Clearing The Heart, Freeing The Heart

A meditation to clear, unify and energise the heart. Clearing the heart and refining the consciousness. Expanding the heart, freeing the mind. Finding the the natural state of peace of the heart and radiating this energy of peace to the world around us.

Transcript

We sit comfortably,

The back comfortably straight,

The eyes closed and the heart open,

And we bring our attention,

Our awareness to our own body.

Usually our attention is scattered in all directions and our energy is scattered in all directions.

Now we center our attention,

Our energy with our own body,

Being aware of the feet on the ground,

The arms,

The hands as they rest on the legs,

The back comfortably straight,

Not too stiff,

Not too loose,

Like 33 coins nicely aligned.

We relax the shoulders,

We can let the shoulders fall,

Just let the shoulders drop,

And most often we'll find we're carrying some tension in the shoulders.

It's not a healthy way to live,

To always be living in tension.

When we have tension around the shoulders we also have tension around the heart,

So we let the shoulders fall,

Just let them relax,

The neck,

Head,

Forehead all relaxed,

Being aware of the sensations of the body,

And we can visualize ourself as we sit here,

Try to see ourselves sitting here,

Where we send our attention,

We send our mental energy,

So by visualizing our body we're directing our attention,

Our energy,

To our own body where the energy increases,

We scatter our attention in all directions,

And we decrease our energy,

And we bring the awareness to the breathing.

Breathing in,

Being aware of the breathing in,

Breathing out,

Being aware of the breathing out,

Being aware of body,

Being aware of mind,

Being aware of all that contacts the mind from outside,

From inside,

Being aware and simply letting it go,

Letting it pass,

Being aware of all that contacts the mind through these six avenues,

The eye,

The ear,

The nose,

The tongue,

The body,

Being aware of all that forms in the mind itself,

All that forms at the heart itself,

The thoughts,

The feelings,

The memories,

The states of mind,

Simply watching,

Observing,

Letting go,

Letting it pass,

We don't react,

We don't get entangled,

Keeping our attention centered with the breathing,

The breathing is our anchor point,

Just as a boat,

A ship,

Can drift in all directions,

Always must come back to its anchor point,

The breathing is our anchor point,

Sometimes the mind will wonder,

That's very normal,

The mind will wonder to other places,

Other people,

To past or future,

But when we find the mind wondering,

We simply bring the attention back to the breathing,

Back to the present,

Just watching,

Observing,

Letting go,

We don't try to force the breathing,

Just letting the body breathe naturally,

We don't try to force the mind,

We don't try to force the mind to stop thinking,

We simply stop to energize the thinking process,

We stop to take interest,

If we take interest in what forms in the mind,

Then we pour our mental energy into this mental process,

We pump it up,

We make it bigger and bigger,

A thought,

A mind bubble appears in the mind,

If we take interest with like or with dislike,

Then we create more of these mind bubbles,

One mind bubble becomes a hundred,

A thousand,

Thousands and thousands,

The heart becomes a jacuzzi,

If we take interest in these waves on the surface of the mind,

We can create a hurricane in the heart,

So we simply observe without taking interest,

Like taking away the fuel from the fire,

The fire dies away in its own time,

Just keeping our attention centered with the breathing,

Being aware of the breathing in,

Being aware of the breathing out,

Being aware of body,

Being aware of mind,

Just watching,

Observing,

Letting go,

Whatever contacts the mind through the six avenues,

We make it all part of the practice,

A sound arises,

We simply observe this sound as a moment of contact,

Ear contact,

Or perhaps we feel it as a vibration passing through the body,

A moment of vibration passing through the body,

Bodily sensations arise,

And we simply observe these sensations as moments,

Moments of sensation arising and passing away,

Impermanent moments of sensation from an impermanent body,

This body composed of earth,

Water,

Wind and fire,

Solids,

Liquids,

Gases,

Heat,

We borrow these elements from the world for a time to form this body,

And while we have this body,

It's always changing,

Components always being replaced,

Even the bones,

After a period of years,

Even the bones are completely replaced,

In time we must give it all back,

For some people sooner,

For some people later,

But we all must give it all back,

Earth to earth,

Water to water,

Wind to wind and fire to fire,

Nothing remains to call me to call mine,

So we observe these passing moments of sensation as simply that,

Passing moments,

Moments arising,

Passing away,

Moments of sensation from an impermanent body,

We observe all that forms in the mind,

These mind bubbles,

These mind mirages,

These waves in the mind,

Fluctuations of mental energy,

Just moments arising,

Passing away,

We don't take interest in the content of the thought,

We don't react with like or dislike,

But we can take a lot of interest in the nature of the thought,

The impermanent nature of the thought,

Just watching these mind bubbles as simply mind bubbles,

Watching them arise,

Watching them pass away,

Watching them arise,

Watching them pass away,

Watching the impermanent nature,

The impermanent nature of these states of mind,

Like clouds in the sky,

Sometimes we look at the sky,

All we see are clouds,

And they all pass away in time,

Leaving the sky clear and open,

We look to our own heart,

And sometimes all we can see is these states of mind,

Sometimes sadness,

Sometimes excitement,

Sometimes frustration,

Sometimes happiness,

All these states of mind pass away,

Leaving the heart clear and open,

Leaving the heart at peace,

So we keep our attention centered with the breathing,

Just watching,

Observing,

Letting go,

Letting go,

And as we take our attention from all these fluctuations of mental energy,

We find a deeper happiness,

As the heart becomes more calm,

More cool,

More clear,

More clean,

We find the happiness of the clear heart,

The clean heart,

The calm heart,

The cool heart,

We find that peace and happiness is the normal nature of the heart,

The normal natural nature of the heart is what we call the four divine states of mind,

The four wholesome states of mind,

Kindness,

Compassion,

Joy,

Equanimity,

When the heart is clear and clean,

When the heart is whole,

These are the normal states of mind,

The wholesome states of mind,

Any other state of mind is a disturbed and agitated state of mind,

And these are the states of mind of happiness,

The states of mind of peace,

All we have to do is watch,

Observe,

Let go,

The peace becoming deeper and deeper,

More and more refined,

As we can let go on a deeper and deeper level,

A more and more refined level,

The heart becoming more clear,

More clean,

And more and more energized,

As we keep our attention with the breathing,

Our attention with the breathing,

We stop to scatter our heart in all directions,

The heart becomes more unified,

More unified and more energized,

And so all we do in our meditation is clear the heart,

Unify and energize the heart,

And then we find something very special within,

Something very special about ourselves,

We find our own inner oasis of peace,

Our own inner sanctuary,

Our own inner chapel,

Outside can be chaos,

But inside we have this inner place of peace,

Place of strength,

Place of joy,

Where the mind becomes refreshed,

As we clear the heart,

The mind becomes recharged,

As we unify and energize the heart,

The heart fills with this inner divine energy,

We breathe air with our lungs,

And with our inner energy centers,

We breathe a different energy,

We breathe the life force energy,

The light force,

Energy of the universe,

And as we continue with our meditation,

These energy centers become more and more energized,

We can feel this energy flowing through us,

This inner divine energy,

This life force energy,

This light force energy,

And we feel more and more alive,

We feel more alert,

We feel more and more awake,

It starts simply by feeling,

We feel this inner flow of divine energy,

Giving us a great sense of well-being,

Of harmony,

Of ease,

Of comfort,

Of joy,

We feel at peace,

The energy is becoming more and more refined,

More and more sublime,

And as the energies become more refined,

More sublime,

The consciousness becomes more refined,

More sublime,

Raising our consciousness higher and higher,

As we continue with our practice,

In time,

We actually see this inner light,

As the energies become stronger and stronger,

More and more intense,

More and more intense,

We actually see this inner light,

As a brightness within the body,

An illumination,

Inner radiance,

When the eye is single,

The body is filled with light,

Quite literally,

We may not yet see the inner light,

But it shows,

It shows in the eyes,

It shows in the face,

The eyes,

The face becoming more bright,

More clear,

Feeling more and more at peace,

More and more alive,

More and more in harmony,

And as the heart becomes more and more energized,

The energy field of the heart expands,

Our area of consciousness expands,

The inner chapel becomes an inner cathedral,

The inner oasis becomes an ocean,

The heart becoming brighter and brighter,

Raising our consciousness higher and higher,

The heart filling with this inner divine energy,

And we cannot show this to another person,

We cannot say,

Come look and see what I have within,

But we can share this energy,

And as we share this energy,

It's like we open an inner water tap,

Inner valve,

As we open the water tap,

The water gushes out,

As we do this practice of sharing this inner energy,

The inner energy just gushes out,

Breathing in,

We wish happiness for ourselves,

Focusing our attention at the heart chakra,

Breathing out,

Wishing happiness for all beings,

Simply letting the energy overflow,

Breathing in,

We can visualize the heart filling with light,

Because in fact it is,

Breathing out,

We can visualize this light flowing in all directions,

Above,

Below,

And all around,

Breathing in,

May I be happy,

Breathing out,

May all beings be happy,

Very very simple,

Very very easy,

But great benefit,

The benefit is immeasurable,

Because it makes the heart immeasurably wide,

As we do this practice,

The heart becomes wider and wider,

This practice is also called the immeasurable,

The practice of radiating compassion,

Kindness,

It's also called the practice of the immeasurable,

Because the heart becomes immeasurably wide,

And immeasurably high,

We can raise our consciousness higher and higher,

To beyond higher than normal human level,

So that in the words of Saint Nikitas Stathos of Mount Athos,

We become human angels,

Celestial humans,

As the heart becomes brighter and brighter,

Raising our consciousness higher and higher,

Breathing in,

Wishing happiness for ourselves,

We flush,

We wash,

We clear,

We clean the heart,

Breathing out,

We uplift the world around us,

Radiating this energy of peace to the world around us,

Breathing in,

May I be happy,

Breathing out,

May all beings be happy,

Heart shining brighter and brighter,

The heart opening wider and wider,

The jewel in the lotus,

The jewel of the heart shining more and more brightly,

And the lotus of the heart expanding,

The petals opening wider and wider,

Breathing in,

May I be happy,

Breathing out,

May all beings be happy,

Breathing in,

Joyfully,

Kindness,

Compassion,

Joy,

Equanimity,

The four divine states of mind,

We breathe in,

Joyfully,

Joyfully,

Knowing this practice brings great benefit to ourselves,

As we refine the heart,

We brighten the heart,

We clear and clean the heart,

We raise our consciousness,

Breathing out,

Joyfully,

Knowing this practice brings great benefit to the world around us,

Breathing out,

Joyfully,

Knowing this energy which we radiate will come back to us,

What we give to the universe,

The universe will give us back many times over,

So we're planting seeds,

The fruit of which we eat later,

We benefit now and we benefit in the future,

Breathing in,

May I be happy,

Breathing out,

May all beings be happy,

The heart becoming more clear,

More clean,

The heart becoming more steady,

More secure,

Shining brighter and brighter,

We let go of all these things which make the heart unsteady,

Insecure,

What makes the heart insecure,

Aversion to past,

Sadness,

Anger,

Chokes the heart and squeezes the heart,

Anxiety to future,

Chokes the heart and squeezes the heart,

Anxiety to future,

Chokes the heart and squeezes the heart,

Makes the heart very very unstable,

With this practice we open the heart,

We open the heart and we cool the heart,

Anger,

Anxiety,

Burn the heart,

Make the heart hot,

With this practice of spreading metta,

Spreading kindness,

Compassion,

We open the heart and we cool the heart,

Making the heart more steady,

More stable,

More secure,

Breathing in,

May I be happy,

Washing,

Cooling,

Clearing,

Cleaning,

Breathing out,

May all beings be happy,

The heart becoming a divine fountain,

A divine fountain of divine energy,

This holy energy radiating in all directions,

Uplifting the world around us,

And as the energy field becomes stronger and stronger,

Brighter and brighter,

It becomes our suit of armor,

Our wall of protection against the lower energies,

The lower entities,

And as the heart becomes brighter and brighter,

We attract the attention of higher entities,

We get friends in high places,

So we get protection from the lower,

And we attract the friendship of the higher beings,

They come to see,

They come to look,

Who is this making the heart so bright,

How wonderful,

They are happy to help,

Happy to support,

Breathing in,

May I be happy,

Breathing out,

May all beings be happy,

The heart becoming more refreshed,

The heart becoming more recharged,

The heart becoming more and more at peace,

The heart becoming simply normal,

This is how the heart should be all the time,

Breathing in,

May I be happy,

Breathing out,

May all beings be happy,

And now we can just examine the heart,

Just observe the heart,

The heart chakra,

How does it feel,

Does it feel more open,

More refined,

More at peace,

More steady,

More stable,

More secure,

We watch,

We observe,

And we let go,

Spiritual knowledge simply means to know our own heart,

To know how the heart is imprisoned,

To know how to set the heart free,

To know what makes the heart dark,

What makes the heart bright,

What squeezes the heart,

What opens the heart,

What makes the heart heavy,

What makes the heart light,

So this spiritual journey is all about knowing our own heart,

And setting free our own heart,

So now we simply observe the heart chakra,

Whatever way it feels,

We observe it,

And we let it go,

We let it pass,

And we bring our awareness to the body,

The body,

Being aware of the body posture,

The sensations of the body,

And we can visualize the body,

We can visualize the body filled with light,

Like the light of the full moon,

And as we visualize the body filled with light,

We open the heart to this inner light,

This inner divine power of the universe,

We open our heart to it,

So that it fills,

It floods the body,

Overflowing from the heart,

And we bring the hands to the heart,

The palms together,

And now our power of intention is very strong,

We make the intention to continue with our practice,

Refining the heart,

Expanding,

Uplifting,

Clearing,

Cleaning,

And freeing the heart,

We bring the hands to the forehead,

In gratitude,

Respect,

And back down to the legs,

And back down to the legs,

We open the eyes,

And we keep the heart open,

Reviews

This daily practice is so valuable. These meditations never fail to set me on the path of expansion.

Such a beautiful, powerful meditation. Thank you Finnbar. 🙏

Finnbarr’s meditations, recorded or live, are an anchor in the storms of life, Thank you for continuing to remind me of what’s actually important when it’s easy to get swept up in everything else. You and your wisdom, bourne of real life experience of being a monk, are much appreciated 🙏

Wonderful meditation. Very enlightening. I enjoy your meditations. Thank you 🙏🏻