The Path of the Sacred Heart

As humans, we are given some difficult assignments. Learning to love is one of them. In good moments, love is like a warm breeze, soft, easy and relaxed. We all treasure the times when our heart is open and we are expressing love. Seeing the world through our heart always brings a rich texture of meaning, purpose and empowerment. Yet, in times of stress, the tendency is to bypass the heart as a way of protecting the personality. We close down and the protective mechanisms that originate from old conditioning take over. Our persona becomes cold and controlling and our love feels fragile, if we can feel it at all. If self-righteousness rises up to defend us, it can be a vicious force protecting our sensitivity. This loss of contact with the heart can do great damage both to us and to our relationships. In the next step of our evolution, we have the opportunity to develop a new relationship with the heart, and move beyond our old emotional reactions. We can learn to use our heart as a spiritual tool.

As we learn to take responsibility for our emotions and recognize what we are generating in consciousness, we can move beyond the automatic reactions that eliminate love and understanding. By becoming more conscious, we are able to recognize what we are projecting into the world, be it love or fear. Then it becomes obvious when our emotional reactions are contributing to the problem, creating shields of righteous protection. What also becomes obvious is the power of our love, should we choose to use it. The tools of the heart generate compassion and insight into the deeper meaning of what is taking place. When we can bring our heart into any situation, it helps to melt down the old protection and strengthen our ability to speak the truth with compassion. By choosing love, we are learning how to move beyond our fears and concentrate on the compassion that we deserve.

Learning how to take care of our self with love and compassion becomes our first act of power. When we dedicate part of each day to set clear intentions that nourishes the heart, our personal awareness of spirit gathers strength. By listening to the heart, the personality has a new reference point and can soften and listen more carefully to what is needed in the moment. The places that were closed and protected, that colored our interpretation of the world, begins to melt away. The commitment to learn love, combined with the courage to act on what we know, ushers us onto the path of spiritual awakening. The heart becomes the grounding cord of spirit, the voice of wisdom and truth. Deeper knowing comes as we begin to experience a dynamic spiritual presence growing within.

It is important to recognize the difference between the heart’s wisdom and our conditioned personality. Without understanding the distinction, we are not able to comprehend when we are in our heart or if we are locked into old reactions. It is always obvious after the fact but in the heat of the moment, we may lose it. If we have lost our heart connection, the protective control patterns will take over. We need to do constant reality checks to make sure we are connected to the heart. Listening to our tone of voice, whether our awareness is warm or cold, opinionated or listening, these are important checkpoints. With fine-tuning, we recognize what it feels like when we are closed, how it restricts our flow. In these times, we must do our best to keep our hearts open to our personality, to establish a warm current of love inside, nurturing the places that are closing down without indulging them. What is important is that we are bringing compassion and understanding to stabilize our personality and nurture the source of the imbalance inside that triggered the need to defend. Without the ability to bring compassion and understanding, to stabilize and center, we are at the mercy of circumstances and other people’s moods.

A primary function of the heart is to act as a mentor, a truth advisor to the personality. If we listen carefully, we can hear a voice of wisdom that comes from the higher self. An active heart helps keep us conscious and aligned to the truth, capable of staying balanced. We come to rely on this knowing voice. Our awareness expands and we can see and know things that our personality did not think were possible before. If we are acting unconsciously in a situation, yet feel the heart signaling a more skillful way, we are getting the good taste of this guiding awareness. Often, we are given many signs when we are headed toward unconscious or destructive behavior. Most of us are familiar with this kind of guidance, this inner knowing but do not always have the power to follow through. It takes courage and practice to act on what we know to be true.

Eventually, as we clear out the closet of old demons and temper our basic nature with spiritual truth, we build the foundation for spiritual awakening. Our consciousness becomes more unified. The heart becomes home and we return there automatically. Each day, we set intentions to know compassion, to embrace wisdom and to experience the richness of life. Tools of consciousness are revealed that show the power of the higher self and the nature of spiritual reality. Centered and staying grounded in love, our life unfolds with grace. We are no longer trapped in the box of perception that our pain created.

Whenever we set the intention and open our hearts, we enter into a new dimension that allows us to experience the spirit around us more actively. The world becomes more alive, more vibrant, and we feel more connected to the world around us. We penetrate into the deeper meaning of life, seeing the working of love even in the darkest corners. Love touched by compassion and wisdom brings healing. We call this dimension the sacred heart.
Compassion is a great gift of the sacred heart. Its power is forgiveness and release. It allows us to be grateful for all we receive, as we walk through the light and dark currents of the world. The presence of compassion allows the deeper truth of life to be accepted and integrated as wisdom. Our relationship to suffering softens and gives us more strength to stay present and offer assistance. When we are in an experience that is bringing up painful memories, it is especially important to direct compassion to the part inside that is experiencing the hurt. Without acknowledging our reaction, the tendency is to attempt to heal the other person as a way of eliminating the pain in our self. It is felt more as an act of control than of love. This is another of those fine-tuning spots. By realizing the need to heal ourselves, it also helps us not take on the pain of others. By taking responsibility of the part of the personality that needs assistance, our compassion is received as more genuine. We are literally bringing in light, using our own nature as a conduit. By grounding ourselves first with gentleness and honoring our sensitivity, we will feel the currents of love from the sacred heart empowering our personality as well as the world around us.

One of the most amazing gifts of the sacred heart is its power to transform consciousness. Qualities of acceptance, clarity and happiness take on new meaning when they are experienced through the power of the sacred heart. When we are willing and able to hold the power of love, our perception of the world transforms. The heart becomes naturally warm, its voice compassionate and clear, anchored in wisdom, playfulness and profundity. Our words carry the responsiveness of the heart. They manifest in the world as clear influence and guidance. In this awareness, we carry no hidden agenda, there is nothing to prove. We can choose to be silent or to share our insights as needed. We are empowering our environment with wisdom, truth, and compassion, allowing each person their own evolution.

Even if we have been infected with darkness and hurt, we still crave the awakening of the light within. Awakening our hearts allows us to be gentle and clear in our own truth without invalidating others. The heart becomes a place of refuge as well as a healing tool. We are offered the gifts of spirit every day. Our goal is to awaken our spiritual capacity and learn to live in the essence of our being, to utilize these gifts. Time ripens our progression from ignorance to the conscious use of the hearts dimensions. We are moved from a vague concept of the higher self into an experience of the power of love, expressing through every breath.

Points of Empowerment

Once the awareness of the sacred heart becomes the foundation, a profound energy fuels the heart. It generates the transforming power of love that heals imbalance and awakens joy. Deeper dreams are revealed as the wisdom of the soul becomes integrated.

It takes great courage to live in the heart. It requires us to have the willingness to embrace both the light and dark sides of situations and maintain a compassionate clarity while directing our vision toward higher good.

Great misunderstanding can happen when our feelings get hurt and we close down our hearts to our higher self. We must learn to keep our heart open and nurturing even under stress.

Whatever we wish for, it is important to empower it with our spirit through prayer and intention. Utilize the resources of love.

If we feel our heart has been broken or that we have lost our connection to the heart, it is important to see what has really happened. Most often, our experience of heart-breaking comes when someone has not lived up to our expectations. What have broken are illusions, not our heart. Understanding this frees us to move forward.

Judgments are cold, solid and protective in their proclaiming. They hold us hostage in the box of self-righteousness. When we are able to realize the limitation these mindsets bring, then we can choose to move away from the tyrannical commands that come from the need to dominate.

Nature nurtures the heart. Open to receive the light and warmth offered from the mother earth. Breathe deeply and practice receiving pure spirit nature.