In the teachings recorded in *The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna*, the obstacles to divine realization are presented above all as inner bondages that cloud the mind and heart. Foremost among these are lust and greed—often named together as kāma and kāñcana, or “lust and gold.” Attachment to sensual pleasure and to wealth, possessions, and social status binds consciousness to the transient and prevents it from dwelling steadily on God. This same tendency appears as broader worldliness or māyā: the pull of family ties, social prestige, and material concerns that, when clung to excessively, distracts from the longing for the Divine.

Another central obstacle is ego, the sense of “I” and “mine” that asserts doership and ownership. As long as this ego stands at the center, there is a veil between the individual and God. Ego manifests not only as crude pride but also as spiritual vanity—feeling “I am a great devotee” or relying on one’s learning and reasoning as if the Divine could be grasped by intellect alone. Dry intellectualism, argumentativeness, and pride of scholarship are thus seen as subtle forms of bondage, because they keep attention fixed on the mind’s constructions rather than on living realization.

Ramakrishna also points to the restless and impure mind as a serious hindrance. Anger, jealousy, hatred, and various worldly cravings disturb inner stillness and scatter attention. Doubt and habitual skepticism about spiritual truths, the guru, or the efficacy of practice weaken faith and prevent wholehearted effort. Laziness, spiritual slackness, and lack of perseverance further obstruct progress, as the aspirant postpones practice or engages in it only intermittently, allowing old tendencies to retain their force.

A further set of obstacles arises from improper orientation in spiritual life. Confusing intellectual knowledge with direct experience, clinging to sectarian views, or believing that God exists only in particular forms or places narrows the vision. Hypocrisy and insincerity—outwardly posing as spiritual while inwardly attached to worldly motives—undermine genuine transformation. Over-identification with the body and with social roles, along with over-absorption in worldly duties for their own sake, keeps awareness at the surface level. Against all these, the Gospel repeatedly holds up devotion, surrender of ego, discrimination between the Real and the unreal, and steady remembrance of God as the means by which these knots are gradually loosened and the way to divine realization is cleared.