To obtain such controls, there are three states, which may work as obstacles. The first one is a state of nothingness. The second one is a state of diverse thinking. The third one, which can help is the state of concentration. By its very nature, the mind has these different aspects.
If we want to read a sacred text, sleep may overtake us. On the other hand, if we want to go and participate in a sacred gathering, the mind will not permit it and even if the body goes, the Goddess of Sleep will bother you there also. This may be described as a ‘state of nothingness’. If we are reconciled to this and want to go to sleep and take rest, all kinds of disturbing ideas and thoughts keep agitating the mind and these pull the mind into the street. This has been described as a ‘state of diverse thinking’. The more important state is ‘the state of concentration’. Only when man takes to this state and concentrates on things and forgets the two other aspects, he can be happy. It is enough if man can learn how to live like a man. He need not become a Madhava and rise to the level of divinity. (SSB 1978, pp. 114-115)
The greatest obstacle on the path of Saranagati is egoism, ahamkara and mamakara. (SSS Vol.1, p. 24)
Gita has taught that desire and anger are primary obstacles to liberation, so, it is absolutely important that they are curbed. (DBG, p. 88)
The term daiva (Divinity) means wholeness and immanence. Divinity is immanent in the Prakriti (whole of creation), which cannot exist otherwise. The energy that is present in every object in Creation is derived from the divine (Sat-Cit-ananda). Divinity represents the unity of Sat-cit-ananda and Prakriti. In modern parlance, this may be stated as: Matter plus Being is God.
Recognition of this basic unity calls for earnest and continuous striving. In the pursuit of this fundamental quest, four major obstacles have to be overcome. They are: Avidya pratibandhakam, Prajna pratibandhakam, Kutarka pratibandhakam and viparyaya Duragraha pratibandhakam.
Avidya pratibandhakam is the impediment that arises out of the feeling that one is too weak and powerless to seek the Divine. As long as this sense of weakness remains, man cannot understand the Omni-Self.
Prajna pratibandhakam is the obstacle that is created by self-conceit. When one feels that he knows everything and is unwilling to learn from elders, he becomes unfit for undertaking the Spiritual quest.
The third obstacle Kutarka pratibandhakam is faced by those who are caught up in illogical reasoning and false arguments. They give farfetched interpretations to the pronouncements of sages and engage themselves in meaningless controversies.
The fourth obstacle, Viparyaya Duragraha pratibandhakam, is caused by ignorance of one’s inner Reality and a refusal to make the effort to understand it. It arises out of a feeling of arrogance that one knows everything and has no need to learn from others. The cause of this arrogance is Maya (delusion). Maya is present when one sees the unreal as Real and the Real as unreal. This is the basic characteristic of ignorance. Such persons view the Jagat (world) as a physical phenomenon. But those who have attained the inner vision see the Cosmos as the manifestation of the Lord of the Cosmos (Jagadishvara). The Cosmos is the vesture of the Divine. The scientists admit that matter is composed of energy. Without energy nothing can exist in the Cosmos.
Prahlada and Hiranyakashipu represent the two opposing views regarding the Cosmos. Hiranyakashipu viewed a pillar as only a pillar. Prahlada saw in it the immanence of Narayana (SSS Vol.20, pp. 113-114)
Obstacles are to be treated as ensuring safety
Have faith in yourself, your own capacity to adhere to a strict time-table of sadhana, your own ability to reach the goal of realisation. When you have no faith in the wave, how can you get faith in the ocean? A small lump of steel can become a beautiful efficient watch through the application of intelligence and skill; can man not be transmuted into a sage who has realised the ultimate through the instruments of viveka and vairaagya? The sacred books of all religions help man to reach his eternal Abode of Peace. All caravansarais are built to help the pilgrim on his way to the goal. He stays there for a time; he is instructed about the next stage of the journey and then he moves on refreshed by the stay.
Obstacles that come in the way are often treated with a certain amount of resentment by the pilgrims on the spiritual path; but these tests are to be treated as ensuring safety. You drive a nail into the wall to hang a picture thereon; but before hanging the picture, you try to see whether the nail has been well driven by shaking it; when you are certain it does not shake even when all your strength is used, you become bold enough to hang the picture on it. You must welcome tests because it gives you confidence and it ensures promotion. (SSS Vol.6, 8-9-1966)