The Way of An Open Heart

This week got away from me and I'm down to the wire as I have only brief moment to write this piece of inspiration....thus the brevity of it. This Sunday at UCOD we delve into the second major theme of The Untethered Soul, to explore the powerful and profound capacity of an open heart. If there is a singular practice, that is most vital and effective in bringing us joy, fulfillment and well-being it is our ability to open, and keep open, our heart. Quite literally our heart center is the portal through which we experience the divine energy that allows us to know and express love, joy, excitement, equanimity....everything we want in life. We suffer when we close our heart, because we are effectively closing off the valve of this life affirming energy. Our response to difficulty and challenge is to protect ourselves and unfortunately that response usually means our heart closes. This response is totally counterproductive, as we cut ourselves off from the very flow of healing energy that difficulty most demands, in the moment that demands it. So the enlightened practice for us is to do our level best to face life, no matter its challenges, while keeping our heart open as  much as possible. Believe it or not, closing our heart is a choice. Like any habit that has become virtually automatic it takes awareness to notice when the tendency to close arises, so we can suspend the default response and choose to remain open instead.