4 Gatekeepers to Freedom

The sage Vashishta to Rama, the pure soul:

“There are four gate-keepers at the entrace to the Realm of Freedom [moksha].

• Self control
• Spirit of Inquiry
• Contentment
• Good Company

4 Gatekeepers to Freedom-Self-Control

What is Self-Control?

• In order to cross this formidable ocean of samsara [repetitive history], one should resort to that which is eternal and unchanging. He alone is best among men whose mind rests in the eternal, and is therefore self-controlled and at peace.

• He sees that pleasure and pain chase and cancel each other, and in that wisdom there is self-control and peace.

• He who gains the wisdom of the eternal here is freed from samsara and he is not born again in ignorance.

• He who is even while hearing, touching, seeing, smelling and tasting what is regarded as pleasant and unpleasant, is neither elated nor depressed –he is self-controlled.

• He who looks upon all beings with equal vision, having brought under control the sensations of pleasure and pain.

• He who, though living amongst all is unaffected by them, neither feels elated nor hate
  

Re: 4 Gatekeepers to Freedom-Self-Control

Hi Meenaski!

Your post was extremely interesting to me - I am looking forward to your writing on the next “Gatekeeper to Freedom”.

Blessed Be!

Claudia

Re: 4 Gatekeepers to Freedom- Inquiry/vichar

Inquiry,/ vichar is the second gatekeeper to liberation. Not reasoning or analysis, but looking directly at oneself.
Inquiry should be undertaken by an intelligence that has been purified by a close and unbroken study of scripture.
The wise man regards strength, intellect, efficiency and timely action as the fruits of inquiry. Indeed kingdom, prosperity and enjoyment, as well as final liberation, are all the fruits of inquiry.

They in whom the spirit of inquiry is ever awake illumine the world, enlighten all who come into contact with them, dispel the ghosts created by an ignorant mind, and realize the falsity of sense-pleasures and their objects.

With inquiry:
One does not long for any other gain, nor does one spurn anything.
He is free from delusion, attachment.
 He is not inactive, nor does he get drowned in action
He lives and functions in this world and at the end of a natural life-span he reaches the blissful state of total freedom. [Satchitananda]


Source:The Concise Yoga Vashishta by  Swami Venkatesananda
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claudia, thank you for your presence here. I am enjoying this remarkable text too. One in which a sage is satisfying the divine discontent of 16 year-old  Rama.

Re: 4 Gatekeepers to Freedom- Inquiry/vichar

As the words above flow through me, the following thoughts spring up:

Inquiry leads us into the realm of knowing, knowledge, intellect and intelligence.  These words suggest that we first study the teachings that are around us. Many have been kept in religious arenas, and are thus called “scripture”. They have been passed on to the priestly classes, as esoteric knowledge, and now, are more widely available.

With all the knowledge available, we are able to open up our mind, expand it, deepen our knowledge and understanding; and then, with the spirit of inquiry, which is beyond knowledge; seek to absorb it into our being. That is how the higher intelligence comes into play.

Iti s important not to know, or to be knowledgeable or intelligent; but to have the spirit of inquiry. That is the higher intelligence. the knowing.

interestingly, in this treatise, the sage Vashisht recommends:
“The non-inquiring fool is really a store-house of sorrow. It is the absence of inquiry that gives rise to actions that are harmful to oneself and to others, and to numerous psychosomatic illnesses. Therefore, one should avoid the company of such unthinking [un-inquiring] people”

This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from childhood; variously attributed to Confucius, or a proverb from China, Persia, India; but in our collective knowing:


“He who knows, and knows that he knows, is a wise man - follow him.

Re: 4 Gatekeepers to Freedom-contentment

“What is contentment? To renounce all craving for what is not obtained unsought and to be satisfied with what comes unsought, without being elated or depressed even by them – this is contentment.

“As long as one is not satisfied in the self, he will be subjected to sorrow. With the rise of contentment the purity of one's heart blooms. The contented man who possesses nothing owns the world.”

~~~~~~~~
The Concise Yoga Vashishta by Swami Venkatesananda

Re: 4 Gatekeepers to Freedom-contentment

Is contentment a form of surrender?

Yield and overcome;
Bend and be straight;
Empty and be full;
Wear out and be new;
Have little and gain;
Have much and be confused.
…The ancients say, “Yield and overcome.”
Is that an empty saying?
Be really whole,
And all things will come to you.
Yielding is the way of the Tao.
Going forward seems like retreat …
For one gains by losing
And loses by gaining.
(The Tao Te Ching)

In order to arrive at having pleasure in everything,
Desire to have pleasure in nothing.
In order to arrive at possessing everything,
Desire to possess nothing.
In order to arrive at being everything,
Desire to be nothing.
In order to arrive at knowing everything,
Desire to know nothing.
(John of the Cross. Ascent of Mount Carmel)

Re: 4 Gatekeepers to Freedom- satsang

“Satsanga–company of wise, holy ,enlightened persons– enlarges  intelligence and destroys ignorance and distress.”

~The Concise Yoga Vashishta by Swami Venkatesananda

Re: 4 Gatekeepers to Freedom- satsang

What is

 Satsang ?

The word derives from sanskrit: 
'sat' :  truth and 'sanga' : communion 
and means being together in truth.
Since time immemorial people all over the world have got together  in order to express
their innermost desire: 
to find peace within themselves 
and to live life truthfully, joyfully, 
beyond religion, philosophy and concepts.
Satsang is a direct path without any specific technique or method. 
All that matters is that you have the longing and willingness to see  who you really are.

The very heart of Satsang is the revnorm.csselation of that which is already and
always eternally silent and everpresent. 
It is the recognition that this, your own true nature, 
is consciousness, beingness, peace. 
It is the realization: I am This! 
The Truth is not a matter of effort or belief. 
It is the graceful end of seeking and needless suffering. 
It is Freedom here and now.

Ramana Maharshi