I invite you to contemplate the following lines from Dzogchen Ponlop, "...our sense of appreciation and empathy can expand to encompass the entire world and everyone in it. But first we have to be willing to open our heart...when we open our heart, we expose who we are to the world. It is an act of courage to be who we are in any situation, without retreating behind a barrier. In ordinary terms, being open could mean we are defenseless, at risk of being attacked. It would follow, then, that without some kind of defensive system in place, we are inviting trouble. This is so ingrained in us that we often react defensively even when we don't know what we are protecting; it may simply be our neurosis. Nevertheless, this shield must come down on the spiritual journey..." Dzogchen Ponlop, Rebel Buddha.
Our undefended heart is obscured behind the judgment of self and others, the defense of our egoic preferences, the protection of ourself from anticipated pain. How many times has the truth of what we feel in our heart been suppressed out of self protection? This has happened for all of us. Within the mind of judgment or protection, we can witness how we feel closed, contracted, tight; we polarize against others, even those we seek to love; in short, we experience a state where we feel we don't have what we want, in our daily life, in our relationships, and in our spiritual aspirations.
The undefended heart is an exquisite state of being where we are completely open to life, welcoming of exactly what is. The mind is spacious, the heart warm; compassion and empathy for self, others, and life is naturally arising. This is the state of being we admire in the saints, sages, and awakened teachers past and present. We are instinctively drawn to it, with a great desire to feel it for ourselves.
You can have this experience too. You may have, already, after a spiritual retreat, deep meditation, or an event in your life that opens the heart center. Alas, before you know it, the mind and heart defend themselves again, and with sadness, you see that great warmth dissolve.
This brings us to one of the major pitfalls in our spiritual practice: in our meditations and spiritual practices we often are moving away from (by attempting to cultivate higher spiritual states) the very aspects of mind that inhibit the growth we seek: those places where we defend our 'self'. The practice of cultivating the undefended heart is to directly face those defended places with truth and presence.
This manner of spiritual practice is directly supported by the great tools of mindfulness, allowing, and psychological intervention. To actually see, and feel the defense as it occurs. To employ energetic/emotional processes to dissolve the contracted place. To heal old wounds that live in the heart and cause us to close or defend so that we prevent (we think) such pain from occurring again. Simply stated, spiritual practice is the conscious process of moving toward and into that which separates or closes the heart, moment by moment, without resistance. The resistance which arises when we wish life, as it is occurring in the moment, to be different. To release our great tendency towards separateness and judgment and to move toward, or into each life experience wide open. This is the cultivation of the undefended heart.
I have created a new experience, a psycho-spiritual intensive that will help us to face that which must be faced in order to increase our capacity to relate with an open heart, experience joy and spaciousness of mind. I will also introduce powerful tools to further our spiritual evolution. This intensive is the culmination of 30 years of spiritual and psychological practice and study. Meditations, spiritual inquiry, and individual/group dialogue will help us all to see and know with greater clarity the truth of ourselves which exists, right now, in each of us: the radiance and warmth of the undefended heart. Register for the Undefended Heart
