The Heart Mastery Podcast

In the time of the Apostles of the Christ, there was a practice called The Prayer of the Heart, also known as The Jesus Prayer. In the Jesus Prayer, the words Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison, (Lord have mercy on me, Christ have mercy on me) are spoken or sang with an awareness of the heart, while breathing consciously.

In the book, The Way of a Pilgrim, written by an anonymous Russian mystic, this practice is discussed with great detail. The earliest description we have of the Jesus Prayer is by a student and companion of the Apostle Paul, Abba Philemon, who died in 54 AD.

In a sixth-century book called The Life of Abba Philemon, the following instructions were given: With the help of your imagination find the place of the heart and stay there with attention. Lead the mind from the head into the heart and say, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,” quietly with the lips or mentally, whichever is more convenient; say the prayer slowly and reverently. As much as possible guard the attention of your mind and do not allow any thoughts to enter in.

Over the centuries, this Christian practice developed further with many saints stressing four basic requirements:

1. Concentration on the heart

2. Concentration on the breath

3. Sincere, devotional, emotion

4. Invocation of Jesus Christ

The first three of these are fundamental to what the Institute of HeartMath calls ‘Coherence’. They are also fundamental to the practice of Heart Rhythm Meditation, a simple and powerful Universal meditation taught by Susanna and Puran Bair, founders of The Institute for Applied Meditation on the Heart. To me, this is a fundamental practice for anyone who is committed to following The Path of the Heart, for the greater your connection with the intelligence, wisdom, and guidance of your heart, the closer you’ll be to fully activate your potential in all areas of your life.

In this final guided meditation, we’ll be focusing on activating the virtue of honor. As a virtue of the heart, honor is a deep sense of respect, esteem or reverence for yourself, others and all of life. To honor yourself means you treat yourself with appreciation, compassion, forgiveness, humility, understanding, kindness and love. It also […]

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In this eleventh guided meditation, part of The Inner Temple fo the Heart Series, we’ll be focusing on activating the virtue of harmony. The word harmony, from the Latin harmonia, means to be in concord with the whole. And the word concord, interestingly enough, comes from the French word cour meaning, heart. Therefore, to be […]

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In this ninth guided meditation, part of The Inner Temple fo the Heart Series, we’ll be focusing on activating the virtue of truth. Truth is a very difficult word to define. Even though we rely on it in almost every moment of our lives, every day and each time we ask ourselves whether if something […]

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In this ninth guided meditation, part of The Inner Temple fo the Heart Series, we’ll be focusing on activating the virtue of freedom. The word freedom can mean many things to different people. But as a virtue of the heart, freedom is your capacity to choose what you need, want or desire for your life […]

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In this eigth guided meditation, part of The Inner Temple fo the Heart Series, we’ll be focusing on activating the virtue of kindness. According to Aristotle, kindness is the willingness to help someone in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself, but for the benefit of the person […]

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In this seventh guided meditation, part of The Inner Temple fo the Heart Series, we’ll be focusing on activating the virtue of love. More than a concept, an emotion or a thought, love is a state of being that is nurturing, protective, uplifting and gracious. Love is what s left once you re willing to surrender your […]

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In this sixth guided meditation, part of The Inner Temple fo the Heart Series, we’ll be focusing on activating the virtue of valor. To have valor means to be of value, or to be strong. As a virtue of the heart, valor is the capacity to act with courage, strength, and determination in defense of […]

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In this fifth guided meditation, part of The Inner Temple fo the Heart Series, we’ll be focusing on activating the virtue of understanding. To ‘understand‘ literally means to stand-under.’ When you understand another person, you are able to stand beneath them, so that you can see what is not apparent and visible to the eye. […]

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In this fourth guided meditation, part of The Inner Temple fo the Heart Series, we’ll be focusing on activating the virtue of humility. The word humility comes from the Latin word humus which means earth. To be humble means to be “grounded”, or to walk relatively low to the earth. This is one of the reasons […]

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