Gate · centre: G
Gate 46 · Determination of the Self
The luck of being in the right place. The body feels good, things fall into place easily, and coincidences turn out well.
What it is like
Things often work out for you because you're in the right place, not because you push. Your body leads the way and likes to be appreciated. When everything takes force, that may be a sign this isn't your place.
When someone close has it
This person often lands in good places at good moments, as if by chance. Invite them where they feel good in their body. That's where they bring the most.
A question for today
Where do I feel good in my body today, and where is everything an uphill struggle?
The six lines of gate 46
Line 1 · Welcome Arrival
On this line being in the right place begins with getting to know your own body. You want to know what serves you, how you sleep, how you eat, how you move, and you build on that. The tradition says whoever sets out upward with humility meets a kind welcome. When the body feels foreign, it is easy to enter new places cautiously and wait for a sign that you are wanted there.
Line 2 · Ease in the Body
Your body lands in the right places without planning, and it asks no effort of you. Others notice how easily things happen for you and call you where lightness is needed. The tradition says a small, sincere offering is enough. At times the call comes just when the body wants to stay, and then it is easy to follow someone else's need instead of your own step.
Line 3 · Empty City
On this line you find the right place by entering the wrong ones. Doors open easily, you step into a new job, flat or group, and only from inside do you see whether anything waits for you there. The tradition shows entering an empty city, without resistance and without purpose. At times, after a few such entries, it is easy to decide no place is yours, though the body keeps looking.
Line 4 · Invitation Uphill
Your right places come through people you know. Someone close recommends you, takes you along or introduces you, and that opens a way that cannot be found alone. The tradition shows an invitation up the mountain to make an offering on behalf of others. When contacts weaken, it is easy to push by force into places where someone's goodwill usually leads you in.
Line 5 · Step by Step
Others see in you someone who knows how to climb higher, and they expect you to show them the way. The tradition speaks of going up stairs, step by step, without skipping. Your practical advice often comes down to not hurrying the body. When others want a faster result, it is easy to speed up against yourself and lose the rhythm everything rests on.
Line 6 · Climbing After Dark
From this line you look from a distance at where the body leads you through life. First you climb by feel, then you pause and watch, and in time others learn from you how to be in the body and in the right place simply by watching how you live. At times the climb goes on after dark, though the body has long been signalling that it is time to stop.