Paralyzing fear and self-judgment.
For many egos, there is so much background anxiety, so much fear and clinging, that their life is a story of lurching from one urgent crisis to the next. In such a state of restlessness, the mind is often unable to calm down long enough to actually concentrate on anything of a deeper nature. When the mind is in a crazed state (which many people live their entire lives in), it is unable to grasp the subtle nature of things, which requires making space for contemplation and introspection. Insight comes naturally, all by itself in this state of allowing. When the consciousness is overwhelmed by fear, however, it is common to be perpetually seeking to control one’s environment. This expresses as a strong need to avoid uncertainty at all costs.
Unfortunately, growth requires letting go of control, and only then can the person discover that when you DO let go, REALLY let go, something greater and more marvelous takes over. But you must discover that for yourself. You cannot have someone else prove to you in advance that if you let go enough, everything will work out. All the person knows is a lifetime of things not working out, because they have never ever been shown how to let go, so they have no evidence for the power of how this subtle universal law operates. They don’t know what it even means to attune to higher energies. Self-judgment is another very common obstacle. When this habit is strong, there is often a deep-seated conviction that if they look within, they will only be faced with how bad, selfish and wrong they are, and their already fragile self-esteem may be shattered. It is safer to stay away from looking too deeply within. In this way, unresolved guilt can keep the door to growth firmly shut.
When anxiety and self-judgment reach high levels, they become paralyzing. The cure for this person is to reconnect to the universal courage that lies within us all, and to know that when you look deep enough within, you will actually find perfection, innocence and beauty, not darkness and badness. This is true for all beings. But because the ego, in its ignorance, has the habit of judging others in order to make itself feel better, it secretly fears being judged itself. The two always go together. The ego often has so many guilt and self-punishment programs, it can even conclude that “I do not deserve to be completely Free (given what I have done or been, or not done or been)”. So it is busy doing some form of penance, which only serves to keep you a prisoner. God never punishes. It is only the ego that punishes itself (usually with the assistance of religion and morality!) When you expose yourself to Truth, just by being open, the healing energy itself will elevate your mind and spirit, and you will be able to see yourself from a new vantage point, without blame or judgment or condemnation. You begin to see the innocence of the child in yourself. Then rapid growth can begin.