The heart of the matter

The One Who is at Play Everywhere said,

There is a place in the heart where everything meets.
Go there if you want to find me.
Mind, senses, soul, eternity, all are there.
Are you there?

Enter the bowl of vastness that is the heart.
Give yourself to it with total abandon.

Quiet ecstasy is there -
and a steady, regal sense of resting in a perfect spot.

Once you know the way 
the nature of attention will call you 
to return, again and again,
and be saturated with knowing, 
“I belong here, I am at home here.”

Answer that call.

--The Bhairava Tantra (Radiance Sutras)

The heart space. Anahata--the unstruck sound, the bridge between heaven and earth. Most religious and spiritual traditions point to the heart as the boundless source of unconditional love and thus, a lasting connection with all that is. It is the house of the Divine--the place where you can access everything that you seek. Sounds all warm and fuzzy, but this journey to this place, as you know, is covered by every layer of suffering and negativity imaginable. It's easy for us to love things, ideas, and people outside of ourselves. If you asked yourself what you love in this world, your first answer probably won't be yourself (unless it is, then I admire you for your solid connection). All of us are longing to be home in our hearts, in a big way. It's in our makeup as souls attached to bodies. Our bodies, our minds and our human experience are tools to help us get back home where we are safe and comforted. It's not to say that loving outside of ourselves doesn't feel wonderful--because it does, and is part of our experience. The trouble is that it doesn't last, and then we get attached and keep seeking that transient feeling everywhere and in everything. Unfulfilled. So begins an ugly cycle of disappointment if one is not aware of this misleading disconnect.

The beautiful thing is that you can go home whenever you want, and you know how to get there. Every experience of attachment, grief, heartbreak, shame, anger, fear--you name it--is the starting point to move back to center. All it takes is your own will and time to practice even  just the simple act of watching your breath move for a minute, unrestricted--inhale and exhale, and the union that rests between. 

In the words of the Bhairava Tantra, "Breath flows in and out spontaneously of its own will, thus all breathing beings continually worship the goddess. Be conscious of this unconscious prayer, for she is the most holy place of pilgrimage." 

Whatever it takes for you to get there, do it! Keep it simple. Do it twenty four hours a day, every day, and something will change, I promise. We're in this together.