eight obstacles to practicing the dharma

The eight obstacles to practicing the dharma are: 1. To be born in a hell realm
2. To be born among the pretas, or tortured spirits
3. To be born an animal
4. To be born among savages
5. To be born a long-life god
6. To hold totally erroneous views
7. To be born in a dark Kalpa, where no Buddha has appeared in the world.
8. To be born with impaired sense faculties. [MR]

To dwell within the three lower realms or among the perceptionless gods are the 'four nonhuman unfree states'. To belong to a primitive border tribe, to hold wrong views, to dwell in a realm where a buddha has not appeared, or to possess defective faculties or mental capacity, such as being imbecilic, inept or incapable of communicating, are the 'four human unfree states'. To be free from these eight are the 'eight freedoms' . [RY]