Many people that I encounter insist that they have a totally open, loving and balanced heart, but from their comments and behavior I see their heart is not quit as loving and open as they think, in fact it more closed than open. In most cases they are completely closed off from the flow of love.
One of the tendencies of a closed heart is the feeling of being exclusive, superior or in some way better than other human beings. This closed heart is apparent where there is racism, religious righteousness, or ethnic divisions.
I have known many people who will stand up and say, “that is wrong and shame of those people for having those judgments and feelings of superiority.” Yet, in many subtle ways you might be just as guilty.
For example, do you sneer at the homeless man on the street who asks for money? Do you judge and hold in contempt all those lazy people on welfare feeling that they need to get up and get a job? Do you think because you have a certain college degree or title with a company that you are better than the person who is a laborer?
All of these attitudes are far more subtle but just as significant forms of closing your heart, shutting yourself off from other people and shutting yourself off to flow of love.
There are different types of arrogance such as intellectual arrogance, “I’m more educated than you.” There are religious divisions, “our religion is better than yours.” There is the superficial arrogance of “I drive a more expensive car than you do.” All of these are ridiculous ways off closing your heart off and shutting yourself off from the flow of love.
This has happened in my own life. For example, after getting my master’s degree I felt that somehow I was better than the other students who didn’t have a degree as advanced as mine and especially people who did not have a college degree. It was ridiculous and to this day I’m embarrassed that I even thought that for a while.
These are the sorts of things we fall into all the time. Me against the neighbors; me against the Joneses. The comparative, who’s got more. All of these tendencies in our thinking shut us off. They cut us off from other people. Cut us off from our heart, the flow of love and the good will that we really need to be connected to our spirit.
A person with a truly open heart doesn’t look at the covering, doesn’t look at the package but rather looks at another person’s spirit. By virtue of the breath we share we all have life and because we share that breath we are all of the same life force.
