The Sharing Heart Meditation

Adapted from Creating the Work You Love, by Rick Jarow (Inner Traditions, 1995).

The heart is the place where we begin to put our priorities in the service of the community. We begin to think and act in terms of sharing our bounty with the world.

We begin to receive because we are able to share, and as this process develops momentum through experience it begins to cascade until the most important question becomes this: To what degree can I open to receive and to share the bounty of existence?

The sharing heart is the place where other’s fortunes become our fortunes. Instead of being envious of another’s achievements, we are able to support them, and we in turn are supported in our achievements because we have taken our true place.

Make your heart a sharing heart full of caring courage and action with the help of this deep and healing meditation:

Green and Gold: Sharing the Heart Meditation

Work meditatively within yourself to establish the strength of the base triangle–strongly rooted in the earth, at ease and flowing in water, and burning strongly in fire. Breathe in and out of the heart chakra, the spiritual center located behind the midpoint of the breast bone, in front of the spine. As you breathe in and out, feel the electromagnetic current of the breath warming you, relaxing you, softening you. As your heart center softens, it begins to glow in tones of soft green and burnished gold.

Green–the color of ever-renewing life and the flower-bearing spring, bringing with them unforeseen openings. Love, once off in the distance, now comes closer. Feel the rhythm of all life as you move deeply into the region of the heart. Gone are the fears of not being accepted. Gone are the worries of yesterday, tomorrow, and even today. Gone are past, present, and future.

Within the heart you approach presence. Feel this inner presence, and let the soft green energy wash over you and through you. If there is anyone against whom you have been holding a grudge, or anyone with whom you have been feeling annoyed, bring them into this soft green and feel a spark of renewal, a gentle letting go. Breathe freely now, soaring through the inner air, borne as on wings–the air messenger, eagle’s wings, on to the Spirit most high. Allow the heart to open gently unto this sensation. There is no enemy for one who holds the sun in the heart. Let the experience of these words sink in deeply: There is no enemy, there is no fear for me who holds the sun in my heart.

The brilliant, blazing sun–let it shine within. In its rays visualize a temple with a gold, arching stairway and two lions on either side. This is the inner sanctum. Walk slowly and with dignity up the stairway and through the lions who guard the gates without fear, for they now protect you and reflect your courage to live for love in a love-starved world. Feel your entire being strengthened and radiant with the power of creation. For it is at the heart where the divine intersects with the human, and it is here that human life is forged into its offering to shine forth in the world.

Inside the temple is a great open space. This is a place for you to sit before a golden altar. You are guided to sit in this place, from which you may ask the questions: “How can I live from my heart? How can I love and be loved? How can I heal and be healed?�?Ask, and feel inside for the answers, be they in words, colors, sensation, or song.

When you are ready, proceed to the altar and receive an object that will remind you of who you are, that will remind you that at heart thou art. Now slowly rise and exit the temple, leaving the door open so that you can return when it is appropriate to be renewed and to renew. Let gratitude come forth–gratitude for the miracle of life, gratitude for being who you are and where you are, gratitude that you can participate at this time in the renewal of the world.

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