How to Live from Your Heart: Deepen Relationships, Develop Creativity, and Discover Inner Wisdom

Chapter 2 When the Heart Is Open

The heart chakra is a very delicate chakra. The reason it is delicate is because it is directly linked to the Higher Self and also directly linked to the Feminine Principle. This Principle is part of the duality of nature in which the Feminine and Masculine Principles always work together. When the heart chakra is fully opened, the yogi is functioning consciously with the Higher Self and has access to the higher wisdom that stems from the Feminine Principle.

When the heart is open it is very vulnerable. To illustrate this more clearly, imagine that your heart is fully opened. When you encounter a negative person, you will feel the impact of the person’s negativity in your heart, just as when you encounter a positive person, her energy will be uplifting. Therefore, to have this chakra open without the protection of the other chakras can be very harmful. That is why I recommend the slow process of opening all the chakras in small increments.

Sometimes a yogi will practice Bhakti Yoga, a practice that concentrates on the heart, and in so doing causes that chakra to open when the other chakras are not in good balance. When this happens, the yogi can come down with an illness.

If a student inadvertently opens this chakra and hasn’t the protection of the teacher, then the student will become overly sensitive to outside influences.

Unfortunately, many yogis strive to open their hearts, not realizing that this chakra is one of the last to open and that only when the yogi has achieved higher initiations will that student be able to work with the chakra positively. If, for example, the chakra is used for personal gain or personal love, then it is not being used correctly; in fact, such use can cause the student some serious karmic consequences.

When the heart chakra is open, it is a magnet that draws people to it. For example, if someone has an open heart she will definitely attract people to her. If she uses this open heart in a personal way for the purpose of attracting love or sex ,then she is misusing the energy.

Let’s determine first of all what is meant by an open heart: 1. The first attribute is warmth that flows from the heart to others.

2. The second attribute is the ability to contain and hold information without judgment.
3. The third attribute is the ability to use the energy to heal others and to heal parts of the planet.
4. The fourth attribute is the ability to bring wisdom from the Higher Self and the other Higher Beings to oneself and to others.
5. The last and most important attribute is the ability to love others unconditionally and without personal attachment, no matter what their cultural or racial background.

There are other attributes that can only be used when the heart is fully opened. The ones I have just mentioned can be utilized to some degree with a partially opened heart.

A partially opened heart can still generate a lot of energy, and this energy will most definitely impact others. It is important as a yogi to learn the proper techniques for working with the heart.