Make the three gates inseparable.

Okra flower and pod photo by Bob Richmond

          Imagine a gardener going to the farming supply store and buying seeds indiscriminately; he doesn’t even bother to look at the packs to see what vegetables he’s chosen. After planting the seeds and watering them for many weeks, the plants begin to produce flowers and then vegetables. But the gardener becomes upset and frustrated when he sees what has grown: “I didn’t want okra, peppers and peas! I wanted tomatoes, cucumbers and squash!” His friends question him as to why he didn’t look at the seed packets before planting the seeds. Mind training allows us to be aware of the seeds of emotions and thoughts before we plant them. The mind’s yield of words and actions are based on the seeds we’ve sown and watered there. The three gates are the virtues of the mind, speech and body, and we would be wise to be aware of what we allow to pass through them. What passes through those gates will likely wind up growing in our yard, whether we want it to or not.

Every act, word, and thought in our daily life has the power to bring forth a fruit. 

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

For more information on the forty-seventh slogan, go here.

Slogan Forty-seven

Make the three gates inseparable.

From the Lojong for the Layperson booklet:
            The "three gates" refer to the body, mind and speech; they are the three ways we relate with others. Often they work at cross-purposes instead of in sync. We might tell a friend we'll be happy to help her move (sincerely intending to follow through), but we get busy working on a project and fail to show up. Or if we do help, we're wondering how she's going to repay us the whole time we're carrying boxes. In both these situations, the mind, body and speech aren't on the same page. Lojong teaches that what we do, say and think should be inseparable and originate from a heart filled with loving-kindness. Gentleness, awareness and openness will characterize our interactions when we function in such a wholehearted way.

Photo: Three blooms of a pink woodsorrel (Oxalis debilis).

                My mind, body and speech can be either exits from or entrances to an awakened state. If I use thoughts, emotions, actions or words to validate my sense of identity (“me”), then I function as if these things are permanent and unchanging. When the natural course of life (reality) upends my expectations and chips away at this identity, I suffer. Yet something amazing can happen when I add mindfulness and compassion to these three gates. They begin working together to create an experience of being that is ungrasping and benevolent, an experience that transforms chaos into unconditional calm. What I think, feel, do and say will be of benefit to myself and others. As Tenzin Wangyal expressed, “No matter where we are or what we are doing, we can enter through the body into the higher experiences of eternal body, through speech into ceaseless speech, and through mind into undeluded mind.” What was originally my undoing now becomes a doorway to awareness.

Body and speech doggedly follow the mind without fail; they do as they are told. The behavior of the body and speech can have far-reaching consequences. Watch yourself during everyday situations and notice how the state of your mind has control over your speech and body and how it expresses itself.
~ Dagsay Tulku Rinpoche