HOW TO USE “THE FOUR GATES” TO CONSCIOUSLY TRANSFORM YOUR SPEECH INTO A FORCE FOR LOVING GOODNESS
This ancient Sufi technique will help you use the full power of your speech confidently, consciously and effectively.
THE DAWNING LIGHT Volume 8, # 740 Monday, January 29, 2024
SPIRITUAL SOUP KITCHEN Section # 119 Stories by Chinmayan of the challenges and rewards of living your spiritual path in daily life
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CONSCIOUSLY USING OUR POWER OF SPEECH TO BE A FORCE OF LOVING GOODNESS IN EVERYDAY LIFE
“All wars are started by the tip of someone’s tongue” as my wise grandmother said often…
“If you want to get on and get along in this world, you have to be careful with your speech.
How you talk, what you say, how you say it and if you thought and considered before you spoke all make a big difference.”
Photo Credit: Pixabay
We love to talk…
From the time we learn to talk as toddlers until our last breath, we love to talk.
Its how we communicate with those we share our world with.
Its how we express our feelings.
Its how we show our love to our close beloveds and friends.
Its how we get things done.
Our speech can be a powerful instrument of producing change, making things happen or persuading people to our point of view.
It can also be an instrument of tremendous harm.
For example, when we are under the influence of anger or other intense emotions, we can say terrible things which aren’t really true, we don’t really mean and are meant to hurt and wound.
But for most of us, our use of the power of speech is unconscious, like our breath.
We keep breathing without thinking about it, and we just talk and say whatever is on our minds.
We rarely consciously monitor or check our speech and the effects our talk is producing.
It is most definitely not true what old nursery rhyme I heard everyday as a child proclaims—
“Sticks and stones
May break my bones,
But your words
Will never hurt me!”
Our Speech is powerful! The quality of our words do make a huge difference.
As we all know from our own personal life experience, speech can hurt, cause harm and even destroy or it can heal, inspire, restore and produce cascading amounts of good in the world.
The more consciously we use this power—-the power of speech—the better all our relationships and lives will be.
“Consciously controlling your speech is the beginning of wisdom.”
HOW TO USE THE FOUR GATES to consciously empower your speech.
I am still learning in my own life to pause and carefully consider the truth, necessity, benefits and kindness of what I am about to say before I utter a word.
We all talk so much without really considering the effect that our words will have on other people.
I know I have and sometimes still say things that may only be partially true, or say things that are hurtful, unnecessary and even unkind that I come to deeply regret later on when I become aware of how my careless talking has affected others.
Every time I make mistakes and say stupid things that cause pain, or confusion or cause someone to get upset and turn away from me, I am also deeply impacted.
Seeing the results of my mistakes motivates me to become ever more conscious and aware and carefully consider the impact of what I am about to say before I say it.
I certainly do not want to keep making the same mistakes under the influence of my own negative emotions, but strive to learn from the experience and constantly work to understand and overcome my old habits through pausing and using the Four Gates before speaking.
The Four Gates is an essential practice that I am using to upgrade my ability to speak in a much more conscious way and avoid saying things that cause hurt, confusion and conflict.
Instead, I want everything I say, do and think to be a force of loving goodness that helps and is a loving support for others
THE FOUR GATES
Here is the practice of The Four Gates—
An old Sufi tradition advises to speak only after our words
have managed to pass through Four Gates…
At the first gate, we ask ourselves—“Are these words true?
If so, we let them pass on.
If not, back they go.
At the second gate, we ask ourselves—“Are they necessary?”
At the third gate, we ask ourselves—“Are they beneficial?”
At the fourth gate, we ask ourselves—“Are they kind?”
If the answer to any of these questions is NO,
Then what you are about to say
Should be left unsaid.
Only if the answer to all these questions is YES,
Then what you are about to say
Passes all Four Gates and
Should be said, if your heart agrees.
I can honestly say that the more I use this technique of checking if what I am about to say is true, necessary, beneficial and kind, the more loving, empowering and uplifting my communications are becoming.
The Four Gates is a powerful habit that I am consciously setting in place to protect me and those around me so that I avoid causing harm when I am very aware that we all need to be sincerely communicating heart to heart.
As Kalu Rinpoche would often say…“If you want to be happy and get off the wheel of suffering, then you must become aware of the effects that every action done with your body, speech and mind produces. When you understand the Law of Karma, which in its simplest form means that all of your actions always produce results, then you will dedicate yourself to always acting consciously, lovingly and compassionately. For only your positive and loving actions will produce positive results and conditions. In fact, if you want to know what your future lives will be like, look at the quality of your present actions…”
A SHORT VIDEO FOR YOU OF “ Socrates and The Three Filters” that demonstrates the principles of today’s story…
“The Story Of Socrates and The Three Filters” By Elysian Gnosis
A SPECIAL and SWEET PIECE OF MUSICAL MAGIC TO OPEN YOUR HEART TODAY!
I have this song on repeat as background music that uplifts and opens my consciousness to a more loving and higher perspective…you will love it!
“Blessed” By MiDN*, Uevo and Malte Marten
Original Revelations Poem and Calligraphy by Chinmayan
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“Your greatest service to humanity is to attain your own Self Realization!” Ramana Maharshi
“When you change the way you think about things, and the things you think about change”
—Wayne Dyer
“I see my life as an unfolding set of opportunities to awaken.” —Ram Das