Peace In Your Heart

Welcome to Day 4 of Insight Timer’s 7-Day Inner Peace Challenge. Today with davidji we will awaken the peace of our heart space through the practice of metta. Our heart might be our softest point, but that’s also where we draw power. Because in your vulnerability rests your strength. The sacred power of your awakened heart holds the key to your divine magnificence. It is only once we let go of difficult emotions and tear down inner barriers, that we can heal turbulence and invite unconditional love. Are you ready to own this power?

Transcript

Hello,

This is David G with Insight Timer and welcome to day four of the Inner Peace Challenge.

We have journeyed together through peace of body,

Peace of mind,

Peace of speech,

And today we'll awaken peace in our heart.

The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu is known to have said,

If there is to be peace in the world,

There must be peace in the nations.

If there is to be peace in the nations,

There must be peace in the cities.

If there is to be peace in the cities,

There must be peace between neighbors.

If there is to be peace between neighbors,

There must be peace in the home.

If there is to be peace in the home,

There must be peace in the heart.

You and I have both had our hearts broken.

More than once,

It's a place that we don't think we can ever come back from,

But we can.

We can learn to love again,

To feel loved again,

To receive the love you so deserve,

To open our heart,

Let the barriers fall away,

And to fill the emptiness of grief and loss in our hearts with an abiding peace.

The tenderest part of you is also the strongest part of you,

And although it may feel counterintuitive,

In your vulnerability rests your strength.

It's so paradoxical,

But deep down in the core of your being,

You know it's true.

Your heart is your truest essence.

Your heart speaks the deepest truth,

And it is a truth deeper than whatever sadness,

Pain,

Trauma,

Or heartbreak you feel right now.

The eternal wisdom of your awakened heart spans every aspect of existence.

In the most ancient Buddhist wisdom traditions,

The awakened peaceful heart was referred to as the bodhicitta.

The bodhicitta,

The part of you that is so magnificently sacred that it has the divine power to,

Number one,

Soften anything it touches.

Number two,

Assess everything as perfect and pure.

Number three,

Perceive every moment unconditionally.

And number four,

Be unwavering in its ability to love.

It's a paradox combining both ends of the extreme,

So tender that it only knows compassion,

Yet so strong that it transcends every circumstance unconditionally.

These were the core teachings of the Buddha of Jesus,

And in more modern times,

These were the teachings of Saint Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King.

And we have a choice in every moment on whether we embrace these teachings and the bodhicitta mindset in every moment.

We are beings of compassion who seek love and belongingness in every moment.

And yet we have learned an entire vocabulary to distance ourselves from its true source,

Because we know and fear the sting of heartache.

We crave attention,

Affection,

Appreciation,

And acceptance.

We search for approval,

Validation,

And acknowledgement.

We desire so desperately to be held and loved,

Cherished and adored,

Listened to and heard.

We have ached.

Watched the suffering of those we love and care about.

And yet we have become so masterful at building walls to defend us from the healing light of love,

Holding onto grievances,

And protecting our hearts from moment of truth,

Or from someone who might touch us too deeply.

The sacred power of your awakened heart holds the key to your divine magnificence.

In fact,

Your ability to see yourself in the hearts of others,

Feel so worthy of love,

And hold another person's heart in your own is what truly brings peace.

It is the most powerful,

Expansive,

And transformational aspect of your entire being.

In this divine state of bodhichitta,

You can effortlessly give and receive love,

Effortlessly flow gratitude,

Effortlessly step beyond fear,

Awaken your purpose,

And effortlessly experience joy in each moment.

When storm clouds seem to overtake your emotions,

Which could be on a daily basis,

When you find yourself feeling shame or jealousy or self-doubt or inadequacy or loneliness,

When the shield of pride you hold up to protect yourself has become just a little too heavy,

Your awakened heart is there to comfort and heal you.

Your awakened heart knows all,

Sees all,

Feels all,

And is capable of healing all the pain and suffering that rests inside you.

Remember,

This bodhichitta at the core of your being,

It's in you,

Softens anything it touches,

Assesses everything as perfect and pure,

Perceives every moment unconditionally,

And is unwavering in its ability to love.

That's who you truly are.

Are you willing to own this reality?

How about just for today?

Just on day four of our inner peace challenge.

In its boundless wisdom,

Your awakened heart can deliver an ever-expanding wholeness to every one of your thoughts,

Words,

And actions.

And the pathway to this higher state of existence is through living each moment from the sacred space of love,

To be divinely guided to fulfill your heart's desires,

To summon the courage to take your life to the next level,

And to ultimately discover your meaning in this life.

The Sufi sage Rumi is known to have said,

Your task is not to seek for love,

But instead to seek and find all the barriers you have built between love and your heart.

How do we let the barriers down and let love in?

How do we let those barriers down and flow it unconditionally?

We can do that when we realize,

When we remember,

When we acknowledge that we are channels of love,

Conduits of energy,

Simply holes in the flute.

That's who we are.

Einstein said,

Energy cannot be created nor destroyed.

It can only be changed from one form to another.

That's who we are.

We are energy transformation machines.

We are love machines.

We are simply holes in the flute.

So if you're holding a grudge,

If you're holding a grievance,

By awakening your ability to simply flow rather than hold on,

Your suffering will end.

You will have peace of heart because a hole doesn't hold onto anything.

Nothing good,

Nothing bad.

A hole is simply a channel for energy to flow through.

And that's what we are.

That's what you are.

You're a conduit of energy,

Of love,

Of healing,

Of abundance,

Of magnificence.

It flows into you.

It fills your heart,

Which expands infinitely.

And then it flows back out.

But now with a little deeper intention because we've painted it with our heart.

So there's a very powerful meditation to heal the turbulence in your heart,

Awaken your bodhichitta and remove some of those barriers and feel the peace that rests within.

But before we begin,

Just one question,

Is there a grudge or a grievance that you are holding onto right now towards anyone about anything?

Because when you do this meditation,

You can't hold onto a grudge,

A grievance or a judgment.

This does not mean you forgive the other person if you're getting a little antsy here.

I understand.

This is not about forgiving the other person.

It actually has nothing to do with the other person.

This is all about you,

Who you truly are.

It's establishing that you are simply a hole in the flute.

You're a conduit of energy,

Of love,

Of abundance,

Of healing,

Of peace.

That is truly who you are.

We call this practice metta.

Metta is a Sanskrit word and a Pali word,

Which was the language of the Buddha for unconditional loving kindness.

And we know that outside of us,

The universe is infinite.

Galaxies are tumbling into each other.

And we know that our own tender heart is quite finite.

But if we can breathe the infinity of love into our finite heart,

We can expand it a little bit.

We can enlarge it a little bit.

We can stretch it a little bit.

And we do that breath by breath.

We're going to breathe in the infinity of metta that flows through the universe.

Breathe it into our finite heart,

Expand it just a little bit with each inhale,

And then just flow it back out.

So settle in right here.

Close your eyes and take a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in of sweet metta.

Sweet sweet metta.

Feel your heart expand,

Feel it fill.

And as you exhale,

Send it out to all your loved ones,

Those near,

Those far,

And those in the beyond.

Again,

Long,

Slow,

Deep breath in of metta.

It's coming into your heart to heal it and love it and fill it.

Feel your heart fill,

Fill,

Fill.

And as you exhale radiate it out to all your friends,

Those close by,

Those far away,

And those who've left this earth plane.

You're just a conduit of love right here.

Just a conduit of energy.

Again,

Long,

Slow,

Deep breath in,

Feel your heart expand.

You've got so much love to spare right here.

And as you exhale,

Send it out to all your acquaintances,

Those people whose names you don't even know,

But they make your life possible.

And you realize you're just a conduit of energy here.

You're just a love machine right here.

Again,

Long,

Slow,

Deep breath in,

Feel your heart expand,

Expand.

You've got so much love to spare.

And as you exhale,

Send it out to that one person with whom you have a grievance.

Remember,

This isn't about forgiveness.

This has nothing to do with them.

This is who you are.

You breathe in love.

It fills your heart.

You flow out love.

That's who you are.

That's what you do.

Again,

Long,

Slow,

Deep breath in,

Feel your heart expand.

It's cracked wide open right now.

And as you exhale,

Send it out to every sentient being on the planet,

Every human,

Every animal,

Every fish,

Every bird,

Every dog,

Every cat,

Every lizard,

Every blade of grass.

Again,

Long,

Slow,

Deep breath in,

Feel your heart expanding.

And as you exhale,

See if you can wrap the planet in a bubble of love.

See yourself floating in space,

Wrapping the entire sweet mother earth in a bubble of love.

Every mountain,

Every valley,

Every ocean,

Everything on the planet is wrapped in your bubble of love,

Which you created by breathing in unconditional loving kindness and effortlessly radiating it back out.

Now,

There are tens of thousands of us here right now.

So let's breathe in long,

Slow,

Deep breath in of metta.

Feel your heart fill and flow it out to us.

And just experience this.

You breathe it in once,

Your heart fills once,

You send it out once,

And it comes back to you 10,

20,

30,

50,

000 times.

That is the multiplying power of love.

Just bask in this right now.

When's the last time 50,

000 people were showering you with unconditional loving kindness?

Just allow it.

Just receive it.

Allow that love shower to just rain over you,

Pouring over your head.

Blessing,

Forgiving,

Allowing every single aspect of who you are,

Just feel it raining down on your shoulders,

Your back and your chest,

Pouring down your arms.

This is the multiplying power of love.

You breathe it in.

Your heart fills.

You send it to us and we send it back 50,

000 times.

Allow it.

Accept it.

Receive it.

You are so worthy of receiving kindness,

Compassion,

Forgiveness,

And love.

And now take a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in.

Pull that metta from every nook and cranny of the cosmos.

Feel it surge into you from infinity.

Feel it fill your heart.

And as you exhale,

Send it back out to every corner of the galaxy.

You're just a conduit.

You're just a love machine.

One final long,

Slow,

Deep breath in.

Feel your heart expand.

It's wider.

I know it is wider than it's ever been.

And as you exhale,

Allow each cell in your body to awaken with gratitude.

Just allow that.

This is peace of heart.

And take a long,

Slow,

Deep breath in right now and slowly massage your sweet,

Tender heart and feel the peace that rests there and say this affirmation out loud with me.

I am whole.

I am loved.

I am love.

I am peace.

The bodhichitta rests inside.

Our noble,

Awakened,

Peaceful heart rests at the core of our being.

And today's peace practice is to spend some time in stillness and silence,

Allowing a break in your pain,

Giving yourself the gift of communing with your most divine self,

Allowing your bodhichitta to expand,

To grow,

To heal,

To remind you that you are never alone.

You can slide over into the passenger seat and let the bodhichitta,

Your awakened heart,

Do all the driving.

You can trust that.

And when you come out of that,

Let's send a text right now to someone who could use a boost.

Simply text or DM someone these six words,

Thinking of you and sending love.

Thinking of you and sending love.

You've got time to do that right this second and watch the power of your ripple unfold in the world.

And please share in our chat room,

Please share the impact of you simply texting or DMing someone those six simple words.

This is davidji.

On behalf of Insight Timer and the Inner Peace Challenge,

I'm sending you peace throughout the day.

Namaste.

Namaste.

Reviews

A beautiful practice to allow kindness, compassion, forgiveness and love to flow effortlessly from me.

This is a beautiful talk and meditation. It spoke to my heart, opened my heart, and brought tears. I will come back to this! Thank you for introducing me to metta bodhicitta. 💫💫💜💜💫💫

Much to absorb here, so powerful. Thank you for your guidance.

A meditation that makes me relish being a conduit of love energy. Thank you. Namaste.

What a beautiful way to start my day! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

One of my favorite metta meditations. Thinking of you and sending love 🩷

I can’t tell you how much gratitude and love ❤️ I have for you Davidji your spoken words are truly amazing inspiring and magical and always make me feel so good 😊 thank you 🙏

You’re so needed and amazing. Thank you… I needed that desperately.

Love and gratitude on your way 🤗🕉️🙏🏻✨✨💫💜💜💜💜💜💜

I think this is my absolute favourite Davidji meditation. Namaste 🙏🏻

Thank you deeply for your comforting and beautiful words. My authenticity was smiling as I listened and sensed every word you said - A profound and healing practice 🤍✨🕊️

I loved it more than words can say ❤️🙏🏻❤️🧘‍♀️🌟

❤️🌻

Beautiful, nourishing and heart Opening meditation 💞
Thanks Million Times for sharing this Practice with us all Davidji.
It's a pleasure and a honour to meditate with you and sending love to every being. Blessings...
Namaste 🙏☀️🙏

Thank you so much for this simple practice, that transformed what I felt. 🙏💜

Thank you so much for guiding me through this powerful transformation of my heart 💜 in the healing journey!🙏🏾

So lovely! Thinking of you Davidji, and sending love!

Thinking of you beautiful teacher Davidji, sending so much love, gratitude & appreciation.
XO Kree

Thinking of you and sending love. Thank you!!! 🙏💞☮️

Oh David ❤️I feel and am sending so much love!
Beautiful bodhicitta❤️❤️wow🙏

Thank you so very much! This is such a wonderful meditation to open your heart.

These meditations are beautiful and always show up to me at really relevant times. Thank you 🙏