however, we find that they transform themselves naturally and easily into the allies that can help us achieve the happiness we seek. Thus, these ‘enemies’ – Fear, Power, Clarity, Fatigue – are not only the challenges that face us, they are the means to their resolution as well as the gateways we walk through in order to resolve them. We are then empowered, clearer about who we are, and able to see the truth of our lives. That, in itself, is freedom, and greater freedom always equates with more happiness.
THE FOUR GATES
According to the four gates model, we are born in the East of the circle that represents our self and our life journey. In infancy, we are not even aware of a separate self, so intimately are we still connected to the flow of all things and so deeply a part of primal, universal consciousness. This stage represents a time of no-self in the sense of a socialised conception of who we are with a unique identity distinct from everything else in the world or any expectations upon us to perform or be anything but what we are. Although our socialisation will begin at this time, we are less conscious of this ‘mind stuff’ and more aware of our bodies and their physical demands, as anyone who has heard a newborn scream to have its needs met will know only too well. This physicality and passion of the young child is represented by the element of Fire.
As we grow, the world moves in to ‘hook’ us into its worldview and so we progress to the South, becoming teenagers and young adults, with more and more socialisation taking place into the ways of our culture. Although there is no firm age structure or chronology to this journey (and, indeed, some people do not naturally achieve all of