Your weekly practice time
The two main pillars that we need to cultivate as human being to open to who we truly are, are keeping our aspiration on fire, and our practice consistent.
This offering is acting as a helping hand for you to bring regularity in your meditation practice.
Additionally it also brings a sense of togetherness as a Sangha, that can immensely amplify one's own willingness and inspires the journey as a whole.
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The sessions are completely free and held on a weekly basis.
We are offering this simply because we know how precious a regular practice at home is, and how powerful the support of a Sangha can be.
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We are very much looking forward to have you with us!
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About Hridaya Meditation
Hridaya Meditation is a powerful meditation to move beyond any limitation of the mind and open to a deeper dimension of yourself.
Through this meditation, we learn to refine awareness and tap into a vibrant intimacy with our being and with life itself.
We cultivate a serene and clear mind that allows for an open and loving heart.
It consists of 3 main pillars that can be found in various non-dual, contemplative traditions, yet most prominently, they are inspired from Ramana Maharshi and the Kashmiri Shaivist tradition.
The combination of these techniques has been created by the founder of Hridaya Yoga, Sahajananda and is practiced by our teachers since many years.
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After years of practice and living in a Sangha, we have seen the immense transformation that this meditation practice can bring.
Sri Ramana Maharshi
About Hridaya Meditation
Get a good overview of Hridaya Meditation by reading through the text below.
About Hridaya, the Spiritual Heart
The Spiritual Heart, Hridaya is much more than just a physical place in our body.
The Sanskrit word for the Spiritual Heart is Hridaya. And while Hridaya refers also to the physical organ, in Kashmiri Shaivism and other non-dual traditions, this word refers to the Ultimate Reality. To call the Ultimate Reality “the Heart” is pointing to the fact that our Heart and the Heart of the whole universe are essentially the same.
Atman (individual Essence) is Brahman (Ultimate Reality) or in sanskrit: Ayam Atma Brahma.
Recognition of the Spiritual Heart arises by releasing the ordinary, discursive mind or merely all its identifications, into luminous, spacious and silent awareness. To rest in this awareness (resting in the awareness of awareness) as long and often as possible, will open us to the desired recognition. There is nothing deeper than awareness. That is also why it is called the Heart. We gradually cultivate a spiritual understanding of a non-dual reality, followed by an embodiment of the freedom to love and wisdom.
In Hridaya meditation we practice 3 main pillars that support us in the recognition of this Ultimate Truth.
The first pillar: The awareness of the Heart Center
The Heart Center on one hand is a physical point in our body, in the middle of the chest, slightly to the right but also on a different dimension, it functions as a portal to the Divine. It is the point in our Being where according to Ramana Maharshi, the I-Feeling or the pure I Am is perceived and felt the most tangible.
Think of the entire chest area as the throne room. It is an area in which the divine resides as the king. The Heart Center is the throne itself. Bring the awareness there and realize you are one with the King.
Jesus said: “The kingdom of God is in your Heart” - so why not start to connect with it - from the physical point of concentration to the transcendental domain of our being.
The second pillar: The Pauses after Inhalation and after Exhalation
Including the pauses after inhalation and exhalation into the awareness is as well more than just object awareness. As the breath moves in and out, so does prana move down and up in our body. The short moments of transition, those moments where in-, and outbreath are equal, provide a moment of equilibrium and therefore of possible transcendence. It is in these moments that perception of time dissolves in eternity. Here we can look behind phenomena towards the background of silence.
Think of it as the symbol of yin and yang. In inbreath the yin is on dominance, in outbreath it is the yang. (It’s just metaphorically so). In the pauses they are both in perfect harmony. Wholeness arises and as such, pure awareness can be recognized as ground of being.
Another way to see it, is that the pauses are the meeting point between in-, and outbreath. Stillness is there when they meet and duality can be transcended.
On a mental level, the breath is linked to the activity of mind. Once we slow the breath down consciously, also mental activity slows down. You probably had moments of pure astonishment. In these moments, the breath stops. There is even a saying that goes: “Do not measure your life by the amount of breaths you take, but by the amount of moments that took your breath away.” In such moments, there is pure presence. When awareness, through resting in these pauses, becomes more refined, we will also open to those gaps between thoughts. Here again, that background of silence, the formless “canvas” from which phenomena appear can be recognized as such.
The third pillar: Self-Inquiry through asking the question "Who am I?"
Self Inquiry (The question “Who am I?”) is the last and yet the most essential one of the 3 pillars of Hridaya Meditation, since it is the most direct path to recognition and liberation.
Basically Self-Inquiry the movement of awareness towards itself and the abidance in it. Discernment and clarity are necessary for Inquiry to happen. We ask the question “Who am I” and investigate the nature of our being directly.
For this question to really unfold its meaning, your longing for truth and your insight of the mind’s limited understanding of who you are have to be there. Otherwise, the mind will answer the question and it cannot find an answer that goes beyond concepts, object and subject relationship, or simply beyond duality. In this case, it is better to emphasize the first and second pillar. Until they are fruiting and spiritual understanding or a longing for truth is dawning. What you truly are, can remain very well a mystery.