"Let your heart crack open to this world. Open to it all, to the throbbing pain and the moon hanging soft over the sea. Let it crack open past self and other to this open ground beneath us and this ache we all share."
Mike Changaris.
Have you ever wondered what people mean by having an "open heart"? I did, because my definition of heart was only in the physical as an organ whose function was essential to life. Then, there was the romantic notion of love with hearts and flowers.
I think having an open heart is both an attitude of mind and a physical feeling. It is easier to define how it feels physically to me when my heart opens - it is that prickling sensation that comes over my whole body in that moment before tears come, when I feel a sense of release and am at ease with the whole world. Each person will have there own unique felt sense of heart opening and all are equally valid.
The attitude of mind is about being open to receive everything that happens without resistance, without trying to decide if this is good or that is bad. Things just are! This is the idea of non-duality expressed in Advaita Vedanta philosophy ( more on this in next month's Newsletter).
One of the realizations that most changed my life was that "bad" things happen to everyone, so I was no longer alone in my suffering. I was not singled out to feel pain in fact it joined me with all beings. Opening my heart to existential suffering was freeing, and it enabled me to feel the joy and happiness that is also around me and experience that more deeply.
May your heart be open to all the beauty and joy.
May your heart be open to accept the suffering.
May you be strong and happy.
Thoughts and musings from Ruth, and thanks to my wonderful friend Mike (quoted above), who was one of the most inspirational influences to my personal and spiritual growth.
"Let your heart crack open to this world. Open to it all, to the throbbing pain and the moon hanging soft over the sea. Let it crack open past self and other to this open ground beneath us and this ache we all share." Mike Changaris. Have you ever wondered what people mean by having an "open heart"? I did, because my definition of heart was only in the physical as an organ whose function was essential to life. Then, there was the romantic notion of love with hearts and flowers. I think having an open heart is both an attitude of mind and a physical feeling. It is easier to define how it feels physically to me when my heart opens - it is that prickling sensation that comes over my whole body in that moment before tears come, when I feel a sense of release and am at ease with the whole world. Each person will have there own unique felt sense of heart opening and all are equally valid. The attitude of mind is about being open to receive everything that happens without resistance, without trying to decide if this is good or that is bad. Things just are! This is the idea of non-duality expressed in Advaita Vedanta philosophy ( more on this in next month's Newsletter). One of the realizations that most changed my life was that "bad" things happen to everyone, so I was no longer alone in my suffering. I was not singled out to feel pain in fact it joined me with all beings. Opening my heart to existential suffering was freeing, and it enabled me to feel the joy and happiness that is also around me and experience that more deeply. May your heart be open to all the beauty and joy. May your heart be open to accept the suffering. May you be strong and happy. Thoughts and musings from Ruth, and thanks to my wonderful friend Mike (quoted above), who was one of the most inspirational influences to my personal and spiritual growth.
