Welcome to Module Five

Forging Community, Decentering, and Building Heart-Centered Alliances

Once we begin to know ourselves better and are able to give ourselves what we need, it becomes easier to show up in our hearts with others. This is especially true when we are able to begin practicing forgiveness towards ourselves, and consciously shift out of a place of judgement and either/or thinking to engage with each other just as we are, instead of how we wish each other to be. This is the basis of compassionate community—the ability to hold space for others to show up in their wholeness, and to welcome all parts of ourselves to the table. And in this space is where we can truly begin!

As we engage in this heart-centered practice of community, we remember that people—ourselves and each other—are not the problem. We are each beautiful, multifaceted ecosystems with our own layers of conditioning, grooming, needs, belief systems, and complexity. Problems are what present themselves in the spaces between our fields, in relationship with each other. When we meet each other in our hearts, that space can also present us with the solution.

In this module, we will dig into radical acceptance, Sacred Heart Cave practice, and Tonglen practice.

RADICAL ACCEPTANCE

When we can bring ourselves to a state of acceptance for whatever is presenting, we surrender into the moment and allow ourselves to receive the full teaching available to us in whatever situation is unfolding. Bringing ourselves to a place of accepting the situation unfolding is a vital step in making a conscious choice about how to respond to it from a place of love.

SACRED HEART CAVE PRACTICE

This cave is a safe meditative space that allows you to connect with your true authentic self. It is a safe haven within yourself that allows you to get still and quiet and meet yourself with love. As we strengthen the vibration of the heart, we begin to shift from an ego, mind-driven approach to life to a spiritual, soul-based approach.

TONGLEN PRACTICE

Tonglen is a Buddhist practice and an exercise in expanding the capacity of the heart to love. Tonglen consists of trying on the suffering of those around us in our heart space, moving from people whom we easily hold personal love for out to people and situations that are increasingly difficult for us to accept and send love to.