Here the question is considered how one is to
know what the Gates of Gold are, or is it possible to gain a conception of
them? And a certain number of keys are given. First of all by concentration
focused on any one idea, knowledge will be gained. Second, by seeking, one can
come closer to them. And third, the answer lies within.
“If, therefore, instead of accepting the unknown as
unknowable, men were with one accord to turn their thoughts towards it, those
Golden Gates would not remain so inexorably shut. It does but need a strong
hand to push them open. The courage to enter them is the courage to search the
recesses of one’s own nature without fear and without shame. In the fine part,
the essence, the flavor of the man, is found the key which unlocks those great
Gates. And when they open, what is it that is found? “
It is possible to get an idea by scanning accounts of
written testimonies. These can help to awaken one’s intuition and develop the
conviction one needs to make the efforts.
“What is to be found within the words of those books
is to be found in each one of us; and it is impossible to find in literature or
through any channel of thought that which does not exist in the man who
studies. This is of course an evident fact known to all real students. But it
has to be especially remembered in reference to this profound and obscure
subject, as men so readily believe that nothing can exist for others where they
themselves find emptiness.
Hidden behind the thin yet seemingly impassable veil
which hides it from us as it hid all science, all art, all powers of man till
he had the courage to tear away the screen. That courage comes only of
conviction. When once man believes that the thing exists which he desires, he
will obtain it at any cost. The difficulty in this case lies in man’s
incredulity. It requires a great tide of thought and attention to set in
towards the unknown region of man’s nature in order that its gates may be
unlocked and its glorious vistas explored.”
Some relevant passages from Light on the
Path:
Close to the central heart of life, on any plane, there is
knowledge, there order reigns completely; and chaos makes dim and confused the
outer margin of the circle. In fact, life in every form bears a more or less
strong resemblance to a philosophic school. There are always the devotees of
knowledge who forget their own lives in their pursuit of it; there are always
the flippant crowd who come and go — of such, Epictetus said that it was as easy
to teach them philosophy as to eat custard with a fork.
He serves humanity and identifies himself with the whole world;
he is ready to make vicarious sacrifice for it at any moment — by living not
by dying for it. Why should he not die for it? Because he is part of the
great whole, and one of the most valuable parts of it. Because he lives under
laws of order which he does not desire to break. His life is not his own, but
that of the forces which work behind him.
He is the flower of humanity, the bloom which contains the
divine seed. He is, in his own person, a treasure of the universal nature,
which is guarded and made safe in order that the fruition shall be perfected.
It is only at definite periods of the world's history that he is allowed to go
among the herd of men as their redeemer. But for those who have the power to
separate themselves from this herd he is always at hand. And for those who are
strong enough to conquer the vices of the personal human nature, as set forth
in these four rules, he is consciously at hand, easily recognized, ready to
answer. (Comment 4)
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