During my first years of meditation, I struggled to quiet my mind. My meditations were rarely times of great insight. So, I was very, very surprised when an image appeared to me with clarity and power. The image was a red heart with golden wings – very similar to the picture below. I had never had an image or vision appear to me in meditation before that.

There have been times when I wondered, “Why did this particular image appear to me so clearly when I was just beginning my conscious spiritual path?” More than a decade passed before any other images or visions began to appear, even though I continued my spiritual practices diligently for all those years. “What is it about this heart with wings that is so important to me?” I wondered….

Thirty years later, I am gaining some insight. This past year I have found a wonderful pathway into my spiritual heart. Now I can get into my heart easily and quickly. And with practice I am learning how to dive ever deeper into my heart. After thirty plus years of struggling with my mind; finding an easy, simple way into my heart is like taking a vacation on a beautiful tropical isle. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!!

I never imagined that the spiritual path could be so easy and so much fun. I am having more joy than ever and I am growing spiritually faster than ever. Who would have thought?

Well, that’s part of the problem; I had to stop thinking so much and start feeling my heart more.

The amazing thing is that the answer has been beckoning me all these decades. My heart was waiting to carry me on its wings to my spiritual home.

I’ve been seeing this image for nearly thirty years and wearing a pendant of a red heart with gold wings over my heart for eight years. But only now am I beginning to understand its deeper significance for my whole life.

Like most people in this culture and on this planet, I have been primarily a thinking, head-oriented being. I have neglected my heart. I have known intellectually that my heart is the key to my spiritual path. But intellectual knowledge is not the same as experiential, heart-based knowing. Now that I am feeling and enjoying my heart, I am really getting it.

For me the difference between a mind-oriented spiritual path and heart-centered spiritual path is like the difference between taking a long, thorn-filled, confusing, uphill path home versus allowing myself to be carried home swiftly, gently and joyfully by the love of the Source. Wow, what a difference!!!

So, after years of swimming upstream against the dictates of my mind, I am now enjoying flowing downstream while allowing my heart to bring me ever closer to the Source that created me (and created all of existence).

I am learning that it is the essential nature of the heart to connect me with love. My heart loves, connects, embraces and enjoys. My mind analyzes, judges, expects and fears.

The paradox is that I was trying to find my way to my heart through my mind. But my mind functions in such a different way than my heart. It is very difficult to reach the heart by going through the mind. The mind is an amazing tool with incredible gifts. But it is very hard for the mind to open to the even more wondrous treasures of the heart.

I spent decades reading spiritual books, pondering theological concepts, meditating using words and mental images, debating which spiritual path is best for me, etc. Then some friends showed me an amazingly simple, effective way to access my heart directly:

Close your eyes and relax to reduce the dominance of my brain

Smile   to awaken and activate my heart.

Feel the peace, calmness and love that naturally flow through my heart<!--[endif]-->

Relax, smile , feel --- that’s it.

You may be asking, how can it be so simple?

Well, it’s the mind that relishes complexity and difficulty. The heart embraces simplicity and ease.

I now realize that I don’t have to do difficult practices, study and analyze massive religious tomes or master my mind. All I have to do is let the love and light that is always flowing through my heart bring me back to the joy and peace that is my birthright.

Now that I am shifting from being brain-centered to being heart-centered, I am becoming more peaceful, more joyful, more in harmony with my life purpose, more forgiving and compassionate, more in love with myself and the world. I find it easier to move through whatever challenges life presents me. I frequently walk around with a smile on my face.

And these changes are coming about because every day I spend time relaxing, smiling and feeling my heart.

You are probably thinking, there must be a catch. Well, there is one. I need to practice relaxing, smiling and feeling every day. After a lifetime of trying, analyzing, observing, thinking and being serious; it does take practice to shift into relaxing and enjoying.