Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast. Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life. Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye.

After the last couple episodes about the challenges of staying on our chosen spiritual path and the importance of

having the support of those around us when we are tempted to abandon our practice.

I want to wrap up the discussion with Insight gleaned from three different group discussions

we've had about the topic.

When we think of a path, Stephen Batchelor proposes the image of a path through the forest,

a trail between the trees from which all obstacles have been removed.

The only problem with the path in the forest is that although cleared of obstacles by those

before us, taking that path can only lead us where they had gone.

It was their path and is not necessarily our own.

In fact, coming upon obstacles does not mean we are off the path or on the wrong one.

Our journey often includes the important lesson of overcoming challenges when

encountered.

The question is how far must we go off the path before we realize we are off of it?

And the answer depends on how frequently we check in with ourselves to cross-reference

where we are with where we intend to be.

The more often we check our compass

to make sure we're still heading north,

the sooner we'll notice the moment we veer off the path.

There is a hiking application and website

called All Trails that shows all hiking trails near you wherever you are in the world and you can sort them by type length and difficulty

Once you get to the trailhead you can click navigate on your phone and it will show your progress along the

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