Preparing the Heart

The idea of preparing the heart for Awakening to the Source of Supreme Love outlined in the meditation below may seem strange to some. However it part of an ancient process and something few in modern times consider. For the most part we tend to (at least initially) only consider what the Divine can do for for us.

A look into the lives of many of the Saints and Mystics shows personal encounters between the Divine and those who were considered to be exceptionally pure at heart. In other instances, such as the transformation that occurred in Saul, later to be known as the Apostle Paul, often considered to be the founder of Christianity, it did not initially appear to be the case.

A very striking example of preparing a place for the Divine in the heart can be found in a poem written by a great mystic by the name of Ramprasad in the 1700's. He was a devotee of the goddess, Kali.

"O Kali, Thou art fond of cremation grounds;

so I have turned my heart into one

That thou, a resident of cremation grounds,

may dance there unceasingly.

O Mother! I have no other fond desire in my heart;

fire of a funeral pyre is burning there;

O Mother! I have preserved the ashes of dead bodies all around

that Thou may come.

O Mother! Keeping Shiva, conqueror of Death, under Thy feet,

Come, dancing to the tune of music;

Prasada waits With his eyes closed

So he created a place for Her, and he took Her into his heart. It was in this cremation ground of the Heart that the attachments, limitations, anger, loneliness, sense of meaninglessness, craving, and ignorance were burned away by the fire of knowledge -the cremation ground-in the heart.