"Living With Heart", The Madhya In Kashmir Shaivism

Welcome! This meditation comes from the Indian Tantric tradition of Kashmir Shaivism.
In this quick, simple meditation, we will focus on the madhya, the space of the Heart, a central theme in Kashmir Shaivite spiritual practice. In Kashmir Shaivism, the space of the Heart is the source of meditation. In this meditation we will locate the madhya, the space of the Heart, and learn how to go into it.

Transcript

Hello everybody and welcome. Welcome to this quick, Simple meditation. I know a lot of us are busy right now and also the state of the world is quite chaotic. So sometimes what happens is the chaos of the world tends to find us. We tend to find ourselves caught up in the chaos and we forget to make some time for spiritual practice. Now spiritual practice it sounds so highfalutin and wow spiritual practice. But the reality is spiritual practice is very natural. It's very natural. It's becoming aware of our own being. Some might call it living from heart or living with heart. In fact in my studies of comparative religion that's definitely a core part of authentic spiritual practice. Coming to understand the intelligence of the heart, Learning how to live with heart, Being heartful, Being full of heart. So having said that why don't we do a heart-based meditation today. Let's do a madhya exercise. Now what's madhya? Madhya literally means the gap. The gap. It's a place where we can touch our inner self and in the tradition of Kashmir Shaivism which I love and which I have worked with for many years, The heart, The madhya is a very important place. It's a place where we can naturally enter into meditation. So take a comfortable posture. You might like to close your eyes and just become aware of the natural flow of your breath. Be aware of the natural flow of your breath as it comes in and as it goes out. The breath comes in and the breath goes out. There may be sensations, There may be noises, There may be thoughts. It's all okay. Let them flow, Let them come, Let them go. Bring your awareness back to the breath as the breath comes in and the breath goes out. You may have had a long day like I have. You might be feeling a bit tired, You might be feeling energized, You might be feeling restless, Whatever there is. In this moment, Bring your awareness to the breath coming in and the breath going out. Breathe naturally. Breathe naturally. No need to force the breath. And now let's start to approach the madhya, The gap in the heart space. The heart space right in the center of your chest. What I'd like you to do is when you inhale, When you inhale, Find the gap at the end of the inhalation where the inhalation dissolves before the exhalation starts. Find that place. Breathing at your own pace. Breathing at your own pace. Find that gap. At the end of the inhalation, Find the still point before the exhalation arises. Just find it. At the end of the inhalation, Find the madhya, Find the gap that exists at the end of the inhalation. At the end of the inhalation, Find the madhya, Find the gap. It's centered right in the space of your heart in the middle of your chest. Plunge into that place and then when the time is right, Exhale. So the breath is natural. It's flowing naturally. At the end of the inhalation, Find the gap, Find the madhya right in the center of your chest. At the heart place. At the heart space. And plunge in deeply. The deeper you plunge, The more you naturally suspend your breath. And then when you are ready, Exhale. Let's do this for a few minutes together. Entering the madhya at the end of the inhalation, Plunging there into the heart space. And then when you're ready, Exhaling and beginning again. Entering into the gap, The madhya, Plunging into that space at the end of the inhalation, Right in the center of your chest and the heart space. Entering deeply into that place. And then when you're ready, You can gently open your eyes. Or you can continue to work with being aware of the madhya at the end of the inhalation, Plunging into it at the heart space in the center of your chest. And gently coming out of meditation when you wish to. The important thing is, Come out of meditation gently, So that you don't rip yourself out of meditation, So that it's not jarring. Come out of meditation gently. So there you have it. The heart space is such an important space in the tradition of Kashmir Shaivism. So we will continue to look at this heart space and how we can manifest it how we can live in it, How we can together experience living with heart.