Begin again. Start over. From where you are now, walk in a new direction. Whether an inner decision that only you enact or an outer decision that all can see, begin anew, taking your life in the direction now most appropriate. With spirit in charge, with love at your center, with kindness in your intent set yourself upon a new path of heart. Whether silently spoken or shouted to the heavens, now is the time. The tides are turning, the stars are aligned, the path is cleared. It’s time to change even one small thing that will take you one step further along on your journey. Intent and love will guide you and get you there.
Face your fear without fear. Dismantle it until it no longer holds any power over you. Take back your energy for use within yourself, for greater awareness, understanding, and exploration of the grand beauty of your human Self, yourself as spirit-in-body. Know these two parts of yourself as one complete being united in wholeness rather than as two separate entities on two separate paths. Bring them together on one path, without fear, a path of heart, the one and only way to truly live a fulfilling life.
I was present when Carlos Castaneda stated: “If you truly want to love, love with a blank check.” For many years I struggled to fully understand what he meant. My assumption was, don’t hold back in your giving; be of complete service, of unlimited support.
He often spoke of the merchant mentality as dominating what humans called love. Love, as a commodity, is traded, with the expectation that one is entitled to a higher, or at least equal yield, for one’s loving investment in another.
Thus, giving a gift is traded for appreciation. To give of oneself comes with the expectation that one be equally given to now, or certainly at some future date. After all, it’s only fair. Why should I do for you if I get nothing in return? It simply isn’t worth the investment!
Carlos made reference to eden ahbez’s songwriting hit Nature Boy as a journey with love. eden refused to capitalize his assumed name, as to him the only words worth capitalizing were God and Infinity. While living outdoors with his family, under the “L” in Los Angeles, he gave Nat King Cole’s manager the song he had written, Nature Boy, which Cole subsequently recorded with overarching success.
The song ends with these lyrics: “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return.” Carlos pointed out that eden later stated that the song should have ended after ‘just to love’ rather than ‘and be loved in return.’ This captures Carlos’ criteria for love clarified to its purest.
Who, of course, could deny the exhilaration of a true meeting in the mutuality of love, where love simply flows, no walls. That kind of meeting is a genuine experience of love, as it harbors no contract of entitlements. Nonetheless, it is often a fleeting experience, as need and expectation soon enter the playing field, muddying the waters.
Jan reminds me of a time when we were walking in the dark and I stated, “If you’re going to do a good deed, do it in the dark.” When I thought of this the other day, I wondered if perhaps that was what Carlos meant by a blank check—a check filled out to be cashed, but with no reference to the sender.
The merchant of love is the ego. The ego demands recognition, validation, and attention. With these filters, true love can hardly show through. Thus, the technology of the blank check, and the invitation ‘just to love,’ are valuable steps on one’s personal path of heart.
A path of heart is the only path worth taking. A path of heart is focused on love, on compassion, on kindness. A path of heart is all-encompassing, intent upon love as the guiding light and the guiding principle. A path of heart is a path that never ends nor loses energy, for it is an infinite path full of infinite energy. Your own path of heart may take you in many directions and teach you many different things, but it will always be a path of love. Let that be the way you take, the path of love.
A path of heart is a path of learning. A path of heart is a path of possibility. A path of heart is the infinite path, to be adhered to no matter what else interferes. Remain upon your path of heart, learning the ways of loving kindness, the ways of compassion for all living beings, the ways of nature and how to be in the flow of it all. Learn the simplest means by which to live, staying connected to heart-centered guidance within and without at all times. A path of heart is a path of passion, dedication, love, and commitment to the human spirit as carrying the highest potential. Let the heart lead and all will be well.
