Heart of Hearts

Many Spiritual traditions speak of the layers, levels or dimensions of the heart.  There is a depth that can only be plumbed with practice.  The techniques and practices that we can employ not only bring coherence to the entire system – they also bring the voice of wisdom.  This can only be experienced when the heart remains open.

It doesn’t take much to close the heart.  You run into an old flame and suddenly your heart slams shut as you remember the hurts and everything that went wrong.    You can be in traffic and someone honks or gives you an unfriendly gesture and boom- the heart slams shut.  Someone can look at you the wrong way and your heart has just locked and thrown away the key.  Every time we close the beautiful part of us that has intelligence beyond imagination – we form a scar.  That scar tissue (known in Sanskrit as samskara) can build up to such an extent that the energy moving through our system gets blocked.  We find ourselves longing for the childlike openness that greets each day with joy and lightheartedness.

This scar tissue also keeps us from the deeper places in the heart where Love blossoms, and forgiveness reigns supreme.  On the surface we can put a nice face on things – or tune in to our “ friendly” personality” and never realize that we are utilizing only a small percentage of what the heart can do .  Then a life event can occur – loss of a job or relationship – financial constraints or health challenge.  And all that crust keeps us from knowing who we are – and how rich and blessed we are beyond any circumstance or experience.

Fortunately, the inner world is greater than the outer…and with practice we can dissolve those scars and our heart will fly open with the joy that is its natural beat.

The most profound beginning is gratitude…my favorite feeling.  When I am filled with gratefulness my heart expands and swells and I feel as though everything around me is full of light. The trick is to be grateful for everything – not just the things that we call “good” but every single thing and that means constant observation with a new lens.  I just finished planning the memorial service for my husband, which takes place in September.  I was resistant at first …too much work to do….hard to arrange here in the rural capital of California…too emotional for me…blah blah blah.  In a moment of wisdom breaking through I knew I had to do it.  The new eyes I have on that is this is my chance to pay tribute to the Love of my life…What could be greater than to show the gratitude I have for all Bill brought to my growth as a being.  In my deepest heart, I can now access more Love and more gratitude because I have allowed the scars to dissolve instead of harden around the pain.

In return my heart is blessing me with the ideas and plans that will bring even more blessings to all who attend.

I will share some practices over the next few weeks that are designed to open the heart and keep it open…wide open as the blue sky today as the storm called Hilary dissipates.

For this week – let’s begin with gratitude for so many simple things we forget and allowing our heart to swell.  The video is a heart opener…thanks to Brother David – the king of gratitude.