In the buddhist teachings, body, speech, and mind are referred to as the three gates of liberation  •  these three gates are connecting points, or portals, between you and the teachings of the Buddha: each gate opens out to the dharma, and each gate welcomes the dharma in  •  these three gates point to a holistic way of accessing the teachings and working with them  •  “body” refers to the physical form of our body, which provides a base for the teachings  •   if we are not grounded in our bodies, it’s very hard to connect in a deep way with the teachings; they remain at a cerebral or conceptual level  •  “speech” refers not only to the spoken word, but also to the energetic side of things—the emotions and the energies of life  •  the buddhist teachings are an oral tradition, so spoken word is extremely important   •  the third gate, “mind,” is talked about as having three qualities: ordinary waking mind, the dream mind, and the unconscious mind  •  the teachings can come through all of these: through conceptual understanding, through dreams, and through direct nonconceptual awareness.