Heart Mind

Heart Mind - Being in the Moment.

I have always loved The Pattern On The Trestle Board (B.O.T.A.), especially the first two
lines: “This is the truth about the Self. All the power that ever was or will be is here now.”
I think it really helps one to grasp the notion of the Heart Mind.

What is the Heart Mind? It is the mind that flows from our heart - full of compassion and
wisdom. We all have an efficient and effective mind living in our brain which rules the majority
of our life. Even while meditating our mind may enter the scene taking us away from the beauty
of the moment. We do need our mind to function and interpret any revelations we might receive
during meditation. The trick is to learn and spend time cultivating our connection with our
Heart Mind - aka - spiritual mind.

Exercise: Sit in a relaxed, comfortable position. Bow with your hands at your heart. Take
a couple of deep breaths at your tan tien (just below your navel). Close your eyes and allow your mind to relax. The goal is to think of absolutely nothing.
Let go of the need for things to be any particular way right now.  Let your experience in this
moment be whatever it is. Perhaps you're feeling some tension and you have a belief that
tension should not be present in your meditation. Allow this to be as it is. Simply breathe into
your tension and allow yourself to be here in this moment.

Let go of the past. Let go of the future. Just be here now. Allow everything in your
environment to be as it is without needing to control it. Let yourself be enough. The you
who you are right now, not the one you think you need to be. You are perfect just the
way you are. There is only one of you. You are unique and special.

The ego is hard-wired with the need to know. Thinking this is how we find our way through
life. It grasps onto certainty and onto knowledge like prize possessions. It is not unusual to
have fears like, without knowing, I’ll be lost. It doesn't realize that the very act of holding
onto knowing, obstructs your ongoing wisdom from rising anew in each moment.

When our attention is no longer distracted by everything we cling to, it becomes free to move
with what arises in each moment. Free to understand, know and see. Being available for
instantaneous wisdom.  Intuition is available to blend with your hard-earned knowledge.
Practice letting go of every idea your mind produces during meditation. Let go of each thought
as it comes to your mind, beliefs that you're holding onto. Greet them nicely, “Hello ideas,
hello thoughts, you can move along now. There is plenty of time for you later.

The fullness of you is beyond imagination, beyond concept, beyond any story you could
ever tell about yourself. Every image you could invent to represent yourself would be
just a snapshot, a minute fraction of a universe that cannot be contained within the mind.
It takes the depth of your Heart Mind to contain the vastness of you. In fact when we look
deeply into our beliefs about ourselves, we find that any idea we hold on to about limitations
are restricting the full experience and expression of who we actually are.

The ego thinks that we need to know who we are in order to know how to be. It seems
like without any self-image, self-concept or self-story, we wouldn't know who to show up as.
What we find is that if we let go of the need to know who we are, and no longer hold on to
any preconceived self-image or self-concept, everything we need to know about who to be,
reveals itself spontaneously in the moment. A way of being, unpremeditated, instantaneous
freedom of being reveals itself over and over again. There's no need for us to control it.
There's no need for us to bridle who we are, what we are. The fullness of being, of self,
shows up, free of any rigidity. Instantaneous and luminous, we dance with life, each moment
a new move.

Truly being in the present moment allows you to see what it means to let go of the future.

Often, the identification with the ego has us looking to the future as the place and the time
when everything is going to be just right, when things/circumstances will be different, or
feelings will be different. This future that lives in our mind has no basis in reality. The future
we imagine never comes and it never will. All there ever is, all there ever was is this moment
right now. Can you allow yourself the concept of living in this present moment and realize it
is the only moment you'll ever have? Cultivating, through meditation, being in the moment,
builds the perfect future for you. The perfection we long for will surprisingly appear.

Please join me Monday mornings and Wednesday nights. See calendar page for the dates. www.MeditationFromTheHeart.com

Last Two of the Six Common Meditation Mistakes

Previously, we have looked at four of  the six most common meditation mistakes. (#1: I'm trying to quiet my mind. #2: I'm just trying to feel peaceful and open during my meditations. #3: "I've been doing the same practice for months or years." #4: "I'm trying to reach enlightenment or a permanent state of bliss.")

 If you have tried meditation and have become frustrated either with maintaining your practice or with a lack of results, do not feel alone. At times, even the most ardent practitioner can be derailed by these snafus.  

Many faults are rooted in typical, fundamental, misunderstandings about what the purpose of meditation is. These can derail any human being despite the best of intentions. The good news is, the meditations taught by Meditation from the Heart and the way they are presented, side-step the common errors entirely, giving you a far more reliable and enduring experience.

As we reveal more common meditation mistakes see if you recognize your own meditation ‘block(s)’.

Meditation Mistake #5: "I use my meditation as an escape from the challenges of life." Some

I'm sure it will be better over there

people may use meditation as a refuge or 'spiritual bypass'. Escaping into meditation to avoid facing or dealing with uncomfortable feelings or issues. This approach does not lead to good results. Rather such avoidance could lead to less, not more, ease and ability to deal with life issues.

Meditation is more about being fully present with everything that is - including discomfort and challenges. If there were no tough challenges in life then our life would become boring. And we would naturally create a situation that provides difficulties for our-self just to shake things up a bit.

Your meditation practice can empower and strengthen you to face truth and reality without hiding. Most of us are human beings who live and work in the world and have not chosen the monastic lifestyle. Please don't use that as an excuse to wait to have a meditation practice until 'the time is right.'

Also, ask yourself, "When or where are you happy?" Is it on vacation? Do you lose that happiness when you come back home and to work? Then treat your work as though you are on vacation. Be happy at work.

Meditation Mistake #6: "I hop from one spiritual teacher to the next trying to find the one who will make me feel the best and fulfill my desires." "Danger Will Robinson!" No one can make you feel anything or fulfill your desires. Only you can do these things for yourself. It is easy to show powerful and wonderful mystical experiences. It is much harder to work at a gentle pace to build a strong foundation which builds a harmonious and contented life. 

Don't be a cyber-bot

Please, do not give your power away to anyone. You and the innate spirit that resides within are perfectly capable of leading you to live a fulfilled life. Let your teachers gently remind and nudge you in the direction that is right for you.

More than anything, realize that we live in an age of fast information, where we can look up something that is puzzling us, read about it and decide if it is helpful or not. The key here is one, not to forget to take the time away from technology to just be with yourself. And two, to remember to move at the pace of a human being - not a cyber-bot.

Two of the Six Common Meditation Mistakes

For those of you who already have a solid meditation practice – my hats off to you. Yea, yippee! Meditation is one of my favorite things to do. But if you do not have meditation in your life do not worry, it is never too late to begin.

Let’s take a step back here and look at the six most common meditation mistakes. If you have tried meditation and have become frustrated either with maintaining your practice or with a lack of results, do not feel alone. At times, even the most ardent practitioner can be derailed by these snafus.  

Many faults are rooted in typical, fundamental, misunderstandings about what the purpose of meditation is. These can derail any human being despite the best of intentions. The good news is, the meditations taught by Meditation from the Heart and the way they are presented side-step the common errors entirely, giving you a far more reliable and enduring experience.

Even better, the supportive nature of Meditation from the Heart provided in these classes offer in-depth insights on each of the mistakes below, and builds a foundation that will uplift your practice into a realm far beyond these diversions.

As we reveal the following meditation mistakes see if you recognize your own meditation ‘block’.

Meditation Mistake #1 – “I’m trying to quiet my mind.” Many people have been taught that meditation is about having a still mind. This may be the most common assumption about meditation. Untold numbers have conceded “failure” or “not being good at meditation” because they were not able to quiet their mind.

We may have moments of complete stillness within a meditation, but it is not the ultimate goal. Through stillness comes movement. From movement comes stillness.

Your mind is an integral part of your being. You need your mind to help you interpret what is going on in your heart. The trick with meditation is to learn how to simply notice when your mind is drawing you away from your center, acknowledge it, let it go and bring yourself back to your meditation. Sort of like letting the mental music drift in one ear and out the other. 

Mental Music

Meditation Mistake #2 – “I’m just trying to feel peaceful and open during my meditations.” Peace and relaxation are often promoted mistakenly as the primary purpose of meditation. Of course, meditation can produce positive, relaxed sensations, as well as many other related benefits. It won’t always, however, do that. Nothing ever always can do that. Yet many people end up believing they have ‘failed’ at meditation if they don’t feel calm, peaceful and good every time they sit to meditate.

Actually, the first stage of meditation is contemplation. So the first mistake mentioned above has to come into play. One cannot have contemplation without the mind engaged. And one cannot come to peace with the self without out spending time with the self. Sometimes that time will feel really pleasant and at times it will be difficult. The trick is to stick with it until you find the peace you are seeking in that part of you and know that then another aspect will come to the forefront.  Another layer revealed.

Fortunately along your meditation path there will always be another “ah ha!” moment or another feeling of pure joy. Through cultivation you will discover the strengths you naturally possess and a greater confidence to use them as you go about your daily life facing your challenges in a positive, productive way.

Stay tuned next week when we will discover more of the common meditation mistakes.

Sage Thoughts

Sage Thoughts

Smile at all things. Make light of your heavy burdens. 

Enjoy all that you do. Live well. Laugh often.