Journey To Stillness: Returning To The Heart

Hello and welcome.

Today I want to share with you a shloka from the Shiv Sutra.

The Shiv Sutra is a book of verses that explains our true nature and the illusion we are living in.

They guide us to how we can set aside the illusion and experience ultimate reality.

The sutras with their transformative message have the power to end our suffering and open us up to a whole new world.

And that is my prayer and intention for you as you're listening to this.

I will be sharing a verse from the Shiv Sutra and then we will go into a guided meditation to experience what is alive in us as we hear these words.

So get comfortable and begin to notice your breath and just be here.

Prayatna sadhaka.

Persevering effort leads to fulfillment.

Whatever sadhana or spiritual practice we choose,

We must persevere in it.

It could be a particular meditation or a mantra or some other practice.

Whatever it may be,

We should be determined to continue with it.

Too often we let the problems of our daily life interrupt our practice.

We get caught up in the drama of our lives and lose focus.

When you become overly concerned with the outer reality,

It becomes more difficult to still the mind.

Masters know that life resolves itself in the process of life itself.

Masters know that life resolves itself in the process of life itself.

Problems get resolved in due course.

Every day new problems arise and old problems get resolved.

It is important to have trust in God and faith in the process of life.

We should surrender to the divine.

God makes the world and is perfectly capable of looking after us.

When we still the mind and live in awareness,

We live one moment at a time.

When we encounter a problem,

We know intuitively the first step to be taken to resolve the problem.

Our soul brings us far greater wisdom than our mind.

When we live outside our mind,

Situations are no longer problems.

Something is just what it is.

It is our mind that colors it negatively,

Passes judgment and creates fear.

I invite you to take the next 30 seconds to just let the words sink in.

Let yourself be bathed in the words that were shared just now.

Notice what is alive in you.

Is there a particular part in the sutra that really stuck out to you?

Did you have resistance?

And if so,

Where was the resistance?

Can we look at it just with curiosity?

How are you right now abiding to the chatter of the mind instead of the wisdom of the soul?

In what ways are you caught up by the outside?

What would it look like to surrender?

To completely surrender?

What comes in the way of surrendering?

What is the problem that is taking up your mind space right now?

What thoughts or fears are causing an unease in your mind space right now?

Just notice and see if you can breathe into it and offer this to the divine.

Can we stay in the stillness of the mind and abide in the heart?

What becomes available to us when we do so?

Allow yourself to breathe into this heart consciousness that always knows,

That knows exactly what needs to be done moment to moment and doesn't make a story or an attachment to any events in the life.

Let's take a deep breath again.

I will end with a quote by one of my teachers Ramana Maharshi.

He says,

Thoughts and feelings come and go.

Find out what remains.

Thank you for being with me today.

I wish you a beautiful day.

May you take the energy of this consciousness,

This heart consciousness and allow the wisdom from the sutra to really,

Really fall into you as you go about your day and weeks.

Thank you for being here.