An Opened Heart

There is a beautiful, organic process that takes place when we continue choose, to know what's True, before anything else. Of course, by choosing to know what is True, we are allowing a new perspective to take place in our being. And even though this is what we are looking for, maybe even hoping for, there is another deeper, unseen event taking place each time we choose.

When we choose Truth, our heart-our spiritual hearts-which is our true nature in our body, is opened. Each time we allow ourselves to choose what is True, we are in essence choosing our own heart. And this is vital. Our hearts need to open, to get really large to absorb the habits and tendencies of our old perceptions.

And when we completely fall in Love with what is True, we are, again, falling in Love with our own heart. It may not feel like it-in fact, we may at first deny our own heart's divinity, yet, as our heart is opened it begins to reveal itself. And each time we fall in Love with Truth, our own heart responds, by opening.

Some of you may know what I am speaking of. Maybe you have experienced some rather large heart openings. It can be quite wonderful, and powerful. What is happening, each time the heart is opened up, again and again, is one of the most essential parts of our unfoldment.

Because it is this opened heart, that brings the mind back home.

We all know how tenacious and distracted the mind can be. And also how full of ideas, projections, judgements and fears it harbors. That's a lot of stuff.

But what if the heart were able to accommodate the mind and all its luggage. What if there is, within the open heart, an innate capacity to bring the mind home. Like a wild dog on a leash. And when the dog-mind gets too tired, the leash shortens a bit. And then, one day, the dog-mind recognizes that the leash is the security that its been looking for, and starts to return home to the heart with just a little tug on the leash. And then there comes a point, when there might not need to be a tug, or a leash, because the mind has found its true abode.

Getting accustomed to Emptiness

It is so easy to believe something external is going to help sustain us. Like there is something outside of our own connection to the Divine that is going to help us in our life. We've been taught this, and we've held onto hope that someday, our finances are going to improve, or our health is going to improve, or job is going to get easier, or our relationships are going to provide fulfillment. Or we are going to get enlightened...

These are all places where we invest hope. And this hope exists in the future. And the small person that has this hope, is inextricably linked to this hope in the future.

And when, through the years, none of these things give us what we want, this small person may begin to feel all kinds of stuff. From depression, hopelessness, despair, or the old "why bother....". This is natural to the small self (who is being dissolved through not getting what it hopes for....)

It is very important that we recognize that this is taking place in our being. For this dissolution is preparing us for a deeper way of Being. A way of Life that is not dependent upon hope-where there is an absence of reliance on anything other than the Divine Reality.

This is a process, of course. It is extremely rare to find ourselves completely reliant on the Divine. As soon as our health starts to fail, we will see how connected we are to our True Nature. As soon as our money runs out, where are we looking for support? When our old friends move on, how are we dealing with our aloneness? These kinds of circumstances are helpful to see where we are still placing our reliance, and if it is working for our evolution.

Because sooner or later, we will have to let go of all exterior reliance. The Beloved is calling us to Her, for everything. And the Beloved is empty...empty of hope. She doesn't exist in the future, because She is not of the mind. The Beloved, who wants all of you, is only in this moment. And because She holds no promise of any outcome, letting go to this emptiness is like falling free without a net to catch us. The bottom-- of our need to rely on ANYTHING-- is falling out.

Prasad

Two nights ago I had a dream. It was an Amma dream. And, as many of you know, we don't dream about Amma unless Amma wills it. These dreams are gifts, and for me they are rare. And so, when they occur, I know they are significant and I need to pay attention.

In the dream, I was in India, at a public program with Amma. It was a huge program, with thousands of people present, coming to receive Amma's darshan. I was sitting quite close to Amma, in front of Her where I could see her clearly. She had in her hands a golden vessel, and it was filled with her pada Prasad, which is the nectar that was used to wash her feet. It is highly cherished among her disciples. She was holding it in front of Her heart, and over the vessel she was looking right at me. And then she spit in it, while still looking at me, imbibing it with her Self.

She then told me to take the vessel, and pass it out to all the people present. Since there were so many people, I felt a little daunted by this request from Amma. So, instead I went to one of the bramachirinis, or women monks, and told her about Amma's request. She took the vessel and said that we would pass it out at lunch, and the men could pass it out on their side. So, with this decision in place, I left the vessel in her care.

As soon as I walked away, I felt something nudge me inside. I knew that what Amma had asked me to do was needing to take place in this moment. She did not want me to wait. And so, I went back to where the Prasad vessel was sitting, and one by one, I began to pass out the nectar of God.