Seeing through the eyes of heart

“The whole purpose of life is to restore to health the eye of the heart by which God can be seen.” St. Augustine

Opening the door of the heart is not merely accessing the realm of feeling, sense, and emotion; rather, it is, most importantly, a kind of ‘magnified’ seeing.

When we perceive and experience life through the eyes of the heart, we open to grace. This power of observation is what leads us into deep self-inquiry. By directing energy inward, we initially become aware of the activities and habits of mind and eventually turn our gaze towards our inner experience.

The heart sees through the eyes of compassion. Compassion is not pity; neither is it feeling sorry for someone. It is the much deeper recognition of the interconnectedness of all life. It is, in its purest essence, seeing our heart in the heart of the other. It is the basic understanding that whatever we do doesn’t only affect us but the entire world around us. Living in this knowingness changes all our relationships. 

The compassionate heart is oceanic. It is a completely open heart that is firmly grounded in its wholeness. The compassionate heart is capable of holding the pain of others without absorbing it because it includes, but is not limited or defined by, the pain of the other.

Compassion cannot be done. We open to the heart and compassion works through us. With the deepening of compassion, selfless service is turned into a love affair. Here, we come to understand that as much as we would like to free the other from suffering, we do not run to their rescue by trying to heal, fix, or change them in any way. Wishing for others to be anything other than what they are in this moment is a self-centered desire born of fear that does not belong to the compassionate heart.

The compassionate heart is all-accepting. It has no personal agenda, goal, or objective. It sees the other as the expression of their highest self, no matter what they are manifesting or expressing in that moment. The heart recognizes itself in everything, and therefore, knows what the other is truly made of, even when there is a display of the opposite. In this absolute love that does not seek to correct or alter anything, the possibility for true service arises. 

Compassion turned inward blossoms into self-love. Here, we wholeheartedly embrace every aspect of our being, learn to dissolve judgment, and embrace imperfection. 

Ultimately, we can only truly love the other if we love ourselves unconditionally.

Our intrinsic value is born out of the eternal light of our being. Our inherent self-worth has nothing to do with the opinions we may hold about ourselves, with what we have achieved or not achieved, or with how others perceive us to be. How others and this world see us, at any given time, is based only on their present state of consciousness and how they see themselves.