Heartfulness

A great deal of talk about mindfulness. But what our culture needs is heartfulness.

Spiritual transformation happens in a realm of silence, free from the bondage of compulsive thinking. This is the realm of the heart, the subtle realm of feeling. We enter this realm through sensation, not thought. Yes, I know, our education has prejudiced us against feeling as a valid means of empowerment, just as our religion has prejudiced us against the spiritual power of sensation.

"My mind will save me. It is superior to my body. All I have to do is think harder." The myth of mind over matter is the root ignorance of our civilization.

In fact, we are saved not by thinking more, but thinking less. We are saved by those periods when we return to the basic sanity of Presence, freed from the noise of the past and future which is thought. We are saved by disengaging the mind and resting in the silence of the heart.

The moment we relinquish a thought, even a brilliant or positive thought, awareness settles and grounds itself in a profoundly different kind of space. In this space, we can attend to the heart. Yes, I mean the actual physical organ, warm and vulnerable and alive in the body. The heart is not a mere pump. It is a neural network as rich and complex as any brain. When we allow the heart to speak its own silent language, it opens. The heart is a door, a portal to the wider universe, and to the realm of the angels.

Honor the beating flesh of your heart. Bathe in the sea of subtle sensation that flows through this portal of divine Radiance. Do not name these sensations with religious, or medical, or New Age labels. Such words come from the non-existent past and only lead you back to a thought-trip of stored memories in your brain.

Practice heartfulness for short periods several times a day, especially at dawn and sunset. Again and again, gently abandon any thought that arises in your head, and sink into the ever deepening well of silence. Fall into the sensation of your heart.

After practicing this, you will find that your mind is clear and sharp, ready to focus on important tasks without anxiety or effort. Your mind can be a useful tool, but it is not who you are. Who you are is not discovered by thinking.