Atisha's Heart Meditation is one of my favorite meditations to practice because it allows me to be present with my own pain and suffering and also to send love and healing to those around me or to those that may have hurt me and to also send love and compassion to the greater collective in the entire world.
Atisha was one of the greatest teachers in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
He taught a simple and profound truth that the heart has the power to transform suffering into love.
This meditation helps us return to the heart not by avoiding the pain but by meeting it with awareness and compassion.
The heart is not weak,
The heart is a transformer.
We simply trust the heart to do what it knows how to do.
The greatest alchemy that exists is love.
This meditation is done in three rounds each lasting about 10 minutes for a total of 30 minutes.
Move gently throughout the practice and nothing is force and if at any time it feels too intense return to the breath or simply rest in the heart space.
Round one,
Your own suffering.
In this first round we begin with ourselves.
Bring your attention to the center of the chest,
The heart space.
On the inhale gently breathe into your own suffering.
This can be from the present or the past.
This can include stress,
Sadness,
Fear,
Grief,
Pain,
Any emotional weight and envision it as if it were a dark smoke.
On the exhale breathe out love and compassion to yourself allowing warmth,
Softness to spread from the heart.
Imagine golden light radiating into your heart and diffusing the black smoke.
You are not judging,
You are not fixing,
You are simply allowing the heart to meet your pain with kindness and presence.
Inhale your suffering into your heart and exhale love and compassion back to yourself.
Slowly,
Gently trusting your heart.
Many times throughout our day we can lose presence with ourself and our ego and mind can run the show and take notice to these thoughts and emotions that are taking control of our heart.
It can be judgment on ourselves,
Guilt and resentment that we're carrying.
That emotional burden can carry and build and impact our day-to-day emotions.
Many times we're an autopilot when our mind is hijacking our heart.
So breathe in all that pain and suffering that we're causing to ourselves and sit with that and exhale all the love and compassion and healing that our heart needs in those moments.
Breathe in all that pain and suffering that we're causing to ourselves and exhale all the love and compassion Now we're going to transition into round two,
The suffering of people in our lives.
So let's expand beyond ourselves.
Bring the people to mind in your life.
They can be your beloved,
Your family,
Friends,
Colleagues,
Your neighbor.
Let's bring them closer,
Closer into our hearts in this present moment.
Those who may be struggling,
Maybe they're sick or dealing with a difficult circumstance in their lives.
On the inhale,
Gently breathe in their pain and suffering without effort,
Without taking it on.
Sit with it.
Now on the exhale,
Breathe out love and compassion for their suffering.
Our hearts receive their pain and our heart transforms.
You are not carrying their pain,
But you are offering presence,
Care,
And alchemy.
Inhale their suffering into the heart and exhale love and compassion back to them.
Let the heart open naturally as it knows what to do.
When we navigate through our day-to-day lives,
We consciously and sometimes unconsciously can impact and influence pain onto others.
So put yourself into your loved one's shoes and experience the pain and suffering that they may be experiencing throughout their day-to-day emotions.
Maybe it's lack of confidence,
Or they're just tired and depleted.
Maybe it's a lack of compassion,
Or maybe it's a lack of compassion for their loved one.
That they can't be fully present with their current experience.
So let's breathe in their pain and suffering.
Hold it.
Let's exhale love and compassion,
Bringing all the healing,
Alchemy to support them during this time.
Breathe in their pain and suffering.
Exhale love and compassion.
Now we're going to transition into round three,
The pain and suffering of the world.
Now let the heart open even wider.
Bring awareness to the entire world,
The suffering of people everywhere,
The known and unknown.
On the inhale,
Breathe in the suffering of the world as a vast gentle wave.
On the exhale,
Breathe out love and compassion to all beings everywhere.
Let's breathe in all of the pain and suffering to all of the women around the world.
Those that feel neglected,
Forgotten about,
Abused,
Used.
We have all been there in one point in time of our lives.
Let's breathe out and send them all the love and compassion.
This includes the mothers,
Grandmothers,
Our sisters,
Our girlfriends,
Our daughters.
Breathing in pain,
Their suffering,
And breathing out love and compassion.
Let's breathe in their pain and suffering,
Any neglect,
Trauma,
Not feeling seen or good enough,
Pretty enough.
Let's breathe out love and compassion for all of the women around the world.
Let's breathe in the pain and suffering of the feminine collective for not being seen as an equal.
Let's exhale love and compassion.
Now let's call in all of the men and our brothers around the world.
Let's breathe in their pain and suffering.
Let's breathe out love and compassion.
For the men in our lives,
Brothers,
Sons,
Fathers,
Friends,
Those who are bearing the burden of being strong,
Of providing,
Of protecting.
Breathing in the pain and suffering of the masculine that feels like it could never be enough.
Breathing out love and compassion for that.
Breathing in the pain and suffering that our aspects of the masculine,
When unbalanced,
Causes great pain and suffering to ourselves and others.
Breathing out love and compassion.
To all the men that are trying to provide for their loved ones,
For their loved ones in their household,
That may not be catching a break.
And also,
Let's breathe in the pain and suffering to the men in the world that are causing suppression and oppression.
This also includes systems that were built by patriarchy,
Foundations,
The misuse of power.
Breathe in the pain and suffering.
Breathe out love and compassion and healing.
Let's call in our ancestors,
Those that walked before us,
Went through all of the trials and tribulations before we came onto this earth.
The land stewards are wisdom keepers.
Let's breathe in their pain and suffering and acknowledge and sit with it.
Let's exhale love and compassion and deep gratitude for all of the wisdom they've given us.
Let's call in all the children of the world.
Any children that are in pain and suffering,
That may not be feeling safe at home,
Feeling seen,
Maybe hungry,
In poverty.
Let's breathe in their pain and suffering.
Breathe out love and compassion.
Now we call in all the animals and all the creatures of the world.
Those that may not be properly attended to or taken care of,
Abused,
Neglected or exploited.
Let's call in all of their pain and suffering.
Exhale love and compassion.
Calling in Mother Earth,
In a world where we are continuously taking from our mother,
Our great mother.
Let's breathe in her pain and suffering.
Exhale all the love and compassion that we can give back to her.
For being our greatest resource and our provider.
Now let's call in the greater collective,
Which includes all beings,
All beings of life.
As we are all connected,
We are all one.
Let's bring in and inhale the collectives pain and suffering.
The pain and suffering that humanity is going through right now on the earth.
We're all connected,
We all feel it.
This is all one divine mirror.
Let's exhale love,
Compassion,
Presence,
And acceptance.
Inhaling the pain and suffering of the world.
And exhaling love and compassion.
The heart has no limits.
Inhale the suffering of the world.
Exhale love,
Peace and healing.
Right now we're in a time of humanity,
Where there seems to be so much separation and division.
More boundaries and walls than unity.
For many of us,
We feel helpless,
Hopeless,
Scared and in fear.
Let's breathe in that fear,
Pain and suffering.
Exhale love and compassion.
As we close,
Let go of the breathing technique.
Rest quietly in the heart space.
Nothing to do,
Nothing to change.
When you are ready,
Gently return to the body and slowly open your eyes.
Sit here as long as you'd like to integrate this practice.
Consistency matters more than effort.
Each time you return to the heart,
Its capacity for love deepens.
Thank you.
