For a real practitioner of Dharma, the biggest obstacles to practice of the profound, holy Dharma are mental distractions, clinging to permanence, and laziness; these three.
It is a mistake to think, I’ll practice Dharma later, after I take care of this other worldly work that I have to do. That is because, until you give up such thinking, your worldly work will never be finished! With such an attitude you will never get the chance to practice Dharma. Even if you can’t give up all worldly work for the sake of Dharma, you can devote your body, speech, and mind to the path of holy Dharma whenever you have the free time. Even if you do not accept the existence of Buddhahood or reincarnation, it can protect you from a great deal of mental suffering in the latter part of your life if you are lonely, without companions. Then the practice of Dharma has served its purpose.
Written by Khenpo Karten Rinpoche, posted to Facebook on March 29th, 2019
