Discipline is necessary if life is to get into perfect balance, discipline that extends into every aspect of life. And yet discipline is only one part of what is needed and must never become the only thing that drives you in life. Perfect balance requires more than just discipline, more than just the intention of being disciplined. It requires the ability to be fluid, to go with the flow, to change and accept change, to take responsibility for your life no matter what happens. For life is like a river flowing naturally, energetically alive, and yet even a river does not always rage, does not always swell over its banks, nor dry up either. A river changes with the seasons and yet its discipline lies within its course, its direction. Whether contained or not, it flows in one direction. That is discipline. Be like a river. Seek fluidity and yet remain disciplined, heading in one direction, always upon your path of heart.
Take time each day to reset, to reassert and restate your intentions, your goals, your dreams, and to remind yourself that you are a being on a journey of importance to you and your Soul, that your choices and decisions matter, and to make choices and decisions that are progressive, positive, and body and Soul enhancing. In this manner, move forward on your path of heart confident that although you may not know where you are or why you are there in this moment, in the long run you know that your heart is leading you in the right direction, for your heart does only that which is right. Trust your heart. Though you may feel blind and disoriented, though you may feel lost and distant, though your heart’s intent may still seem like a distant dream, keep it alive, for it is the dream that is important. Remain confident of this. Keep to your path of heart, knowing that in the end it will bring you to your heart’s fulfillment.
Don Juan Matus contended that in the final analysis all paths lead to the same place, death. However, a path with true heart offers fulfillment in the finite life of human form. Thus, to find the truth of the heart is central to life while in human form.
The heart has been popularly associated with the path of romantic love. Romantic love is a spiritualized quest for one’s true soulmate. That quest is imbued with archetypal energy that generates a heightened state of awareness that erases boundaries and creates the experience of oneness or wholeness between two people.
Most seasoned human travelers come to discover the trickster ally inherent in romantic love. What is experienced in one moment as deep closeness can abruptly shift into great distance in the next.
For the Shamans of Ancient Mexico, an ally was an entity that enabled one to enter the world of non-ordinary reality. Romantic love is indeed entry into a state of non-ordinary reality. However, the ally that works its projective magic to land us there also tests us.
Are we merely hooked on the ecstatic energy of romance or does our relationship truly have heart? If it’s the high we seek, the ally will send us on many journeys of illusion. Despite the highs and lows, we remain hooked compulsively to the pursuit of the next candidate that shines with promise.
Though Cupid, as the Romans named romance’s ally, may be useful to awaken to love’s potential, only the truth of the heart can tell us if we are on the path of love. The truth of the heart is calm and clear. The truth of the heart is not swayed by romance. The truth of the heart is a feeling and a knowing of whether something is right or not.
Thus, our attachment to the heart, as the home of romance, clouds our ability to access the objective truth of the heart. This is the test of the ally. Despite the wonderment of romance, can we get calm and ask our heart the truth about our potential traveling companion?
The true nature of the heart is compassion, rooted in its knowledge of the interconnectedness of all things. Romance is in fact an experience of greater interconnectedness with someone, however, it may be so narcissistically tinged by one’s own needs that one is unable to actually see their partner.
Furthermore, the heart is the meeting place for ego Soul and High SOUL, our ultimate Soulmate. Our High SOUL knows our intent for the life we are in and can guide and support us through the trials and tribulations of life in human form. But we must be able to sacrifice the pressure of our needs if we are to get calm and be open to the truth delivered by our High SOUL.
The truth of the heart is the key to finding one’s path of heart. If a path has heart it resonates in both ordinary and non-ordinary reality. Love is constant in all realities. Romance that does not transmute into the fullness of love in ordinary life fails the ally’s test.
Love, in this higher sense, is the true energy of the heart center, which is connected to the indivisibility and, hence, compassion for all life. As well, the heart center is connected to infinity, which puts into perspective the relativity of life in human form.
From these considerations, the truth of the heart guides the journeyer to their specific path of heart, truly the journey of a lifetime.
Though you may struggle, do not give up. Though you may feel there is no end in sight, do not give up the fight. A warrior knows that freedom will come, that salvation lies in taking the journey of self-knowledge, for only in revealing what lies within the self will any progress be made. A warrior begins and ends each day eager to know, eager to explore, eager to experience. Even though the journey may be treacherous, fearful, and frightening at every turn, a warrior proceeds with nerves of steel and a seeking heart, knowing that in the end peace of mind awaits. And what is peace of mind? It is knowing that no stone has been left unturned, no road avoided, and no experience unlived. A warrior’s journey is a journey of heart, personal and impersonal though it may be.
Practice patience by sitting as quietly as a stone… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
In our audio channeling today we are all advised to be patient, but to be patient knowing that change happens in the right moment. Times are frustrating, but these times too will pass. And don’t forget to make your practice one of loving patience!
