The Centering into the Spiritual Heart is a fundamental practice. It is a simple and direct spiritual technique practiced in Sufism, Christianity and Judaism. The naturalness of the approach is in itself a guarantee for a harmonious inner transformation. The consistent practice of this technique and having faith in it are significantly helpful for the purpose of our endeavor.

The Immersion into the Heart, using the method of Ramana Maharshi will help us cross the barrier of sentimentalism, of nervousness and personal attachments. This is an important first step towards the revelation of our divine nature. Centering into the Spiritual Heart is an essential attitude which, if it is practiced on a regular basis, starts to reflect itself as a way of “being”.

The Essence of Ramana Maharshi’s Method

Ramana Maharshi summarized his method as follows: “What is essential in any sadhana [practice] is to try to bring back the running mind and fix it on one thing only. Why then should it not be brought back and fixed in Self-attention. (To this feeling of ‘I’)? That alone is Self-enquiry (atma-vichara). That is all that is to be done!” Sri Sadhu Om, The Path of Sri Ramana Vol. 1 (Sri Ramana Kshetra: Tiruvannamalai,1997)

Thus, Ramana Maharshi stated logically an essential fact. Unfortunately, those who understood it were not so many. Maharshi essentially stated that since the purpose of meditation is to fixate the mind on an object, then, rather than any other external or even internal object, THAT particular object should be the very source of our own attention. It is actually the Divine Self, the Spiritual Heart.

The attention or the meditation on any object keeps us in the duality of:

• 1) "I", the knowing subject and
• 2) “It”, the object to be known.

If the open attention is directed towards the Spiritual Heart, i.e. to the knowing subject or, in other words, to who we really are, to the intimate sense of Pure Existence, to the source of the attention itself, then, the premises of a true inner transformation appear, because the subject and the object collapse, become unified, into the vision of the Oneness. It is, therefore, very natural to make the Spiritual Heart the only object of our meditation. Then the Spiritual Heart reveals itself as the knowing subject or who we really are in the ultimate intimacy of our being.

The Sense of the Truth

Every gesture of centering into the Spiritual Heart, every step to get closer to the divine nature, to God, is followed by an intuitive evidence, a sense of the Truth, of the Love which continues to strengthen the aspiration of centering into the Spiritual Heart.
Therefore, the immersion into the Heart finds its natural fulfillment in the blossoming of love and sense of harmony, of being perfectly attuned with the Whole, of communion with God. Opening up at soul level and the immediately following process of being gradually "filled" with love for God are natural expressions of centering into the Heart.

There is a certain happiness and freedom that are inherent to the centering into the Spiritual Heart. They will gradually infuse any type of yoga practice and our whole life as well.

In the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart, by centering into the Heart, we open ourselves and discover, first of all, the intrinsic beauty and harmony of our being. And next, we learn to recognize this beauty and harmony even outside of us.

This centering into the Heart inspires us to act, in our daily life, in such ways as to glorify and celebrate the essence of life, love and happiness inherent to the Spiritual Heart. On the other hand, the centering helps us to discern the actions which are not in harmony with Spirit. Relying on Heart’s ability to discern, we endeavor to attain a state of harmony with that which is awakening the infinite dimension of our being. Thus, the suffering diminishes and there is an expansion of our awareness of the beauty and splendor of a life that has found its center.

When we are in the Spiritual Heart, when our awareness is there, we realize that the whole life is sacred. The more the Spiritual Heart is present in our lives, the more pure, more profound and more vivid our joys and aspirations become. We spontaneously recognize and express the completeness and sacredness of life.

The Celebration of Centering into the Heart

A significant benefit of the centering in the Heart is that the life is more and more often experienced as a celebration bringing freedom and happiness, a celebration of the spirit.
There is an essential difference between a profane celebration and a sacred one.
A profane celebration is meant to make you forget about your fears, worries and about yourself. During the sacred celebration of the practice of yoga, the Supreme Self, the Spiritual Heart is remembered and you celebrate it through the happiness offered by love.

Centering into the Heart allows us to align with the intrinsic laws of nature.
Then, the moral principles and attitudes recommended in the Yama and Niyama code of ethical rules arise spontaneously. For example, Ahimsa (non-violence), Santosha (satisfaction) or Aparigraha (non-accumulation) become naturally satisfied, not because we intend to follow certain rules, but as an immediate effect, as a natural consequence of our profound vision of life acquired by centering into the Heart.

The Unknown Becomes Ineffable Bliss

By reconnecting with the Spiritual Heart, we enter again the flow of the pure existence. Our tensions, fears and traumas are gradually eliminated and, thus, our being, in its wholeness, radiates peace, strength, healing energy and love. This profound peace cannot be generated through visualization or individual will power. It radiates beyond thinking and personality.

The "unknown", which is the source of fear while we are caught in the limitations of the individual consciousness (in the discursive mind), reveals itself as an ineffable divine Reality and it becomes the source of joy and bliss when we are centered into the Heart.

Integration into the Daily Routine Life

The immersion into the Spiritual Heart is an attitude practiced consistently in the Yoga of the Spiritual Heart. It allows us to feel the freedom, happiness, vastness and enlightenment in every act of turning our attention inwards during every asana . After that, we will endeavor to relive the same experience with our eyes open as well.

The centering in the Spiritual Heart can be easily practiced in any situation and, when it is well mastered, it fits perfectly in our everyday life. This practice and the meditation routine are not supposed to disrupt students’ social life.

 The spiritual practice can be compared with a dancer’s practice and rehearsal necessary to get ready for the show. To be rehearsed, there are steps, inner attitudes etc. which, later, make possible a performance full of naturalness, sahaja. The show is our life and the "rehearsal" is the spiritual practice.

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