Does Santa pass the Three Gates?

Is it TRUE?

Is it KIND?

Is it USEFUL?

In sorting out my thoughts on the Three Gates, I'd have to start with my definition of what it is.  After years of respecting and measuring my behavior by it, seeing what it costs and how it benefits, and the reactions of others about it…

I'd say that it is a pathway to being an "Awake, Aware, Adult Human being."  While hugely valuable across the board, it is realistic to admit that in situations of stress (war, politics, a mugging) it would become very difficult to owe the truth to a liar, be kind to someone attacking you, or to try to justify every action all the time as "useful" (let alone "necessary", which was the original standard)

Each of these terms can and should be interrogated.  What exactly is "truth"?  Objective or subjective?   How do you test it?   Is there ever a time it is appropriate to lie to yourself?

What is "kind"?   Short or long-term?  What if you have to delivery really bad news (pediatric oncology comes to mind here).  What about self-defense situations?  How do you separate what is NECESSARY in this sense, from what is emotionally satisfying?

What is "Useful"?  For what purpose? Short or long term?  Must everything have a "purpose"?  Is it "useful" to just "play"?  Or nap?  Or just hang out with friends?

I think it most defendable that what matters is COMMITMENT to these. That people who START by complaining about being honest, kind, or useful are looking for loopholes, or convinced that the world works another way.

It is certainly possible to "succeed" in an external sense and be dishonest, cruel and apparently a ne'er-do-well.  It happens.  Which asks us to ask: what is the purpose of life?  What is a GOOD life? What is a "success"?  I would suggest that any definition of success that can be reached by someone who ignores the Gates is NOT a worthy definition.

But…is it possible to defend yourself against such people while remaining moral?  I think THAT has been a question for philosophers, but preferably philosophers who have experienced real survival stress, whose lives have been at risk, who have had to take life in order to preserve it.

And the answer would seem to be that the greater the external stress, the harder it can be to stay within the Gates.   But that itself can be an indicator of character: do people seem to find themselves in one situation after another where it is "useful" to be dishonest and cruel?  At what point might we suspect they are seeking this out? LOOKING for reasons to vent their demons on the world?

Tricksy, isn't it?  What of Santa Claus?   Does this fantasy pass the Gates?  Some would say yes: that you are offering a model, a metaphor of giving in a way that children can understand, and later seek to emulate.  That the "truth" is in the core of the concept, not the image systems. Some will agree, others consider this a perversion of "honesty".

I would consider such people rather inflexible, and wouldn't have wanted THEM as parents, but that's just me.  I think childhood is a time when we not only teach methods and strategies allowing entrance to the adult world, but also give those kids enough  love and joy to last a lifetime.  And frankly, ANY tool for that works for me. And I LOVE the fact that every year there seems an uplift in kindness, stemming from a sense of joy, and a shared memory of holiday seasons in the past, times when everyone seems to smile just a little more.

I think that's valuable, and why we have holidays in all cultures I know of: they provide an emotional rhythm for the culture, one that enhances survival.

But…some will disagree, of course. For THEM, even the concept of "Santa Claus" is a cruel, unuseful lie.  I can respect that, but cannot embrace it.

So there is no clear-cut answer. What there IS is a set of questions that can guide inquiry, facilitate self-reflection, and if "truth" enables us to be aware, and "kindness" awakens us to the universality of humanity, then "useful" asks us to be efficient and effective, leads to success in material and emotional things.  I see high-level internal and external alignment, as well as the means of evolving entire systems of ethics.

In other words, to me it is a natural extension of the individual survival drive: "truth" and "usefulness" are obvious values.  "Kindness" would relate to being kind to yourself, to avoiding pain and embracing pleasure.  But the instant you love, let alone make a family, that begins to expand.  You NEED a society to help you raise and protect your children, unless those children are never going to interact with society.  Better be on an island somewhere.  But even then, the family becomes a micro-society, with different aspects of dictatorship and democracy as the children grow and mature.

The protection of self, love, and raising of a family produces the basics of morality and ethics…and I submit that the Three Gates are an amazingly simple and powerful tool to guide one is being, well…a good human being.  I think that a goal worth aspiring to.

Namaste

Steve

(by the way, if you want to know how to apply the Three Gates to sex and love, check out my new course at www.incelcure.com)