Understanding the Sacred Heart

THE HEART STAR — in Eastern faiths referred to as the “heart chakra” — finds a beautiful voice in the Beatitudes. In Sophian tradition, the heart star is Tiferet, the pattern that connects all of our human energy and desire with the Power and Presence of God. In a fully-open and balanced heart star we may also find the Sacred Heart — but it is most alive in us when we have cultivated the conditions that bring about its residence within our own being. Indeed, the Gospel of Matthew (5:1-11) speaks volumes to this condition of the heart we might call open or unconditional or limitless. But what does this mean? In the context of the typical human heart, being too-giving or too-limitless can mean overwhelming someone or something even to the point of suffocation. But what does all of this blessedness that we find in Matthew mean in the context of the Sacred Heart — and how does that apply to us as humans? What separates the Sacred Heart from the normal human heart?

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. How wise and loving is the Holy Mother who opens herself up to those whose hearts have been broken. The kingdom of heaven ultimately signifies the bringing together of Keter and Malkut — for neither heaven nor the kingdom are places, at least not in the traditional sense. The kingdom of heaven is a state of mind. I think sometimes it’s easier for the broken-hearted to contemplate or live in this state of mind or consciousness than someone who has never suffered or felt the pangs of life. When we accept the broken pieces of dreams and disappointments that life hands us and fill the spaces left behind not with bitterness but with understanding then we have created the space for the Holy Spirit (the Power and Presence of God) to reside. Thus, those who have allowed themselves to be broken without becoming bitter have become vessels for a place where the Sacred Heart may take up residence. Life’s battle scars have become a teaching-ground and a healing ground — and a fertile ground.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Those who have lost a loved one have felt the ultimate pang of life — in the pang of death. In that experience of loss we face the ultimate recognition that life and death are inseparable because you can’t have the joy of one without the pain of the other. Those who truly open themselves up to learn from this know that love really does go on forever; the love that we gave and we were given changed us and will forever be a part of us, even doing so through healing the karma of current and past lives. As one opens him or herself up to what this really means we understand that without this dance of life and death we do not grow. We do not “gnow” either. For some, the experience of losing a loved one is so powerful it changes their life direction — in ways that open up the world for others by creating organizations or movements in their honor, changing lives as a result of what they learned through that person’s death about themselves and about humanity — and about God. This is what happened for me when my sister died — for in her death she taught me the most beautiful and precious things in life are beyond what we can see in the material world. Her death renewed my spiritual search in a truly inspiring way, opening me up to the Holy Mother’s life changing movement of sparks that find their melting point in the heart.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. This is so true for those whose life experience teaches them humility because most of us are not born with it. It is mostly learned through the hard knocks and falls that come with being overly-confident and selfish. Life’s experiences aren’t meant to kill our spirit but to awaken it. That which humbles us teaches us truths about the universe and ourselves that we can then use to open our hearts to others. Again, in our humility we have created the space for the Mother to work — and with which the gifts of creation may be truly understood and enjoyed.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Those who truly seek — in fact, long for — truth and justice are already compelled by their own human spirit coming into being as the unfolding potential of the Human One. Those souls who think this way are already compelled by the Mother Spirit to lead others in humanity — and if they don’t allow selfish or ego-driven human nature to preside over their hopes and dreams, their hearts become fertile ground for the Holy Mother to work. This is why a balance of the lower stars is so important for the heart star to be open and for all of these blessings of the Mother to find their true potential.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Here is Hessed on the Tree of Life — the fullness of God’s mercy in creation and humanity coming into being as unlimited love. Those who give of themselves without balance may also drain themselves in the context of the human heart — and sometimes may even see much pain in return. However, that kind of passion and openness is a fertile ground for the blessings of the Mother to take root in these hearts that sometimes give without receiving. These hearts are often broken — but, once broken, if bitterness is not allowed to reside, Divine Grace steps in and the same unconditional love these hearts once gave is reciprocated and returned a thousand-times over.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. We might ask, Is anyone pure in heart anymore? But we’ve all met them — we’ve all known these individuals who seemed to either have been born pure or who became pure as a response to life’s circumstances — or through their own dance with the Holy Shekinah. To have the heart of the Human One — to see and behold the Light and Fire without being consumed by it — enables one to see the face of God. Few have ever gone here but again this is not something they’ve done on their own — but by spiritual living and practice have created the space for the Holy Shekinah to manifest in the most profound ways.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God. Like the seekers of truth and justice, the peacemakers are envoys of God, so to speak. Their human spirit is strong and compelled by their internal awareness of humanity as deserving of life and respect. They have the understanding of heart that makes them great emissaries for God whether they know it or not. Those who forge peace pave the way for anger, hatred, and war to be replaced by more gentle pursuits — a kinder, meeker world driven by a common desire for humanity’s own becoming. In this space the Mother can do some of her greatest work in the continuning evolution of humanity.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all manner of evil against you falsely on may account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the very same way they persecuted the prophets before you. Those who follow the path of truth do so very often alone — as they seek to live a life in commitment to the indwelling and transcendent Light Presence and/or a life in which their teaching and practices become a subject of ridicule. These individuals face detractors on a regular basis but, despite that, they continue their labor in service to the actualizing potential of the Human One. Their heart will let them do nothing else because, put quite simply, their heart already knows the truth — and gnowing this truth they will continue steadfast on their course — as did Yeshua, whose sacrifice became a talisman or symbol for humanity to know itself in, to find its own divine potential in. Those who sacrifice all for the sake of the kingdom of heaven are open to the Holy Spirit’s divine grace moving in and through them to touch the very hearts of
men and women.

So, after reflecting on all of this blessedness found in Matthew, I believe the heart star when fully open can become the Sacred Heart — the human heart filled with the Divine Grace of the Holy Spirit, balanced by the most profound knowledge of humanity and self. Because there is no dualism in the Sacred Heart there is no room for excess — only a love and self-awareness that moves mountains, changes the world, and understands the All.

Yeshua said, “Let him who seeks not cease seeking until he finds, and when he finds, he will be troubled. When he has been troubled, he will marvel, and he will reign over the All.” (The Gospel of Thomas, Saying 2)