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The
Role of the Heart
By
Puran Bair
As the Sufis see it, the heart is the fruit or the flower of the
plant of which the soul is the seed. The heart is the whole object
of creation. The beauty of the flower or the fruit is the proof
of the beauty that was only a potential in the seed. The production
of the fruit is the purpose in which the whole life of the plant
culminates. If a plant lives but produces no fruit or flower,
it has failed. But if it makes a fruit, the plant will continue
to live through the seed of that fruit. Beneath the rose is the
rosehip, its seed.
Beyond the soul is the soul of the soul, the spirit, which is
one. So we reach unity, point Alpha, by going through our own
souls. Beyond the heart is the heart of the heart, the Universal
Heart that is in all hearts and of which all hearts are a part.
We reach unity again, point Omega, by going through our own hearts.
Our hearts accumulate our life experience and convey it to the
Universal Heart, which absorbs it all. The purpose of our lives
is to contribute our life experience to the One who ultimately
experiences it.
Healing and accessing our hearts enriches our lives and makes
our connection with each other more beautiful and meaningful.
But the ultimate reason for doing this work with our hearts is
that it affects the heart of humanity and causes an evolutionary
development that is our gift to our children and to all children.
Once the heart of humanity is touched, a change in humanity is
created. We can affect many more than our own direct descendents.
The other part of the role of the heart is that it contains within
itself all that we need to accomplish our mission of developing
the heart. The tools for building the heart are contained in the
basement, so to speak, of the temple that the heart can become.
It is our attention to and exercise of these tools that cause
the heart to develop. The tools are courage, compassion, collaboration,
creativity and compelling idealization.
Healing and Accessing Our Hearts by Meditation
The overall effect of heart meditation is that it allows people
to make changes in themselves. There are three things necessary
to effect a change: a clear vision of what you'd like to become,
the energy to overcome inertia, along with the sensation of energy
in your body, and emotion in the form of longing and strong desire
for change.
When you meditate on your heart, the first effect is that the
practice brings your attention into your body. Some people don't
feel their body unless it’s in movement or in pain. Just
being able to feel your body is healthful. Most meditations take
you out of your body; a focus on sensation is unusual and very
centering. (energy)
Second, finding your heartbeat brings attention to your heart.
By concentrating on your physical heart you become aware of your
emotional heart. The heart has a different point-of-view on your
life. You gain that point-of-view by contemplation, which comes
from concentration. This will change your attitude toward
others and yourself. (vision)
Third, the coordination of the heartbeat and the breath creates
power in your heart, which you experience as magnetism and pressure.
This gives you the energy to be the way you'd like to be and
to accomplish what you most wish to accomplish. (energy, again).
Fourth, along the way somewhere, not necessarily in this order,
the emotions of the heart become much more conscious. You remember
many stored emotions that have not been resolved. Life becomes
more emotionally rich. You find emotions behind the emotions and
you find that any emotion connects to every other emotion. There
develops a desire to better understand these layers and types
of emotion. (emotion)
 Fifth,
the experience of who you are begins to shift. This is critical.
The self-concept of identity is the filter that gives you access
to some of the emotions over others. This is what it takes for
the experiences of meditation to become fixed in your life. (vision,
again)
Sixth, I hope for the experience of being connected to all beings,
and to the One and Only Being. This may begin as a feeling of
presence in the room where you're meditating. Or it may come
as an emotion of humanity, much bigger than your own emotion.
Or it may be that you just switch into the state of unity. (combination
of vision, energy and emotion)
What could be more worthwhile than the discovery of the beauty
and power of your heart and the connection, through the heart,
to all others? Heart Rhythm Meditation is clear and easy to follow,
and has practical benefits for life.
Doug
Johnson, an acupuncturist from Tucson AZ, will present a Heart Rhythm
Meditation Seminar, May 1-2, 2004, at The Link Counseling Center. Contact:
Robin Harman 770-730-9713 or AltarYourLife@aol.com
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Meditation
