The Liberated Heart

In the depth of our silence and solitude the voice of wisdom loudly whispers and its truth brings personal freedom.

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Meditation opens us to trust in our capacity to change and transform no matter what we may face.  We realize that our sense of the smaller self is not who we are, and this realization leads us to embrace the potential of living larger through our liberated heart.

Interesting question: "Do you need to Convert to Buddhism in order to Meditate"? My thought - following the teachings of the Buddha does not require converting, but only requires that you take refuge in these teachings. To begin meditation still your bodies, slow your minds, become conscious of your breath, and breathe. As you consistently practice this you begin to touch the place of meditation within.

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"In meditation we have the opportunity to meet ourselves, to see ourselves clearly for the first time. We have never met ourselves properly or spent this kind of time with ourselves before. . . . We cook, we talk, we take a walk, or we swim. We never just sit with ourselves." ~Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche~

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"Bodhicitta is a spontaneous wish to attain enlightenment motivated by great compassion for all sentient beings, accompanied by a falling away of our attachment to the illusion of an inherently existing self." We achieve this through our aspiration for this wisdom and compassion and our determination to practice it in the world as best we can.

It takes a very long time to change consciousness. It is not changed by a single event or a “miraculous happening”; it happens by slow, consistent work and patient practice. When we sit down daily with whatever we fear, open to this experience, and release our attachment to the outcome, we are in process of this change.