Having studied Andre Gide's Strait is the Gate at school I had always assumed it meant that you had to be really good to get into heaven. However, you asked this question a while ago but it flashed up to the top of the "active" list about a day after I read this in "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle:

"Find the "narrow gate that leads to life". It is called the Now. Narrow down your life to this moment. You life situation may be full of problems - most life situations are - but find out if you have any problem at this moment. Not tomorrow or in ten minutes, but now. Do you have a problem now?

When you are full of problems, there is no room for anything new to enter, no room for a solution, so whenever you can, make some room for a solution. So whenever you can, make some room, create some space, so that you find the life underneath your life situation."

I wonder now whether "strait is the gate" means that few of us really live our lives in the NOW moment which then leads to a happier life.

It is just a thought - to be honest, I don't really know what it means but great question.

"Find the narrow gate that leads to life", yes thanks Catherine, "lightbulb" moment, i love it - in other words and using today's jargon, the narrow gate is the bridge between the conscious 3D mind, and the unconscious parallel universal mind, it allows information to flow between consciousness and the the greater consciousness beyond - it is the portal through which information is channeled - just as blood circulates through our physical bodies, so subtle energies flow through our energy bodies.

Physically i like to think of the narrow gate as the two way passage system that connects the left and right hemispheres of the human brain, and perhaps of other animals brains too. As Jill Bolte Taylor explains in her remarkable video, the right brain acts as a parallel processor, that deals with the unlimited "now" and the left brain acts as a serial processor, that deals with the future, past and logical physical environment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU

"How do we find it?" - by performing spiritual work such as we do here on I.Q. and elsewhere that clears our energy bodies and raises our vibrations so to 'speak' ... :)

After reading everybody's post I came up with my own thots on this: I'm so happy I found abraham to teach me how to think better thots.I flat out didn't know how to love or focus a new story, I kept repeating the words of history and what didin't work. Once I learned to tell a new story more and more,the gate fell open. This is the kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven. Jesus did give us a hope to focus on,perhaps He was hoping we would then keep finding more hope and joy to snow ball us into that unconditional love of self and others.I'm sure he could see how messed up our thinking was.To me this is good use of my freewill>>>>>>>to feel and think uplifting thots.

I'm sure this is why He took on that assignment, because God knew how hard this could be for us if we don't grow,learn,change. They could see we needed HIM.

I also think that is why we are not saved by works, because a person could be full of negativity and trying to feel better by doing good. However the real heaven and salvation is to feel good and think good thots.

Still to do good also has a good side effect of making a person feel good for awhile even if they start up with negative thots and feelings again in the course of time.

Maybe it is the gate to a spiritual lifestyle, which makes our souls evolve. Jesus' words make me think about the last strophe of Invictus by William Ernest Henley. He wrote this lying in his hospital bed after his foot was amputated.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

In some traditions there are 'the Wardens of the Gates'. There is a Warden of Earth, a Warden of Water, a Warden of Air and a Warden of Fire.

(Interesting also is that there are four Archangels associated with the four quarters which represent Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Gabriel, Michael, Uriel and Raphael (from memory) and not necessarily in order).

After death we have each to give back to the warden that which we have used during life. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust as we say. When we have given back that which we received we are able to advance.

What is left when we return everything we see to the elementals? Spirit?

I would hazard a guess that until we can 'give back our Spirit' to the Warden of that Pearly Gate we will find ourselves still outside.

The narrow gate that is straight could be a reference to the Kundalini.. the other two energies ascend via in a winding manner whereas the Kundalini ascends directly up the spinal column, the straight and narrow path.

the wide gate is when you look outside of you,in this world. the narrow gate is when you look inside of you. know your self(When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty."
http://gnosis.org/naghamm/gosthom.html )

.first of all you have to lift up the stone,what is the stone judgement from the heart and the mind.(it is writen in the bible:I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. http://bible.cc/ezekiel/36-26.htm ) and properly split that pieces of wood.(Split a piece of wood; I am there.

Lift up the stone, and you will find me there." http://gnosis.org/naghamm/gosthom.html ) You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. http://bible.cc/matthew/7-5.htm

(by undertanding the truth about the duality of every thing even your mind and heart. then you will not have the need to cast stones. blessed are the pure in heart they will see god(light,awareness,truth about everything from the beguinning to the end such is he God the father).eventualy you will se the reflection of your light on the water.(you are made in the image of God: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. http://bible.cc/genesis/1-27.htm )eventualy the water and the spirit(light) will become one with no more division and conflict.and the last door is going out of the flesh to the kingdom.what is needed no fear. the truth will set you free. experience and enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbBmpaDBizA

it is in every religion. god is truth.

satnaam.

samadhi,truth the light of knowledge.

Emet.

if you make the choice to return here from the kingdom then it is tathagata ,jivanmukta or i am the resurrection and the life.

do you still wounder why jesus said:i am the ressurection and the life, i am the door, i am the way the truth and the life.i am not from this world. me and the father are one, the father sent me. the word is truth.the one that comes from above is above all.

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. http://bible.cc/hebrews/13-2.htm

The gate is your own heart. You can decide to walk with an open heart (open gate) that is forgiving, childlike, full of compassion and love without condition. As Jesus demonstrated in his own experience. The gate is yours to open or close. It is narrow for the human mind is as well. The mind cannot begin to comprehend the fullness and feeling of being childlike, that is free, limitless. The mind constricts and closes the gate to your heart when it gets wrapped in details and analysis. Be free, have fun in your experience. Walk with an open heart, everything will be what it will be. :o)

It is difficult gaining the true and infinite realization that you are, that the world that you walk upon is (that leads to life), i believe that is partly what Jesus meant by this sentence. There are many distractions and times of doubt in a person who seeks the most important truth, the truth of themselves. The meaning of the narrow gate is the threshold or the place where we change our perception, where our realization begins to change and is briefly transformed as reality flickers to reveal the infinite and beautifull truth of our existence. The experience cannot be explained and understood by means of words or mathematics, no detailed map or intricate drawings Could educate the seeker to the point that instantly he/she would realize their own gate of perception and walk through it to experience full realization/nirvana/heaven/higher state/their true selves. It has to be sought by the individual through searching for truth and not getting caught up too much. There is a lot of room for doubt and misunderstanding when searching for their own truth, therefor the seeker is very susceptible to distractions and delusions as she/he is searching for something invisible having to rely on promises and testimony from those who claim to have seen. That can prevent a seeker from discovering the existence of this metaphorical narrow gate because they become lost. Gates generally proceed a change in environment/surroundings i believe that is why Jesus used this as a metaphor. I think learning to feel the truth resonate is more important than nit picking through the details, and this, felt like a truthful answer to your query. love pds

love pds

This may sound silly, but I believe it's living life. Similarly others have well explained such as living in the now, experiencing & enjoying life, etc.

Something many people around here say is that all death is suicide, because only we can attract our own deaths. I think there is some potential degree of validity to this idea, even if it isn't the whole story, but in that essence it means to me the narrow gate is making the decision you love yourself so much you wouldn't ever kill yourself, and so you live forever. For me, I'd only ever voluntarily put myself in a situation where I'm likely to die if it is for someone else. Not really for any especially noble reasons per-se, though I guess that is a part of it, but I could never live with myself knowing I had the chance to try saving someone and them or both of us could out alive and instead did nothing.

Luckily for me I'm a narcissistic egomaniac so if it is true we can only die if we attract our own deaths I'm already on the short road to immortality because I know no matter how unfortunate life gets (NOT challenging the universe, zero part of me wants to test to see if I can tough out the worst life has to offer, not my point here) I still ultimately love myself too much to ever wish myself to die.

This all being said I believe I may have already died a few times in real life and COUNTLESS times in my dreams (where I felt and experienced the deaths in certain more lucid dreams, mind you), and it didn't seem so bad. Despite firmly believing I will live forever [wouldn't you have to to be able to?] and be able to find ways to mitigate or reverse the aging process (Yes, I'm crazy, happily admit to this) I accept the idea of death, and don't fear what's on the other side. The belief in immortality came late in life, the lack of fear of death is how I've been for as long as I can remember.

Other than being crazy and believing you can conquer the world, something that may resonate better with the non-insane.. Live every moment like it is your last, but hope to live forever. I believe if I can truly embrace this idea, I really will live forever in this life and body. If I do not, I know I'll pop back up again and get another go around at getting it right. The only thing I know for sure is whether it be in this life or the next I have all the time in the world, so I may as well experience it and feel what there is to be felt. To me this doesn't mean unconditional psychosis & happiness, but instead embracing the ups and downs, playing the part, enjoying my role, living the game.

There's a song by Shinedown I believe explains the secret to living forever called "What a Shame". But as we all see what we want to see I see this message in many different forms of art, so it could just be me. ;)

I really like your question, so, I will answer it in a very special way.

“Finding The Gate”

A multitude of people stood outside of the Gate. There were white clouds everywhere, no could see the entrance to the Gate.

A Bell was ringing in the far distance; everyone was looking to see where the Bell was.

No one could see the Bell, but everyone could hear the Bell ringing, and ringing with a big loud noise.

Then, there was a sound of some great chains being drawn from something in the far distance.

Someone said look, it is the two Golden Gates to Heaven; the chains are being drawn apart, and the Gates are being opened.

The multitude moved closer to the opened Gates in the far distance, the Bell started to ring again.

Everyone bowed down on their knees with their heads on the ground, as in prayer.

The Bell rang again, and in the far distance was a bright shinning light, everyone looked up in amazement, but could not see through the bright light.

The Bright Light was coming from the body of a man in the far distance, who no one knew.

Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world? A voice said: who call upon the name of God? The multitude replied I Lord.

The Lamb of God raised his right hand up to the skies, and the Rays of sparkling bright shinning light came upon the multitude, and all tongues were tied, and there was a great silence.

Confession was in place, all souls have risen to the count of three, the trumpet was sounded, man stood in front of the Lamb of God, tongue tied.

Two angels appeared with Harps, singing, and playing heavenly music for the Lamb of God.

The Bell was ringing, everyone answered the call, and the last man said where is God? Is this heaven?

The Lamb of God said, Heaven and Hell is behind these Gates, and you only past this way but once.

So choose your path, and choose it right the first time I go around this line, for there is no turning back, once you choose your path.

One path leads to Heaven, and one path leads to Hell, but you have a choice to choose your path.

So take heed to my words, and listen well, for you will only get this chance once into Heaven, or Hell.

The Gates are opened to the left and to the right, come on in all; God is waiting on you to enter in by choice, confess with your mouth all that you done, and choose your path right from the start.

No judgment is cast, man is free, and a path is made clear for you; Heaven is on Earth all Glory to God. He is waiting at the entrance of your Gate of choice.

Heaven is revealed, God is in place, all souls has risen to the sound of his name, a place to call home in our father’s Chamber, at last a home in our father’s Chambers.

The two Golden Gates are closed again; the chains are drawn, never to open again, no more Hell, only Heaven in our father’s Chambers.

The Lamb has come, God the father, and the Son are in a place of love, where all souls rejoiced in gladness behind the Golden Gates of Love.

The gate is a level of consciousness. In the Kingdom, there isn't any comparisons. Reverse the fall from grace. The apple was the comparison. It was chosen over oneness with everything. This world is a Hologram with all parts of the whole in every part. The key to the gate is getting to the level of communication with everything. How to get there is to take the principles taught by Jesus and study until it does not matter, you will just know.

For something completely different: "The Gate" or the "Bab" in Arabic is the title given to the forerunner of the founder of the Baha'i Faith. Followers of the Bab were led through Him "the Gate" to this the latest of the world's major religions. For those who are seeking for the 'gate', here is one other place to search.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shastri-purushotma/declaration-of-the-bab-enter-the-gate_b_1522736.html