Welcome to Investigating the Inner Methods.
I'm Kali,
And this is a practice for cultivating the benevolent qualities of the heart space.
So from a Buddhist tradition,
It said that rather than waiting for these values to arrive,
Compassion,
Loving kindness,
Forgiveness,
We have to cultivate them.
So here's a formal practice to infuse the subtle qualities of awakening the heart-mind.
And this meditation will suggest four specific areas to awaken to.
The Buddha called these the sublime states,
The divine abodes.
So get comfortable and take root in the lush expanse of the heart.
On a Hatha chakra,
It's like the wide green open field.
And whether you're seated or supine,
Lying down,
Close the eyes gently.
And travel down the royal road of central channel,
So from the crown of your head down the soft expanse of the throat to land in the heart.
Awakening inside the experience of our heart view.
These four divine abodes will name and breathe into each of them.
But first just notice what's it like to find or fall into the very center point of your heart.
So from sternum to the spine,
Finding the space between.
And then the heart is wide,
So across the tops of the ribcage to each shoulder head.
And the back wall of the heart,
Like the wings of the shoulder blades behind you.
The tender soil also at the front space.
The breastbone,
The chest.
The heart chakra,
Anahata,
Said to be spacious like the sky.
And just noting any emotional content there,
So if there's any constrictions or congestions.
Any burdens you've brought with you in your heart into this practice.
The suggestion is to breathe into them.
Acknowledge their presence and give them space to be felt.
The first divine abode will cultivate is compassion.
Which is the wish for ourselves and others to be free from suffering.
It's compassion that removes the heavy bar,
Opens the door to freedom,
Makes the narrow heart as wide as the world.
So compassion takes away from the heart any inert weight.
It gives us wings.
So whatever emotional content you're struggling with,
Just find it in your heart,
Flesh it out.
And you can say to it,
I see you.
I'm aware of your suffering.
I have compassion for you.
Just quietly wishing it well,
Wishing it freedom from any roots of suffering.
Cultivating compassion for yourself.
And then we ask of that content if it minds just resting in quietude for a few moments while we practice the cultivation of other heart mind traits.
So the second divine abode is loving kindness.
So while compassion is wishing ourselves and others free from suffering,
Loving kindness is wishing ourselves and others full of freedom.
It's the sublime nobility of the heart to wish ourselves and others well.
So place your most intimate relations in your heart,
Those who you deeply,
Immediately connect to.
Your partner,
Your family,
Your friends,
Just welcoming them into the inner circle of the heart space.
Your teachers.
May you be well.
May you be joyful.
Just wishing blessings upon those whom you love.
And then place someone in that circle that challenges you.
Someone you struggle with.
May you be well.
May you be joyful.
Thank you for the lessons.
So now compassion and layering with loving kindness will add the third divine abode.
Selflessness or the joy of beholding another's success.
So radiate from your heart the same feeling tone a parent might have for their child.
Just loving the experience of their child.
Selfless joy for his or her success.
For those that you love in the inner circle of the heart and for your challengers.
Just radiating a wide,
Egoless,
Boundless experience of truly feeling joyful for their success.
Lastly,
The divine abode,
The dwelling space in the heart for forgiveness.
Forgiveness is at the edge of our own capacity.
So it's challenging.
It's also transformational.
Using our window of tolerance,
Just reminding the human organism how it's able to forgive,
Release,
Transform,
Evolve.
So for today we'll just practice simple forgiveness of the self.
Using that for any harm you've caused,
Knowingly or unknowingly,
Forgiveness is always at reach.
I just want you to breathe that into the heart space.
I love you,
I forgive you.
And then slowly travel from the heart back up to the eyes where you can open with a clarified loving vision.
Using these divine abodes are all constant qualities where we can return to and cultivate.
And as we thoroughly saturate ourselves by these practices,
They sink deeper into the heart and become spontaneous attitudes.
