Feel the peace in your heart

What the method is

This meditation method, listed among Shiva’s 112 techniques, implicitly instructs the practitioner to direct their awareness to the heart space to experience inner tranquility. While a specific sutra or explicit core instruction text for “Feel the peace in your heart” is not provided in the given excerpts, its title suggests a focus on the emotional and energetic center of the heart to cultivate a state of calm and serenity. This aligns with Tantra’s emphasis on accessing inner states and centers.

How it is done

To approach this method, the practitioner should:

  • Assume a comfortable and motionless posture: Sitting comfortably with eyes closed and the body motionless is generally recommended for deep focus in meditation techniques. A straight spine can facilitate energy flow and deeper concentration.
  • Cultivate inner stillness: The goal is to allow the mind to cease its incessant activity, leading to a state of peace. This can involve relaxing the body and dropping all tension.
  • Direct senses inward, towards the heart: This method would likely involve practices similar to “Absorb the senses in your heart”, where sensory input is not externalized but rather drawn into the heart center. This requires a shift from outward perception to inward sensation.
  • Develop the “feeling dimension”: Osho emphasizes that many techniques require developing a deeper capacity for feeling, rather than just intellectualizing. This involves living in sensation and being present, allowing feelings to arise without labeling or analysis.
  • Embrace acceptance: A key Tantric principle is total acceptance, where one does not fight against feelings or experiences but allows them to be. This non-resistance facilitates transformation and inner peace.
Commentaries and Insights
  • Purpose and Outcome: The ultimate goal of such a practice is to achieve profound bliss, peace, and serenity. When one is able to connect with their inner core, a state of “at-easeness” arises unconditionally, even amidst external circumstances. This peace is a “real harmony with the universe”.
  • The Heart as a Center: The heart is identified as a “feeling center” which is “nearer” to one’s true being than the intellectual head center. It is associated with warmth, non-calculative giving, and a deep melting or communication of love. Unlike the head, which divides and analyzes, the heart “synthesizes” and “gives unity”.
  • Transcending the Mind: Achieving this peace involves transcending the mind, which is seen as the source of tension, conflict, and “madness”. Meditation techniques, including those focused on the heart, aim to put the mind aside so that one’s true being is revealed. When the mind ceases, a different kind of love and peace emerges, one that has “no opposite to it”.
  • Beyond Duality and Conflict: Tantra emphasizes acceptance of all aspects of existence, including polar opposites like love and hate, without judgment. By accepting and not fighting inner states, one can move to a “middle path” or a state of non-duality where inner peace naturally flowers.
  • Reality of Inner Experience: While the process may begin with imagination, particularly when focusing on internal energy or light, it is rooted in reality. When consciousness is deeply focused, imagination can create phenomena, but the aim is genuine experience. True realization is not a gradual accumulation but a sudden happening for which these practices serve as preparation.
  • Connection to Love and Surrender: Deep love can serve as a “natural method” for meditation, as it fosters contentment, presence, and ego dissolution. Surrender, which allows for receptivity and the flow of grace, is also deeply connected to this state of non-doing and inner peace.
  • Warnings and Guidance: Practices involving inner energy and consciousness are powerful. It is crucial not to leave energy “in the middle” if visualizing an energy flow, as this can be harmful, and to complete the meditation once started. If a technique feels unbearable or creates significant uneasiness, it may not be suitable for the individual, and one should consider stopping or seeking guidance from a master. It is also important to resist merely imagining the desired state and to allow the experience to unfold organically. The ego often resists simple methods, preferring difficult ones that offer a sense of accomplishment, but true spiritual growth comes from embracing simplicity and an attitude of playfulness rather than seriousness.