, “and in fact, you are probably a better person for the hard stuff you have faced.” This will then lead into a discussion about the truth of what I have just said.  People will realize that when marriages, relationships, jobs, states of health or security ended, as hard as these episodes in life were, they were necessary for us to evolve into clearer and wiser, perhaps more compassionate people. We realize that the worst things can often be the best things in the big picture.

What is always true is that when big challenges or obstacles confront us, this is an invitation to stop our life as we know it, since what is occurring is not in the script we have in our mind about what our life is supposed to be. In such a moment, a true teacher will ask, “according to who?” It is then that we might realize we are attempting to live within an impossible story in our minds about the “good life” which our society has foisted upon us, colored by a personal script about who we think we are and what is possible or expectable for us, created by our upbringing and personal experience.  This “me” we have in our mind is incessantly telling itself who we think we are, and what life is supposed to be for “me.” “Obstacles” are the wrench thrown into the machinery. Severe illness, relationship or occupational crises or endings, natural disaster, loss of loved ones, existential crisis where our sense of meaning in life is lost, political/social upheaval which disrupts clarity as to the future – these are some of the obstacles that may confront us and bring about a stopping. This stopping, however, does not have to be met with fear and trepidation.

We generally live our lives on momentum, inside a routine which carries us day to day, hour to hour, moment to moment along the well-worn path of our obligations, expectations, habits, and sources of distraction and pleasure, as well as our anxieties and upsets.  Our attention level is minimal, just paying enough attention to run our routines while our minds are filled with current agendas plus fantasies about what would make life more pleasurable or problematic, as well as with ruminations about the past. Most people are generally okay in their lives, meaning they are managing. Then, something arises that throws them completely, an “obstacle” on the path of their narrative. They are shocked.  They may have the sense to know this is a watershed, that from this moment, their story changes forever.  They are stopped.  Conventionally these obstacles are experienced as tragedies.  There is trauma, loss, grieving, anger, sorrow, fear, a sense of untetheredness. A fork in their path is in front of them.  One fork circles back around and puts them back on the same old path, their life then becomes, figuratively, running in circles.  Or – they take the path the great poet Robert Frost called “the one less traveled,” and open a new phase to their journey, one guided by what has been, but also open to what has never been experienced before, and they touch something heroic and stable within themselves, and grow as human beings.  They become okay with whatever traumatic event occurred and this new path is one they can walk with greater wisdom and skill. For some people, their lives are a struggle with being stopped perpetually, their obstacle being some chronic mental anguish which separates them from a life well lived, but the same principle applies. Being stopped is the invitation to commit to growing spiritually in order to heal psychologically.

Generally, people are lost in their narrative of being “me” in their mortal timeline separate in the Universe, struggling to get along amongst all the other separate beings in a competitive game of seeking their place in a hierarchical social structure which brings with it tremendous insecurity.  As we play out this narrative of “me” struggling with “them” and “that” out there, “obstacles,” events which stop us, which stop the narrative, will occur.  And there we are, naked and alone, so to speak, unsure of what the next moment and the ensuing moments will bring.  It is then, however, that something marvelous can happen. With our egoic mind shocked into silence, a gap opens where our silent mind, the mind of Being, says “just take the next step.” We are awake, we are present in a manner such as when we would be walking in a foreign land we’ve been told is both dangerous and wonderous. Here is where we either truly evolve or fall back. To be neurotic is to keep falling back. If you have the determination and courage to reach for sanity, you take that step.

And so we are left to ask: What is this “path” upon which obstacles are to be expected and that, in fact, brings clarity as to the nature of our personal path? As with all things Buddhist, it is about awakening into the truth of the nature of existence. It is the realization that the Universe is a unity, in a sense, a Great Being, a consciousness event which brings forth the multiplicity of physical forms through which the Universe is awakening to its own Being, and this includes through you and me. Many spiritual traditions, in some form, will identify our existence as the Universe or God or Spirit experiencing and expressing Itself through human form and that humanity has a special place in this unfolding as the one creature capable of knowing itself as God’s or Spirit’s or The Universe’s creation.  Orientalist Alan Watts expressed this as “we are the Universe peering into itself,” and what I have discovered in my own path of practice is that when through meditation we realize the silent dimension of Being within us, we can learn to peer back, experiencing that our personal dimension of Being is the Great Being expressing Itself through us.  We discover that our existence is multidimensional, that we exist as both mortal beings and That which is immortal unfolding in the Infinite Here-and-Now. This is what Buddhism calls awakening and opens life in ways unimaginable from the confines of our ego. This is how spiritual realization simultaneously becomes psychological liberation.

The Zen Master, Shunryu Suzuki, a compatriot of Katagiri, is famous for teaching, “Zen mind, beginner’s mind.” He offered that in those moments when the events of our lives have stopped us in our tracks – or we are chronically stopped by mental anguish of some sort – and we do not know which way to go, he tells us to rely upon “our ‘original mind’ which includes everything within itself.”  He tells us, “It is always rich and sufficient within itself… it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything.”  He also said, “Each one of us must find our own way, and when we do, that way will express the universal way… to discover something quite new and different moment after moment.”

So, whether we are talking about individuals or our society, which seems perhaps to be falling apart, we must reserve our fears of doom.  The wise course is to persevere, to just take the next step, to discover how to walk with better balance and grace, to walk with assurance, discovering the happiness which comes with this faith validated.  We are not alone; we are on a path traveled by all humanity towards greater sanity, spirituality, and harmony, overcoming obstacles as they appear. Our deepest nature invites us to celebrate the wonder of existence step-by-step on our and the Universe’s Path, obstacles turned into opportunities to realize unimagined potential lying obscured beneath our insecure mind.