Greater than the physical or emotional experience of the human heart, in spiritual terms, the Heart also means the Universe, God, Self, Consciousness, or Life. In meditation, focusing on bringing the breath or expansiveness to the heart can lead to the experience of unity, love, emptiness, spaciousness, and even samadhi (an awakening experience). The Heart of Consciousness can be experienced as the gateway to deeper and deeper experiences of meditative insights, love, and bliss.

The spiritual finder has experientially discovered the Truth (God or Consciousness) within themselves and has found that awakening is something that is present all the time, beyond our attachments, thoughts, egoic conditioning, and efforts. The finder has discovered their true nature, which is and always has been present—prior and beyond seeking. 

Presence (or living life with an acceptance and abidance in what is) is something everyone can experience. All it takes is a willingness to place attention on the space within that never changes.

Presence is an inner quiet that has no boundaries of space or time—it is here Now. When we bring a quality of presence to our daily lives, our experience of what is happening around us takes on a richer quality. It often has a newness or freshness about it, even if it is an activity we have engaged in many times before. When we are no longer living in a rut of the conditioned behaviors of the past, or just doing things by rote, we become free to just be. As our hearts open to life around us, we often feel more alive, spontaneous, vibrant, creative, and at peace. 

By accepting that life is unpredictable and will continue to change you realize one of the most important discoveries on the spiritual path. You discover that which never changes within you. This unchanging quality is Presence or God; it is the Consciousness (or awakening) we seek. This presence stays the same no matter the outer circumstance presenting itself, even when a beloved pet or loved ones dies or your perceived role in life is dramatically shaken. As we deepen our spiritual insights into unity and Consciousness, our view of reality gets expanded beyond our limited egoic conditioning. Even challenging times in our lives, we can recognize as being expressions of Consciousness. The experience of love and compassion continues to deepen in our lives along with an open acceptance of what is. 

 

How do we know when Grace appears in our life? What I have learned is that Grace is always appearing, we just may not recognize it in its many forms and manifestations. And, if we believe we are the ones making everything in our life happen, this makes it even more difficult to see the movements of Grace. Grace has been abundant in my life on many occasions even when I did not understand what was happening. In fact this is when Grace is most present as Grace is an act of God, Consciousness or the Divine, and always beyond the limited scope of the minds’ understanding. It is also something beyond our control and seemingly personal actions. All we have to do is show up in the present moment and allow ourselves to be taken deeper into the experience of life—This is Grace.

Moments of Grace are easier to recognize in the blissful states of unity, and when life is seen in its magic show of synchronicity. They are easy to see when on retreat, experiencing a heightened spiritual state during meditation, or during the magical experiences that can occur while traveling. However, moments of Grace are often more difficult to see when life isn’t going smoothly. Can we see the movement of Grace when it seems that a separate force of nature is taking place, such as when in conflict with the peaceful mind states we come to enjoy when living and breathing a spiritual life? Yet, these too are just as much moments of Grace as all the so-called good or spiritual experiences.