Saving Time with the Three Gates

So the first week of my focus on ‘Three Gates (Is it True? Kind? Useful?) and Three Centers (Body, Emotions, Mind) is coming to a close, and some thoughts

1. I’ve saved time by understanding more deeply what it means to even TRY to balance these aspects. Because the implications of NOT adhering to them becomes clearer. I know who I am when I stray from that path. And because I can feel who I would be without them, I have some clues about how people who disrespect them see the world.
2. For instance, in the last two weeks, there have been two conversations I ended because the person I was talking to violated the principles. Both, unsurprisingly, were highly political. In one case, a guy tried to drag me into a discussion. I remembered that he was unable to admit he was wrong about something that was pretty cut-and-dried (a fact about the FBI that was available on their website). So I knew he was not honest, could not be trusted about something I could verify. That means it would be foolish to trust him about things where I had to take his word: he is either deluded or dishonest…on political subjects. I was able to simply inform him that we could talk about anything but politics. He did not like this of course, and began to impugn my intellectual courage. I chuckled. Get it? His actions, AT THE LEAST implied that we have such a different view of the world that until that gap is bridged there is nothing positive to be gained by a discussion in that arena. I wasn’t mean about it (Kind), just firm: I don’t like my time being wasted (Useful)