Heartfulness Meditation and the Path of Infinite Heart were developed by Bruce Davis Ph.D. and Ruth Davis, CHT. It grew out of their combined journey in modern psychology, Christian and Eastern mystical practices. Heartfulness Meditation is heart practices that bring us home to our Spiritual Heart, the experience of infinite heart awareness. Infinite heart awareness is the ongoing presence of peace and love that is our true self. The Spiritual Heart, or Supreme Heart as it is referred to in ancient Indian texts, is the home of the soul. It is the doorway to experiencing ourselves as expansive, loving, spirit, beyond this body. In meditation we are not excluding the human condition with its struggles and pains. Rather, we are including the human condition by loving and nurturing our inner child. As we embrace this aspect of ourselves, we come back to our original sweetness, gentleness, our genuine happiness. A healthy psychology leads to a healthy spirituality. As we accept our human condition ~ the human heart in all its imperfections ~ we are led to the door of the Spiritual Heart where we are completely loved, safe and seen. The result is, meditation practice becomes a healing into wholeness, both human and divine.
Infinite Heart Awareness is the mystical essence of the world religions. It is the practice of letting go of our mental worlds and absorbing the presence of our innermost heart. It is the pure source within us. Here there is a vastness without words. It is felt as sweetness, an intimate love, gentleness, an ocean of peace or sky of light.....awareness infinitely expanding.
This is the direct experience of the Spiritual Heart. We are effortless, being. Each person has their own unique experience. Once the silence of the heart is felt, our life changes. We have found our home inside.
Hindu philosophy and Advaita, considers the heart the seat or center of consciousness, a temple. By meditating on this center, one becomes united with the higher or divine Self, God inside. It is not the physical heart but the spiritual heart or Supreme Heart. It is the great I Am that the sages refer to. It is referred to as Samadhi Pada or Hridayam. This is the core of our being, our deepest true nature, the seat of our soul. Bhagavad Gita: Brahman (the Supreme reality, the Absolute) and Atman (Self, soul, spirit) are identical. The internal world is characterized by bliss and the cessation of mental activity. This was the work of the teacher Ramana Maharshi and his teachings of Self-enquiry and non-dualism.
"The godly atom of the Self is to be found in the right chamber of the heart. Here lies the dynamic spiritual heart...the source of what we are: God." Ramana Maharsh
The Kagyupa School of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy speaks about Maha Mudra, the Great Seal. This is the experience of bliss and emptiness. "We are of the same luminous essence as everything in nature." says the Dalai Lama.
Here individuals are experiencing their Buddha nature, the pure mind in its natural state; at peace, awakened and divine.
The Christians find their Christ light within themselves. The peace of Christ, the love of Christ, become more then words as our heart center is opened and felt. Christianity shares with all the great world religions a rich path of humility, giving, and receiving God, the pure Light, within.
Centering prayer, developed by Father Thomas Keating, is a form of contemplative meditation in Christianity. He coined the term Heartfulness. The practitioner finds the highest quality of love and repeats this word like a mantra. They are receiving the love of Christ from within their own heart.
When Muslims bow down to Mecca (The Mother) five times a day, they are emptying themselves to the Great Silence.
"When the lips are silent, the heart has a hundred tongues. Why are you so afraid of silence, silence is the root of everything. If you spiral into its void, a hundred voices will thunder messages you long to hear." - Rumi
According to the Shamanic world view everything has a soul. And all these souls are united into the One Whole. The Shaman penetrates into other components of the Universe being aware S/He can exist without the physical shell.
Silence is the language of the Shaman. The Shaman learns to listen with Her/His heart as well as Her/His ears. Shamanism focuses on all life being majestically and mysteriously inter-related and sacred.
Worship of the Divine Feminine, God as Mother, leads us to our heart, our spiritual heart. Her love resides here and is the source of all wisdom. The Great Silence is Her arms wrapped around us.
The spiritual heart is experienced resting in Her perfect peace. Here we feel the Infinite. We are completely seen and loved, we are safe, and we are home.
For more information, our books on the Divine Feminine:
