I invite you to find a comfortable position,
One which allows your body to fully relax and let go.
Allow your shoulders to drop and melt.
Allow your breathing to become fluid and easy.
Finding yourself that meditation isn't about trying to create a particular state,
But a relaxing,
A letting go,
A remembering of the peace that is already here.
Allow awareness to reveal to you now your natural,
Uncontrived state.
Allow yourself to fall into this peace which surpasses all understanding.
I invite you now to gradually bring your attention down to your heart and simply be with it.
Breathing into it gently,
Bringing your awareness into your heart with your breath.
And begin to feel what's happening with your heart.
We're coming completely into the heart space now and seeing what the situation is.
We're endeavoring to find out how it feels right now.
We're not doing anything about it or trying to alter it in any way.
Is there any hardness here?
Does the heart feel encased or tied up in any way?
Does it feel afraid or shaky?
Maybe it feels several things at once.
Simply be with it and be in it.
Do your best to be in your heart,
However much resistance there may be.
And when you're completely with it and inside it,
See if it wants to soften or relax a little bit.
When we pay attention to tightness,
Tension and holding for long enough,
Something begins to shift.
The heart itself wants to release and relax and open because that is its natural condition.
We're simply being with the heart now,
Breathing in and seeing if it wants to soften.
Notice that,
Even though our heart might be very encased,
Armored or shaky,
At its very center there is an open,
Clear space.
It might be an ever so tiny spark,
But see if you can find it now.
Simply notice that,
No matter what kind of pain may be around it,
There is a basic openness at the core of the heart.
Once again,
Simply be in the heart.
Let go of any thinking and simply feel.
We're going to work on this emptiness at the center of the heart now.
I invite you to place a gentle hand on your heart as placing a hand here activates our heart.
Sweep away any muddy vines,
Stale water,
Any dirt or dust over it.
And simply be with the openness at its center.
Open,
Open,
Open and expand into the space.
Stay with it and surrender into it.
Notice that the space at the center of the heart has no boundaries,
No sense of beginning or ending.
It is pure and free.
Allow the heart space to become warm and allow it to give birth to more warmth.
Imagine the warmth arising out of this pure open field.
Notice this emotional warmth slowly transmuting into the loving tenderness of your human self.
And when you run into any hardness or numbness or any voice that encourages you to stop,
Simply remind yourself that this openness is your true nature.
This heart is your fullest expression as a human being.
Flood the innocently placed barriers with this warmth and let go and open,
Open,
Open.
When we experience the openness and infinity at the center of our heart,
We begin to understand how it gives birth to warmth,
Tenderness,
Loving kindness and mercy.
As the feeling of emotional tenderness and love grow stronger,
It melts the shackles around our heart and sweeps them away.
Take a deep breath now into the heart and draw the warmth and depth up into the heart space.
Take a deep breath out from the heart and surrender that love to the world.
Taking another in-breath and drawing the breath up and letting it surge and pour into your heart,
Making the heart bigger,
Bigger and bigger,
Expanding and opening its thousands of petals and on the out-breath allowing the energy to flow out.
Feel it intensifying the outflow and the feeling of warmth in the body.
The heart draws the intensity of love from the depths in the in-breath and surrenders it out on the out-breath.
I now invite you to let go of the breath and allow there to be a continuous flow from the depths up through space to the body and to the world.
An unstopping,
Unceasing flow of warmth and love up and out through us.
The more the flow happens,
The more the heart opens.
And we're simply being with the outflow,
Being with the way the love is flowing in all directions.
Getting in touch with the depths and feeling the flow reaching out,
The spreading tide of love.
Our human experience of this vast openness is love.
When our human nature touches into this emptiness at the center of the heart,
It gives birth to love.
This nature is to give birth to love.
That is our human gift,
Our human expression of emptiness.
The space of the heart is so vast and so open,
It has room for everything that arises.
When we know the fundamental nature of openness at the center of the heart,
When we realize that nothing can really stick to this wide open space,
It becomes easier to experience all of ourselves neglected or abandoned.
When we know that our heart is made to stay open,
To stay free,
That it can never really ever close down,
We can finally relax.
It's through the eternal gateway of our heart that we can access the endless space of awareness.
We may have known tremendous suffering,
But this space is never tarnished.
We can open,
Open,
Open to this ever present vastness,
The purity and warmth of our true nature.
May you be well,
May you be at peace.
Namaste.
