(9.161) Furthermore, demonic forces are constantly striving
To cast us into the vast wasteland of the lower realms.
There are many mistaken paths to mislead us,
And we find it difficult to resolve stultifying doubts.

(9.162) It will be very hard to find the freedom and endowment of a human rebirth again.
Buddhas rarely appear in this world, and it is difficult to find a qualified Mahayana Spiritual Guide.
Without these, there is no way to stop the flood of delusions –
Alas, the suffering of living beings will continue without interruption!

Each one of us here has a precious opportunity, I would say quite a unique opportunity, a chance not just of a lifetime, it seems the chance of lifetimes.  We will encounter difficulties, of course.  But we can overcome them with effort, such is our present situation, we can overcome them with effort.  We must remember that we make things difficult, don’t we?  We make things difficult, and we actually give power to our maras.  From their own side, there are no difficulties, from their own side there are no maras.  They have no power.

But I would say that we are relatively free from obstacles right now.  Those that we do encounter, we can use for our spiritual training.  We can regard them as necessary in order to bring about our spiritual growth.  And to say that we have relatively good conditions I think would be a gross understatement.  Venerable Geshe-la himself knows how good our conditions are, which is why he has said we should not just to enjoy them, we need to build from here.  But also we must use this opportunity we have to free others too.  Out of compassion, we must strive to take the self of others out of their samsara and place it in the firm ground of liberation, as Shantideva finally encourages us to do.