What Is Love And How To Open Up The Heart?

I will not talk here about the romantic kind of love or infatuation. Not wanting to underestimate or demean romantic love, I would say that pure Love (with capital “L”) is something immensely glorious and powerful, yet immeasurably gentler than romance. The Love we are talking about here is the ultimate divine force in the universe. It is not an emotion, nor is it a state of mind. It is the true state of the heart and its union with oneness.

If our hearts were as pure as that, we wouldn’t need any techniques; our minds would be one with our hearts and we would all have a perfect existence filled with Love and Presence (Pure consciousness). But, as we all know, that isn’t the case. We are all still working toward that goal.

Love, as well as Presence, is incredibly important. We have to purify our hearts to be able to really emanate Love. In order to cleanse our hearts, we need to be reasonable, resourceful, and persevering in our everyday work on ourselves. We must continuously apply techniques, while being guided by our hearts and reason at the same time.

Love dissolves all negativity in us. It has also a great healing power. We can heal ourselves and other people as well, just with Love. If we were able to open up our hearts entirely and lastingly, I believe it would be absolutely enough for complete healing.

Healing with Love can be one of the most powerful methods of healing work. Yet, for the majority of people, it is the most challenging way. Why is this so? It’s because our hearts are often closed and wrapped in many layers of mind content.

However, all of us occasionally feel Love, often without any apparent reason. Sometimes we see a little child and our hearts can’t help but open to the pure innocence which is emanating from that being; or we see a dog or some other animal that simply wants to play; or we meet with an old friend; or there is no reason whatsoever. Love just springs out from us and it’s invaluable. It makes barriers disappear, suffering diminish, and fears vanish. The power of pure Love is undeniable to any negativity in us or outside of us.

I would certainly recommend the approach of many spiritual and psychological teachings that encourage us to develop Love in our hearts, both toward ourselves and others—but first toward ourselves! It is not selfishness. It is like the safety instructions on commercial planes: a parent must put their own oxygen mask on before helping their child. The same is true in life. If we aren’t able to help ourselves first, we aren’t able to help others, which we seek to do so much.

If you are able to open your heart entirely, at least for a while, the flow of Love will pour out of you. First it will fill your being completely, then it will flow to others, without exception… even to our enemies!

Enemies, (if we have them at all) are in fact our greatest teachers. They are often a concentration of many traits and behaviors that bother us, which in turn tells us about ourselves, and our own long suppressed parts. Although being unaware of this, they show us clearly which traits in our personality we should work on. We should love those persons because of this! They are projections of our inner suppressed parts.

It’s time to take a completely different position in your life—to get wisdom not through pain anymore, but through nurturing Love and Presence within you, in every situation, with every being. So, inside your mind you can always tell those people or your corresponding inner parts: “I love you. Thank you for all your valuable lessons. You have always taught me how to gain wisdom and maturity through suffering. From now on, give me your help through Love and Presence.”

I believe Love can heal any part of life. It can heal any illness, any dysfunction, challenge or problem.
Sometimes, when I had a cold, I would remind myself that the best thing I could do would be to open up my heart and feel Love for myself, for all people around me and toward the whole world. Whenever I succeeded even a little bit in that “opening” endeavor (though it shouldn’t had been an endeavor at all), in a matter of hours I was up on my feet again, feeling completely renewed and healed.

How can you wake up Love in your heart?

I can recommend only some of the numerous ways to do that. For example, imagine that a little child, or toddler, is approaching you. It’s smiling innocently at you, wobbling in its walking. It’s so cute, with bright, smiling eyes staring at you. The child is giggling with its sweet voice, telling you “I love you!” You are embracing it with warmth. How couldn’t you feel Love toward such an innocent being? Let Love rush out from your heart.

When you open your heart, let Love fill you completely. Extend it also to yourself. Love yourself with your whole heart! Feel that you deserve the deepest Joy and Happiness. After all, you have always been giving the best you could. You, as that child, need only to be happy. You only want to be happy in your life and you definitely deserve that! Love yourself, your body, and your whole being. Wish yourself all the best.

Love all parts of your being and personality, all traits, flaws, mistakes and imperfections; love the body that has served you so dutifully your whole lifetime; love your life, your past, present and future, anything that comes to your mind.

Let Love amplify and expand to encompass all people around you. Love your family, your children, spouse, parents, friends, colleagues; love your job, your errands and annoying things; love your enemies, too; let Love pour out from your heart toward all of them. Extend your Love to all humanity. Feel yourself as a part of it. Love your darling pets; love all animals, plants and all living beings. Love your Mother Earth, the entire Universe, the entire Existence. Feel the fact that countless beings exist within Creation, and all of them are trying to be happy in some way. Wish them all true happiness with your whole heart.

This is Love and it is miraculous. It can potentially heal, harmonize and mature everything. Try not to expect healing, but love yourself and all beings around you. If the healing should come, it will come, to both you and inevitably those around you. Something wonderful will surely happen, although you cannot know what it will be.
If you want to heal other people, the answer is simple: grow Love within your heart, express it, and you will be healing yourself and the people around you in the best way.

For more on practical ways to transform our lives, check this source: http://www.re-integration.com.