Monday, May 1, 2017

Gateless Gatecrashers - Ilona Ciunaite & Elena Nezhinsky



Ready, vigilant and alive, you are there—at the Gate.

Then comes the guide who had crossed before. She takes your hand
or  slaps  your  face,  depending  on  what  you  need,  and  guides  you
through the Gate.

You  turn  back,  and  see  that  there  is  no  Gate,  there  is  no  crossing,
there is no you.

And there never was.

ARE YOU READY?


 Crossing the Gateless Gate—Are You Ready?

by Elena Nezhinsky

When I was at The Gate, I had no patience left for any more search.

I was burning for truth.

That night somebody guided me to see that for all this time, for years
and  years,  who  was  searching  for  whatever  goal,  holding  whatever  intention, was an imaginary self.
Years in silent retreats, sitting day after day, staring inside, purifying the mind.
Needed at the time, but not anymore.

The  search  that  drove  half  of  my  life  was  suddenly  suffocating  me.
 I was  ready  to  cross,  to  step  through,  but  I  didn’t  know  where  this path  led. 
In  various  spiritual  books  I  read  about  some  kind  of  veil of  illusion  and  The  Gateless  Gate. 
I  heard  this  koan  many  times—had  no  idea  what  it  meant—
until  I  felt  like  I  was  standing  there—at The Gate.

You feel it in your bones—standing there with your entire being.

Something really powerful is going on—not even sure what—like burning from inside out with a wish for Truth.
It feels ready. This is the time.
I must cross. I must rip off this illusion.
What the illusion is, not even sure  yet,  just  intellectually  maybe,  if  you  have  read  or  heard  about  it before.
But there is a strong feeling, as if you are about to step and fall into an abyss—the abyss of the unknown.

What  was  before  was  thoroughly  explored. 
It  may  have  been  comfortable, good, great, happy, not so good,
disappointing, boring, painful—anything—but at least it’s familiar.

Fear comes, in some cases even terror.

It feels that death is here—the death of the old life.
The death of the illusion.

Hesitation comes.

Then the decision: turn back to the familiar or forward into the unknown?

The decision comes.

Ready, vigilant and alive, you are there—at the Gate.

Then comes the guide who had crossed before. She takes your hand or
slaps your face, depending on what you need, and guides you through the Gate.

You turn back, and see that there is no Gate, there is no crossing,
there is no you.

And there never was.

ARE YOU READY?


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