The spiritual practices of the Ninja part 2

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 these stages, becoming stuck instead in one or more of them as they go through life), this aspect of ourselves is best represented as an age period of perhaps 15-40 years, with the main action taking place from 15-25. It is at this time that we first begin to express ourselves as unique individuals in the world, out to make a place for ourselves and carve our mark. It is a time of ambition and emotions, when we first fall in love, have our first sexual experiences, have our hearts broken, find partners, and ‘settle down’ to focus on home and career. Spiritual work becomes unconscious, bubbling on within us while our minds and bodies are occupied with the physical world. Because of the emotional content of this period it is identified with the element of Water, whose ebbs and flows correspond to the highs and lows and the emotional comings and goings of this age.

As we reach the West we find that we have entered what we in the Western world call middle age. This is a time for large-scale recapitulation of self, a time when many people re-examine their lives up until this point, the assumptions they have made about the world and the agreements they have made with it. It is a time when, in the words of the philosopher Noam Chomsky, many of us will realise that "The average man follows not reason but faith and this naive faith [has been founded upon] necessary illusions and emotionally potent oversimplification by the myth maker to keep him on course." We have been living a lie, in other words, which has been based on the mythology of our culture and its definitions of what makes a ‘real’ (socially acceptable) man or woman, success or failure. This myth, most likely, has never been us, but we have still lived it without ever seeing this before. Now, from the perspective of greater life experience, we begin to question who we are and, even if we are successful, settled and wealthy in social terms, whether this is enough to satisfy us on a personal and spiritual level. We have been hooked for perhaps 20 years by a vision of success defined in consensus or corporate terms but now begin to reassess who we have been and, with death starting to breathe down our necks, to reconsider our lives and ask ‘Is that all?’ as we look at who we might have been and how we might better spend our remaining days (more ‘face time’ in the office or watching our children grow? Climbing the corporate ladder beneath a mad and ungrateful boss or surfing the Rockies for kicks?). This is a time of consideration and thought about who we truly are and what we want from our lives, offering us the potential for adaptation, reinvention, rejuvenation and re-emergence into someone new. It is a time of life when the powers of the mind are more fully and productively used, both in reflecting on the past and revisioning the future. Because of this it is characterised by the element of Air, which has the ability to blow away our past lives and sweep us forward into a new and deeper sense of a more authentic self.

Finally, we arrive in the North and, if we have done the necessary work throughout our journey around the wheel, we may experience a true understanding of self, leading to deep peace and harmony, where we can look back on life and see our real place in the world, the meaning of our life’s path and, perhaps, the flow of all things, from a perspective of wisdom and good humour. We are able to take a more spiritual and reflective look at things and to experience maturity and groundedness, where we can be of service to our community and happy in ourselves. This grounding quality of the North is represented by the element of Earth, which is fitting because this is also the place of death, where we return to the Earth before rebirth to the East as the cycle continues into new lives to come.

Once again, it is worth emphasising that these four are only enemies when you have not confronted them; as soon as you enter into battle with them you automatically transform them into allies who can help in your quest for balance and internal harmony and, once you achieve this, external success is assured since you are the great dreamer of your world.

The way of all warriors is not to hide within fantasy or to search only for the ‘light’ (as is the way of many modern ‘new age’ practices) but to embrace the darkness as well, for it is only in our shadows (when the light is behind us) that we see ourselves truly reflected, and only then that we can address ourselves and heal our pains so that the world itself is healed.

This article is adapted from The Spiritual Practices of the Ninja: Mastering the Four Gates To Freedom, by Ross Heaven.

Article Source: http://www.klienwachter.com

Ross Heaven is a therapist, healer, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, and Love’s Simple Truths. His website is www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join his sacred journeys to the shamans and healers of the Amazon.

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