In this world, obstacles of all kinds—to our practice and to our life—will always occur. There is no perfect, fully Jell-O-ized state where everything is smooth and delightfully bouncy and we’re floating forever in the tangerine sweetness. Let’s face it, people: There isn’t enough Jell-O in the world for that. Obstacles will always arise. That’s just the samsaric predicament, a fact of our existence as sentient beings. But we can do something about it.
We can take any mishaps or obstacles that come our way and transform them into the path of wakefulness by accepting them into our life, into our being, rather than rejecting them and blaming others. Anything, no matter how wonderful or horrific, can benefit our wakefulness and our ability to be compassionate to ourselves and others.
♦
From Rude Awakenings © 2026 by Samuel Bercholz. Reprinted in arrangement with Shambhala Publications.
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