What is the Deep Heart?

May 27, 2010
 / 
Anne Rice

A sufi may call this spiritual journey to inner peace a mystical awakening of divine love through self-realization

The deep heart is the portal into divine love. When we catch a wave of love, by intentionally and fully feeling the texture, nuance and richness of it, love carries us to deeper and deeper levels of inner peace, joy and freedom. At first we may experience its presence as synchronicities, overwhelming beauty and inspiration, an eye opening initiation into intuitive abilities. This initial opening might feel like a spiritual adventure novel unfolding with with mystical surprises around every corner. Or, maybe it is less dramatic and feels like being swept up by a delightful flow in life. This opening brings hope to the places inside that are emotionally and mentally drained or stuck. The mind wakes up and takes notice.

After practicing the path of the deep heart for a while and opening awareness to deeper levels of self, many begin to experience the longing of their hearts for further depth. Sufis refer to this as “Himma”, longing for God. This becomes our beacon on this spiritual journey, as what the heart deeply yearns for is always our highest calling. Here, we’ve had a taste of the rich fulfillment and beauty of the divine and our heart has been ignited. With deeper passion we intend for depth and find it over and over again at deeper levels as we release the pain of our emotions, mind patterns and lower nature. The release brings a greater ability to receive the love of our hearts and love from others. It begins to purify our thinking, negativity and disease while infusing us with a knowing of the nurturance, comfort and profound presence of Love. Our relationships, work and life circumstances begin to flow with ease and harmony as this awakening extends into life.

As we reach even farther into the divine essence in our hearts, we discover the love and expression of the soul. Misperceptions about life, self, the world and God break open and the truth about the nature of existence, and our place in it, comes into focus. When we begin to embody this profound experience of uniqueness in a sea of love, a drop in the ocean, our deepest life purpose is revealed and we know self realization. Harmony with all of life becomes our daily experience. Old ways dissolve into a freedom of being.

The deepest chamber of the heart is where we drop into what sufis refer to as “the secret of the heart”. It is where the mystery of life is revealed by divine wisdom and we attain the ability to see, hear, know beyond the borders of egoic perception. The difference between this inner vision and common psychic ability is vast. This is where one is perceiving through the eye of the heart where all conditioned thought, opinions, world views, etc., have dissolved into oneness. We become The Love.

These levels of heart are not linear. We can experience all at once. We can live mainly in one while visiting others from time to time. However, as we continue to purify our minds and drop deeper into our hearts, we know ourselves more and more from the inside out. This eventually becomes an embodied, centered state of Self where thought and action are sourced from what rings True from deep inside.