Clear and Open Heart
Living in Love with the World
Love is all that matters, in the beginning and in the end. Love is the most refined and real form of energy in the universe. It binds us all together and reminds us that we are one.
A peaceful and loving heart is our birthright and our natural state. When we are balanced and at ease, we naturally shine with love and open-hearted friendliness. When we are settled and relaxed, we sense that deep connection between ourselves and everyone around us. We somehow sense that our small selves are all deeply stitched together into one great Self of the world.
And when we recognize that we are family, we start acting on one another's behalf. We become less selfish and small-minded. We take on others' joys as our own joys and others' sorrows as our own, too. We fall in love with the truth that we are all in this together and that we might as well help each other out along the way.
Today and every day, let's clear the way for love to bloom in its magnificent and mysterious ways. Let's refine our vision, looking deep into the heart of life, until all we see is love shining forth. And let's let that healing warmth flow back out into the world, in acts both large and small. Let's let love be our true north, always.
Along the way, let's have faith in love's ability to carry us, even amid life's inevitable darkness and despair. Let's trust in its presence, even when our vision isn't strong enough to see it. Let's not be afraid of the tender ache that rests at the heart of all true love. Let's be willing to let our hearts be broken, if that's the price we pay for loving deeply in this world.
We don't really need to cultivate love, of course, for it is already here within each and every one of us. In our darkness and confusion we sometimes lose touch with that essential tenderness and warmth, but it remains nonetheless. To find our way back to the roots of our being and to the source of our love, we need to clear away the  dust that clouds our vision. We need to shed the delusions that harden our naturally joyous hearts. We need to find our way back to our deepest values, for surely they will lead us right back into the arms of love.
We exhale. We relax. We grow still enough inside to see the love and care that weaves itself through our lives. We nurture this tender light within and then we offer it to the world around us in the form of kindness, care, presence and support. Little by little, love by love, we illuminate not just our own lives but the lives of everyone around us.