The meaning and power of heartbreak
February 10, 2025 | 10 CommentsAudio only version is here
Meditation practice begins at 13:05
Hello, wonderful Open Heart Project.
Before today’s sit, I continue the conversation begun two weeks ago to discuss how we view meditation in the OHP. (It’s different from most views!) The first point was We Engage in Daily Ritual. The second was We Live as Mystics (Hiding in Plain Sight). The third is The Personal is Not the Obstacle–It is the Way. If you want to go back and watch, feel free! But it is not necessary.
Today, I share some thoughts about what so many are experiencing right now, for all sorts of very real reasons: heartbreak. According to wisdom tradition, this awful and disorienting feeling has great utility on the spiritual journey.
Please have a listen and let me know what you think.
With love,
Susan
categorized in: meditation, open heart project
10 Comments
Dear Susan. Thank you that was very helpful as ever.
I have been puzzling over why seeking reassurance is grasping.
I suppose if we examine our feelings we won’t need to seek reassurance is that it?
Puzzled of Londinium. 🙏
So glad it was helpful. I don’t think seeking reassurance is always grasping–apologies if I gave that impression. But when we seek it through attempting to calm anxiety rather than understand ourselves and the world more deeply, it can be a kind of desperation. At least that’s how it feels to me when I do it. What do you think? xo S
Oh yes that is a relief.
Absolutely feels right.
I have a friend who constantly seeks reassurance from me and it can be very wearing, but I am sure I have done it too.
Very much enjoyed talk on heart Sutra last night. I found it very moving.
Thank you 🙏 very much ☺️
So glad you were there last night–thank you, Jane. xo S
Oh yes thank you that does clarify.
Thank you for your compassionate response.
J ☺️🙏🌸🌸🌸
<3 <3 <3
. Wanting validación seems to come from the desire to be accepted., valued. We all need this but also if we believe and trust in ourselves we may not need it as much . At the same time there is the need to feel right versus need to be right.. which this article provides some Insight to:
https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/the-brain-science-of-outrage-what-teachers-need-to-know/2024/08
Thanks, Alison. <3 S
“Monks, this cycle of rebirth is without discoverable beginning. … What do you think, monks? Which is more: the tears you have shed while roaming and wandering this long, long time—crying and weeping from being united with what is displeasing and separated from what is pleasing—or the water in the four great oceans?” Assu Sutta (AN 3.56)
My most challenging times in grief are when I also experience joy. It feels wrong to experience both at the same time or within a close period of time. It is a balancing act – one side joy, the other grief, and the tight rope is guilt. But I try to remember to tell myself – “Let yourself feel, let yourself heal, and know that just as sorrow arises, so too will joy and eventually peace.”
Jen, it is so inspiring to read your experiences on the road of grief and joy. Your insights are so incredibly valuable. <3 S