Nehemiah 13:19 · World English Bible
It came to pass that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. I set some of my servants over the gates, so that no burden should be brought in on the Sabbath day.
Shutting the gates of Jerusalem as the dark comes on is the closing of the openings of the head, the senses through which the outer world pours in, so that the inner city of peace can keep its rest undisturbed. The sabbath is the state of inward stillness, the ceasing of labor where a person rests in the deeper self, and no burden may be carried in because any traffic of the senses would break that quiet and load the mind down again.
From the Esoteric reading below.
The same verse, read by 2 traditions.
ESOTERIC
Shutting the gates of Jerusalem as the dark comes on is the closing of the openings of the head, the senses through which the outer world pours in, so that the inner city of peace can keep its rest undisturbed. The sabbath is the state of inward stillness, the ceasing of labor where a person rests in the deeper self, and no burden may be carried in because any traffic of the senses would break that quiet and load the mind down again.
The servants posted at each gate are the disciplined faculties set to guard the entries, the watchful attention stationed at eye and ear to refuse the loads of thought and craving that would enter. Jerusalem is the seat of peace within the head, and its gates are barred at the hour of rest so the inner sabbath is kept whole, the city sealed against the outer world while the self dwells in its own stillness.
Gates of Jerusalem: the openings of the head, the senses through which the outer world enters the inner city Jerusalem: the seat of peace within the head, the inner city guarded and kept at rest Sabbath: the state of inward stillness where a person ceases labor and rests in the deeper self Servants at the gates: the disciplined faculties posted at the senses to refuse the burdens that would enter Burden: the load of sense and craving that would be carried into the mind and break its rest
SELF-HELP
Any decision you have to win again tomorrow will eventually lose; give it a lock and a guard.
A commitment held only in the mind gets re-argued every time the traders arrive, and they arrive at dusk, when the reasons are quiet and the appetite is loud. Whoever plans to be strong in that moment has left a back door open and named it resolve.
Shutting the doors turns intention into architecture. The Sabbath stops depending on how a governor feels at the end of a long week and starts depending on hardware and on servants who answer for it, and a standard everyone can see is one nobody has to rediscover. What he surrenders is the flattering picture of a man strong enough to be trusted at dusk, and anyone who insists on keeping that picture keeps losing the day.
Esoteric lens
What have I been letting in through my eyes and ears tonight that I would not have opened the door to in person?
Close the gates, shut the mouth and the eyes, and you spend your days unexhausted. Leave them open to everything and you run out before evening.
As a turtle draws its limbs inside its shell, the steady person draws the senses back from what pulls them. Then the mind sits still because nothing is tugging it.
When an impression knocks, do not take it in on sight. Hold it up, test it, and only then decide whether it belongs to you.
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Esoteric
Self-Help