The feeling is often the deeper truth, the opinion the more superficial one. – Augustus Hare (1834-1903)
The movement from head to heart begins by feeling into our own feelings from a place of not knowing. Childlike wonder and curiosity replaces the knee-jerk labeling, “oh, there I go feeling depressed again…” as if you already know what depression is.
Instead, silently observe the feeling and let it reveal itself to you. Rather than judging or rejecting it, we are being present with it, however it’s showing up. Being quiet and letting IT reveal to us what it’s all about.
If we actually do this, it automatically allows us to be much more present with others when they are experiencing these feelings, because we know intimately what they are feeling. And so we don’t see a “them” (something separate from us), experiencing feelings, we see “ourselves” and so compassion and love is our natural heartfelt response.
Note that this new way of being takes practice, as the old habit of resisting feelings is deeply ingrained. More on consciously being with our feelings from Sri Summairu:
“We are so closed off from our feelings, that we shut down when others show emotions. Their emotions remind us of our own, it’s too close to home. We don’t have compassion or empathy for others because that would require us to feel the emotions within ourselves that another is feeling within themselves and connect with them in that feeling. A heart connection is not possible any other way, so we throw concepts at them, to get them to feel better, to get them to cover it up, to get them to stop feeling.
We don’t see the value of feeling, so we try to fix feelings by numbing them. And because we cannot remain present with someone in their feelings, there is no connection with others. There is no connection to life, which happens through our hearts, which is where oneness is experienced as an alive essence of being.
Oneness cannot be perceived without a heart connection. The first illusion of separation happens in the disconnect from our own feeling nature. Thus, believing our thoughts, that we are somehow separate from life, wouldn’t be possible if we were connected to life at a heart level.”
-Sri Summairu
