There are different obstacles that a sadhak may encounter at various stages of his spiritual life. A sadhak or seeker is often tempted to slacken efforts when doubts appear. You must be ready for obstacles if you are on the spiritual path. But, with faith, these can be overcome.
We could reason that living – as in feeling, witnessing, listening, tasting and believing – is a process of acquiring knowledge without reading and writing. In other words, life is a process of experience. For the moment, let us conclude that spirituality is like life. If so, we would have a point. We enlighten ourselves with what we experience via the senses all day, and, in this way, we learn without reading and writing. However, according to the saints and mystics, we do not obtain knowledge of reality through this route.
Therefore, to comprehend the rational foundation for meditation according to the teachings of the saints and mystics, a good starting point is to recognise that our life, as we normally experience it, is not real. What we experience is an illusion we suffer from and a misconception with no meaning.