I have heard that this meditation was taught by the Buddha 2500 years ago. It's one of my favourites, although I find it quite hard to teach - the knack of it seems tricky to get. I have noticed that at times of personal suffering, particularly when accompanied by a very physical pain in the centre of the sternum, even an injury, people have an easier time getting the knack of this sacred experience.

This meditation is not the practice of silent awareness, it doesn't require an undisturbed mind. Nonetheless, an overactive mind can really get in the way, in which case, purge.

Please don't worry if the descriptions don't fit your experience (always, always test every teaching you encounter, especially here, with your own experience), and by all means do a search around the internet. Also, osho.com may have some information. I'm just going to describe this technique and urge you to give it an attempt. Feedback welcomed, and will be posted here.

The Heart Meditation

Preparation:
Wear absolutely comfortable clothing, nothing that's at all restrictive. Lie on your back and arrange pillows to be as comfortable as possible.
Find a comfortable place to lie down, maybe a blanket for if it gets cold later in the evening and have some water handy because you'll be breathing through your mouth and your throat may get dry. Have a supply of tissues nearby and let's let-ego-go.

Breath:
I'm going to talk a lot about "breath" here. If you're comfortable with your pranic energies, you'll get the drift.

If not, when I refer to an inbreath, it doesn't necessarily refer to physically breathing in. The feeling of drawing something in to your heart using your breath usually begins on an actual in-breath, but can extend over many physical in and out breaths. The outbreath, on the other hand, refers to a release. It is easier to start the out-breath on a physical out breath, but the feeling of releasing can continue over many physical breaths. If this is still confusing, give it a try and it may come clear.

Begin:
Take a time of silence to settle and relax, then direct your awareness to the centre of your chest, and find any pain, sadness, tension, numbness - or whatever you find there. Breathe with your mouth open - in and out - and focus your awareness in your heart centre. Likely you'll feel something substantial in the centre of your chest, either as a mainly physical pain (don't worry - it's not harmful) or as a more emotionally linked experience.

On the inbreath, draw what you have found in to your heart centre, opening to the sensation in the centre of the chest. I know this seems counterintuitive, maybe scary- bear with me. You breathe the sensation into your heart.

What happens on the levels of aura, prana and so on are a great mystery, but what you're likely to find is: Yielding to the sensation in the chest, be it painful, emotional, uncomfortable or numb - really opening to experiencing the real truth of how you feel right there in that centre on the inbreath makes the outbreath blissful.

But, first, the inbreath…

When we focus our awareness on an "painful" emotion, we can connect it with a sensation in the body, like a clenched gut or constricted throat. Reverse wise, in this meditation, the awareness is on the sensation in the body and it connects with an emotional response. As the inbreath deepens, and you accept and submit to the physical sensations, you may find yourself experiencing intense emotional pain. This is good. You should, and it's yours. It's what psychologists call "baggage" and it is stuff you've preferred to drag around with you because you didn't allow yourself – denied and resisted – the truth, the full depth of the experience when it happened. If you continue the inbreath, and insist on experiencing what you're experiencing, keeping the inbreath going until you have some sense of completion, of having experienced your pain honestly and fully, the outbreath becomes deeply blissful.

On the outbreath, simply release what is there. The feeling that happens is the result of the heart chakra's taking the sensation in. WHATEVER you can manage to throw into the heart in the way of pain in the body, uncomfortable or painful emotions, it is "processed" by the heart centre and the "output" is the only output the heart centre has - pure love.

This feeling of love when breathing out is sometimes experienced as so delicious - it is delicious - that there can almost be an addiction! The heart is not something that needs protection from the world, in this meditation you realise that pain and all other ego states that are not blissful, are actually fuel for the heart to grow and for you to get closer to bliss. Through the heart we are infinitely capable of feeling everything - blissfully!

I talk about emotions - pain sadness, hatred, bitterness, resentment etc as if they were physical things that you can move around your body with your breath. At least one Western teacher said "the physical body IS the unconscious mind" - at this moment I forget who. The main thing is to give it a try - and see! Once you get used to it, each inbreath pulls more of this stuff into your heart and each outbreath pours your love outward, unconditionally, blissfully.

When your body seems clear (for now), begin to breathe in from further - try for a feeling of opening the heart to take in whatever is there. Just breathe in, and the "momentum" you have developed will bring in emotional feeling and even physical pain that you know has nothing to do with you. Strive for a feeling of openness that reaches out. Continue for as long as you have time and courage (that word's derived from Latin, via French, coeur = heart).

If you find that the experience is "flat" for you, or leaves you, so to speak, cold, it's likely that your mind is just a bit too noisy. Good quick-fix techniques for this are gibberish and active meditations. Please watch this site as information on these are added, or mail us and we'll let you know when more information is posted.

Notes:

Some rules/guidelines from my own experience:

DO:

Breathe in and out through the mouth. It can dry the throat. It is possible to have a glass of water handy, and taking the occasional sip doesn't have to disturb your meditation. If you feel the movement through your heart is happening nicely, you may not need to breathe through the mouth as much.

Begin by clearing your own body, and after that, open in a general and wide sense to what is there to be experienced.

Be willing for whatever you breathe in - starting with what you feel in your own body, breathe in your pains, angers and disappointments. If you have emotional pain at present, focus your awareness on it and you'll find it is a physical sensation that you can locate in your body. Breathe it in.

Complete your inbreaths. Some experience the inbreath "catching" as they open the chest, particularly at the "top" of the inhalation. Like a fish might feel when the hook catches. A shock. Persist with the inbreath - even if air isn't moving continue to be open to feeling what's coming in. Sometimes even traumatic childhood memories are acutely felt in the body, and as they are breathed in, all the pain and emotion of the original moment is experienced. Tears often happen. If you have a feeling of choking up, of not being able to breathe all of a sensation in, just relax, let an exhalation happen, then continue the breathing in with your next inhalation.

DO NOT

… attempt this exercise while driving. It is a meditation to do in a quiet, intimate space where you have the freedom to experience and open to what you are feeling.

… direct the energy/love, that you breathe out. It is important that you let it go freely.
If you're really comfortable with pranic/etheric energies, you'll feel the possibility of controlling the flow of the energies involved. DON'T.
Don't even try to "watch" or "follow" it. Absolutely, definitely don't direct it to anybody particular. Just trust existence to take care of it.

… breathe in negative emotional energy or physical suffering from a particular person - this is not a method to save somebody you love from their own suffering. Even if you find yourself adept with this meditation as a technique, please forgo the temptation to ease a friend's pain, or calm a relative's temper with it. Empathise with them, share your love, but don't use this technique. This can be tempting. At least respect my warning to the extent that you test carefully against your own experience.

 

Timing - it can easily take half an hour to get going, then up to an hour after that is generally enough until next time. Falling asleep in it is not at all troublesome - you'll sleep well, so it's good to do it last thing of the day as well as any other time.

 

This technique was taught by the Master Atisha (bless you). More information on his path and his beautiful teaching is available at living-dying.com where you'll find Swami Veetman, who taught it to me.

 

Peace Bliss

Rahasya