Meditation Of Divine States Of Mind, Abode Of The Pure Heart

A meditation to clear and unify the heart, finding within the natural state of peace and joy of the heart. We enter the inner abode of peace and compassion. We fill the heart with this energy of peace and radiate this energy with compassion to the world around us.

Transcript

Namo Buddhaya, Namo Dhammaya, Namo Sanghaya, Buddham, Dhammam, Sangham, Saranam, Gacchami. We close the eyes, We open the heart. And we bring our awareness to the body, Just being aware of the bodily sensations, Being aware of the body posture. And we can visualize ourself as we sit there. Where we send our attention, We send our mental energy. So by visualizing our body, Being aware of the bodily sensations, Being aware of the body posture, We are directing our attention, Our energy to our own body where the energy increases. And we bring our awareness to the breathing. We can focus our attention at the nose, Where we feel the air passing the nostril, Just keeping our attention at that one point, At the gateway of the breath. Or if we prefer, We can focus our attention at the lower abdomen, As we feel the abdomen rising on the in-breath, Falling on the out-breath. So we decide where we prefer to keep our attention, And we keep the attention there. Keeping our attention centered with the breathing. Keeping our attention with the body. No need to send our attention, Our energy outside the body. Keeping our attention centered with the present. No need to dig up the past. No need to worry about the future. Just being aware of this present moment, As it arises, As it passes away. Just watching the breathing, Watching the mind, Being aware, Letting go. Very very simple, Very very easy, But not so easy, Because the untrained mind always wants to react, Always wants to get entangled with the outside world, The inside world. Every time we react with attachment, With desire, If we observe our heart, We can see it's like we throw the heart in all directions. We kick it around like a football. I want this, I want that, And the heart gets thrown in all directions. Every time we react with aversion, Aversion to past, Anger, Aversion to future, Anxiety, We squeeze, We burn the heart. And so between the two extremes of throwing the heart in all directions, Squeezing, Burning the heart, The heart finds no peace, The heart finds no relief. So we have to train the heart, Train the mind, To find the mind's natural state of inner peace. We train the mind in mindfulness, And we train the mind to have the wisdom to let go. Mindfulness means to know, To be aware, What is contacting the mind right now, What is forming in the mind right now. Whatever is contacting the mind through the five bodily senses, We observe it, We let it go. Whatever is forming within the mind, The thoughts, The feelings, The memories, The states of mind, We see them, We observe them, We let them go. So we train the mind to have this sharp self-awareness, And we train the mind to have the wisdom to let go. And then we find the mind's natural state of inner peace, Inner contentment, Inner joy. So just watching the breathing, Watching the mind, Being aware, Letting go. Whatever contacts the mind from outside, From inside, We make it all part of the practice. Sounds arise. If we consider the sound to be a disturbance, Then it's a disturbance. But if we make it part of the practice, It becomes part of the practice. Just being aware of ear contact, Arising and passing away. Being aware of bodily sensation, Moments of sensation, Arising and passing away. Being aware of all that forms in the mind, Being aware of all these waves on the surface of the mind, These bubbles in the mind, Just watching them appear. We observe them, We let them go, We don't react, We don't 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. The waves on the surface of the mind become bigger and bigger. The bubbles in the mind become more and more numerous. The heart becomes a jacuzzi. But just watching, Observing, Letting go, The heart stays clear and open. So training the mind in mindfulness, Training the mind to have the wisdom to let go. With every breath we clear the heart, And with every breath we energize the heart. Just watching over the mind, Being aware, Letting go. Like a body of water, We stop to disturb, We stop to agitate, We stop to muddy the waters. The water becomes clear and still. We stop to agitate the heart, We stop to disturb the heart. We stop to throw the heart in all directions. We stop to squeeze, Burn the heart. The heart becomes clear and still. And we find the natural state of the heart is to be at peace. As we clear the heart, We clean the heart. We find the natural state of the clear heart is simply peace, Joy, Happiness. We find the natural state of the heart is what we call the four divine states of mind, The four wholesome states of mind, Kindness, Compassion, Joy, Equanimity. They're called the four Brahma-vihara. The Brahmas are the high heavenly beings, Vihara means abode. So the high heavenly beings abide in kindness, They abide in compassion, They abide in joy, They abide in equanimity, The abode of the pure heart. So we watch over the mind, We watch over the heart, Being aware, Letting go. The heart becomes more calm, More cool, More clear, More clean. And we enter this inner abode, The abode of the pure heart. We can enter this abode through the door of kindness, Through the door of compassion, Through the door of joy, Through the door of equanimity, The abode of the pure heart. Just watching, Observing, Letting go. We observe all the negative states of mind as they appear in the mind. We see them, We recognize them, And we let them go, We let them pass. We don't energize them. They fall away, They fade away. They become replaced by the positive states of mind. The four divine states of mind, The four wholesome states of mind. Kindness, Compassion, Joy, Equanimity. We observe the wholesome states of mind appearing more and more. And again, We observe them, We let them go. And the inner peace becomes deeper and deeper, Stronger and stronger. The mind becomes more content, More joyful, More full of joy. Because the mind of happiness, The mind of peace, Is the mind of letting go. The practice is always very, Very simple. Just watching the breathing, Watching the mind, Being aware, Letting go. Clearing the heart, Cleaning the heart, Energizing the heart. A baby has a very, Very clear heart, Clean heart. But it's not enough to have a clear heart. Also we must energize the heart. We energize the heart by keeping our attention with the breathing with the body. We keep our energy with the body. We don't scatter our energy in all directions. Just watching the breathing, Watching the mind. The heart becomes more and more collected, More unified, More and more energized. And when we clear the heart, We energize the heart, We find something very, Very special within, Something very precious within. The heart fills with a divine energy, A sublime energy. The heart becomes flooded, Suffused, Saturated with the prana of the universe, The life force energy, The light force energy of the universe. And as the heart is flooded with this inner divine energy, Sublime energy, We feel more alive, More alert, More awake, A heightened state of consciousness. As the heart fills with this light force energy, The heart becomes brighter and brighter. At first we simply feel the energy, We feel a sense of lightness, Refinement, Expansion. And as we progress in our practice, We start to see this inner light as an inner brightness. We may start by seeing this light between the foreheads, At the throat, Any part of the body. In time the inner light fills the whole body. We feel this lightness, This brightness, Centered at the heart. And when the inner light fills the whole body, We have our own inner lantern to light our way on our spiritual journey, The journey inward. We have our beacon to show us the way home, Back to the heart. The mind becomes content simply to rest at the heart. Usually we send our mind in all directions, We scatter our attention in all directions. But when the mind becomes content to rest at the heart, There's a sense of homecoming, We feel we've come home. And we are content simply to rest within, Like a king, Like a queen sitting on a throne. We find our own inner oasis of peace, Of calm, Of stability, Our own inner sanctuary. The heart fills and overflows with this inner divine energy, Sublime energy. And so we feel no lack of fulfillment in our life, Because inside we are full and filled to overflowing. So many people feel an inner emptiness, Which they try to fill by buying something, Having some experience on the outside. But this inner emptiness can only be filled by making the heart overflow, By clearing the heart, Energizing the heart, Developing the four divine states of mind, The four wholesome states of mind, Kindness, Compassion, Joy, Equanimity. We find this inner wellspring of cool, Clear, Fresh, Life force energy, Light force energy. We find within a bottomless well, Bottomless well of living waters, Living light. We get a greater sense of dignity, Greater sense of self-worth, Self-esteem, Because we can see, We can feel, We are carrying something very precious within. We don't need to believe because we read it in a book or because someone tells us. We can see, We can feel this inner wellspring of divine energy. And as we watch over the heart, Being aware, Letting go, The heart becomes more and more energized. The inner wellspring becomes a fountain, Divine fountain of peace, Of joy, Of happiness, Our own direct experience. We can see, We can feel this inner fountain of happiness, Of joy. So we can simply rest within for as long as we need to. The body needs to rest, The mind needs to rest. And we can rest the mind within for as long as we need. And when we've rested long enough, We can share this energy with the world around us. Breathing in, We wish happiness for ourselves. We focus our attention at the heart, The heart chakra. Breathing out, We wish happiness for all beings. Breathing in, The heart becomes more and more energized. Breathing out, We simply let the heart overflow. As we breathe in, We can visualize the heart filling with light. As we breathe out, We can visualize this light flowing in all directions, Above, Below, All around. So breathing in, May I be happy. Breathing out, May all beings be happy. We can visualize the heart filling with light, Or not as we prefer. But this is what we actually see, This is what we actually feel. We see, We feel the heart filling with light. And we can feel this light energy as it overflows from the heart. And it's like opening an inner tap, Opening an inner valve. As we open the water tap, The water gushes out. As we do this practice, The inner energy gushes out. And the energy field of the heart becomes wider and wider. The heart becomes brighter and brighter. As the energy field of the heart expands, Our area of consciousness expands. As the heart becomes brighter and brighter, We raise our consciousness higher and higher. We tune our mind into the higher levels. Breathing in, May I be happy. Breathing out, May all beings be happy. A human being has a very wide range of consciousness. A dog, A chicken, A cat has the range of consciousness of a dog, A chicken, A cat. But humans have a much wider range of consciousness. While still in human body, We can raise our consciousness to the heavenly realms. We can brighten our heart, Raise our consciousness higher and higher, So we tune our mind into these heavenly realms. Or we can degrade the heart. We can fill the heart with garbage and tune our mind into the lower realms. The heart is the seat, The base for the consciousness. And it's up to us what sort of seat we want for our consciousness. We make the heart clear and clean, Spacious, Refined. We get a nice, Comfortable seat for our consciousness. And we raise our consciousness higher and higher. We degrade the heart. The heart becomes hot, Dark, And cramped. The heart becomes very, Very uncomfortable. We get a very uncomfortable seat for our consciousness. So it's up to us what sort of seat do we want for our consciousness. Breathing in, May I be happy. Breathing out, May all beings be happy. Opening the heart wider and wider. Making the heart brighter and brighter, Lighter and lighter. The heart becomes more and more refined, Lighter and lighter. But as the heart becomes lighter and lighter, More and more refined, The heart becomes more secure, Stronger and stronger. The heart becomes more and more powerful. But at the same time, The heart becomes more and more gentle. The heart becomes still. At the same time, We feel this overflowing from within. So the heart becomes still but overflowing. We feel our consciousness still and steady within. But the energy radiating from the heart flows in all directions. So we feel still and overflowing at the same time. Breathing in, May I be happy. Breathing out, May all beings be happy. The four divine states of mind, Kindness, Compassion, Joy, Equanimity. As we radiate this energy of kindness, Compassion, We can be joyful. We can have joy in our practice, Knowing that this practice brings great benefit to ourselves and to the world around us. And knowing that this energy which we radiate to the world is what will come back to us. What we give to the universe, The universe will give us back many times over. So we can be joyful as we do this practice. Breathing in, May I be happy. Radiating the heart, Clearing, Cleaning the heart. Breathing out, May all beings be happy. Letting the heart overflow. Radiating this energy of peace to the world around us. And now we can just observe the heart. How does it feel? Does the heart feel more open, More refined, More at peace? More steady, More stable, More secure? Whatever way the heart feels, We observe it, We let it go. And we bring our awareness to the body. Being aware of the bodily sensations, The body posture. We can visualize ourselves as we sit here, Centering our energy with the body. We bring the hands to the heart, The palms together. And now the heart is very strong, Very bright. Our power of intention is very strong. And with this strong, Bright heart, We make the intention to continue with our practice. Refining the heart, Strengthening the heart, Freeing the heart. We bring the hands to the forehead in gratitude, Respect. Gratitude opens the heart, Respect opens the heart. And back down to the legs. And when you're ready, In your own time, We open the eyes and we keep the heart open. So thank you for joining me in this meditation. And Bhuvat Tu Sapa Mangalam. May all blessings come to you.

Reviews

A calm, cool, clear mind; and a bright, overflowing heart. 💓🌟🙏thank you

I allow Finnbar daily guidance to help me open my heart to the divine universe. It’s a beautiful way to start the day. Thank you Finnbarr and IST

This practice is helping me embody this gift of heart consciousness. Difficult to put into words - I will keep practicing with these tracks and ‘Lives’ of Finnbarr. My heart, and being, thanks you infinitely. Namaste, Nicole🙏🏼

Wonderful thank you...I gained a great sense of peace and calm 🙏

Thank you Finbarr. I am traveling and your meditations remind me that I am always home. Your reassuring voice is a great gift