A beautiful image that emerges from today’s meditation: feeling ourselves breathing in unison with “all living brothers and sisters.” This powerful sense of connection serves as a potent reminder that love is not just an emotion we experience with romantic partners; it’s the very essence of our existence, the thread that binds us to all living things.
For me one of the biggest lessons on love were the words of Rumi:
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against love.” – Rumi
For various reasons we might have built our own inner walls against love, not because we don’t want to feel love but because there were other things – that were painful – that we didn’t want to feel. But our hearts don’t work this way, we can’t close our heart to only some things and keep it open to others, we either live with our hearts wide open feeling everything, or our hearts slowly keep closing until we feel nothing. Very often this leads to a belief that, “I am not worthy of being loved” or “I am unlovable” which are such difficult walls to break down.
Today’s meditation doesn’t specifically lead you to break any inner barriers, but it’s a gentle journey of opening your heart. And if you take yourself on this journey again and again, there will eventually come a shift in what your heart is able to feel.
Many teachers speak of how one possible path to becoming unstuck is to bring our attention to our hearts and here is this morning’s reminder from Jack Kornfield:
“If you want to love, take the time to listen to your heart. In most ancient and wise cultures it is a regular practice for people to talk to their heart. There are rituals, stories, and meditative skills in every spiritual tradition that awaken the voice of the heart. To live wisely, this practice is essential, because our heart is the source of our connection to and intimacy with all of life. And life is love. This mysterious quality of love is all around us, as real as gravity… Yet how often we forget about love.” – Jack Kornfield
And then this quote by Jack feels just like today’s meditation:
“When you quiet your mind, you can feel yourself breathing with all living brothers and sisters on this beautiful blue-green Earth. This is our family to care for. When we remember it’s ‘us’, love and generosity becomes as natural as our breath.” – Jack Kornfield
Here are some guiding mantras to carry with you on this journey of opening your heart:
- I choose to soften the walls I’ve built around my heart.
- I am worthy of love and connection.
- My heart is a source of love for myself and the world around me.
- With each breath, I connect with the vastness of life and love.
- Today, I choose love.
Opening your heart is a continuous process, a journey with its own unique challenges and rewards. By taking these steps, you can dismantle the walls that have kept you separate from love’s embrace. Remember, a heart that is open is a heart that is truly alive.
I hope you join us in today’s circle, and also I hope you have a great weekend!
– pierre –
Today’s LIVE meditation is: Sharing Love.
(image credit: https://mindfulness4u.org/fun-mindfulness-exercises-groups/)