Your Mind Will Separate, Your Heart Will Connect

No wonder we are all conflicted,

in between our ears and in our hearts. And no wonder we experience such profound joy in those moments of loving connection. No wonder we are drawn to the innocent loving eyes of the baby. No wonder there is so much suffering in our world. Separation tells me that if you are suffering, it does not have to matter to me in my immediate world, yet. Maybe someday I will be able to help. Maybe not today. I may have issues in my world that are more prior.

And yet regardless of the issues in my world, am I not still affected by your suffering? I can deny that reality with my mind, but that does not make it any less real. That denial mechanism simply has the option of appearing real to my monkey mind. My heart undeniably knows the connection between your suffering and my world. This does require a paradigm shift from how we are trained in Western Civilization. And yet all it requires is a simple 14 inch movement of conscious awareness from the monkey mind to the loving heart. When you begin to allow the loving power of your heart to inform the limited perspective of your ego and your monkey mind, miracles begin to happen.

That’s right, miracles. We are trainable in Western Civilization. Part of our training will include re-learning how immediate miracles already are. They do not have to come exclusively from far away or from distant sources. They already are happening in your world, every day. Start by redefining your relationship to the miracles that are already there. I have a young friend who had to suffer some terrible consequences on account of a series of horrible events that led to their being addicted to heroine for over 4 years. Then she discovered she was pregnant. In that one moment, she decided to get clean, and now has a beautiful baby that is 15 months old, healthy, and happy, as is she. That is a miracle. Make no mistake, there were many prayers involved and truly divine help.

All of the hearts involved knew their connection. All of the minds involved would perceive separation, and had the option to choose to pray, beg for divine help, choose to believe that a miracle was possible, anyway. That miracle was not an accident. It was intentional. On many levels: human and divine. Regardless of your beliefs, miracles are happening in your world . Your mind will want to discount and deny them. Your heart will rejoice in them. So, we are conflicted. We have options. It is so much a part of being human. Do you pay more attention to your mind or to your heart, or to your soul? [Reprise: your mind is a wonderful servant, a horrible master: mastery comes from your heart and your soul] Learn to let your mind be the wonderful servant it was designed to be. Let it help you to know when to stop at a yellow light or a red light and when to go across a busy street. Let it defer to your heart the rest of the time. As we evolve from human souls to divine souls, it is up to us to recognize the preeminence of the heart over the mind. Or not. “The light bulb has to want to change.” [Reprise: Old joke: How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? A: Only one, but the light bulb has to want to change.]

Lately I have been reaching out to old friends, checking in, with the intention of finding out at a deeper level how they are doing, really doing. I ask, “are you getting what it is that you truly need, are you getting what it is that you truly want?” That is not a superficial question. I care about these friends, even if I have not connected with them for a long time, in some cases more than a year. In the process, my monkey mind told me, “they don’t want to hear from you,…” “how much do you really care: it has been so long since you even tried to connect…” etc., etc. My heart told me, “they’re your friends, what’s not to connect?” And they responded: “thank you for reaching out,” “thank you for persisting,” etc., etc. So what’s the real truth here? The real truth is what my heart knew, even if my mind wanted me to believe the false evidence appearing real [notice the acronym here: f.e.a.r.]. Those connections wanted to happen, despite my monkey mind trying to create more separation and isolation, concurrent with my heart being glad for the opportunity to re-connect.

What does all this matter? Consider this: miracles can happen and you can be a central, integral, important factor in the equation of creating those miracles. A great teacher and healer from 2000 years ago declared that all the miracles he was performing, and greater miracles than he was performing, we would perform. This is a world of positive and negative. There are forces of creation and destruction going on all the time, all around. Some are more destructive than others. They all have their place, despite how horrible the consequences appear. My personal wish is for the suffering to be relieved, completely. I am not in charge of that. I am in charge of my relationship to that. My relationship to the suffering is dictating, from my heart and from my soul, that I find the most effective remedies for the suffering, and enact those remedies, every day.

For me, the paradigm shift has to happen, every day. The culture of bridging the brilliant truths of both great Civilizations, the West and the East, is blossoming more every day. As is the appearance of more separation. It’s tricky: which is more real: the separation of the connection? Answer: the connection. The trick: what you put your focus on; grows; and: there is more going on than meets the eye.

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” [Hamlet (1.5, 167-8), Hamlet to Horatio]

So, you choose: are you paying more attention to your monkey mind or to your loving heart? This is not an either / or proposition. They both have their place. What matters is where you put the preeminence.