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All spiritual traditions identify obstacles on the path toward enlightenment. The Catholic Church, for example, has Seven Deadly Sins. In the Yoga Sutras compiled by the sage Patanjali, nine obstacles are cited:

  1. Illness - disease and sickness have a weakening effect upon mind and spirit.
  2. Apathy - laziness of mind.
  3. Doubt - the inability to believe and accept teachings.

  4. Carelessness - lack of persistence; easily distracted.
  5. Sloth - laziness of body.
  6. Worldliness - overly influenced by material desires.
  7. False vision - blind faith.
  8. Consistency - inability or unwillingness to sustain a practice.
  9. Instability - overly affected by blame, praise, discouragement.
While any one can hinder a person's spiritual evolution, a combination of obstacles usually results in a complete lack of progress.


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Victor M. Parachin ... 

a Vedic educator, yoga instructor, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of a dozen books. Buy his books at amazon or your local bookstore. Sadly, Victor passed away in August 2025, but his blog continues. Janet Parachin, his partner of 45 years, shares quotes from his books and articles each week. 

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