Entering the Cave of the Heart Mediation on the Flame
Introduction
The Cave of the Heart Meditation
elaborates on Sutra 1:36. Patanjali
describes a method of meditating on
a light that is beyond all sorrow as on
of the means to overcome all of the
obstacles in the mind. This practice
anchors us into this light. It is one of
the key practices to settle us into
the light of self-knowledge and
prepares us to honor the best
of our self and our practice.
Practice
Withdraw your mind from
all external affairs. Be
aware of your body and the
space occupied by your body.
Mentally check the position of your
spine. Keep your head, neck, and
trunk in a straight line. Make sure
that you are breathing gently and
smoothly and there is no noise and
no jerk in your breath. Relax you
whole body. For a few minutes
just watch the natural flow of the
breath. Once the mind settles . . .
Offer your love, respect and gratitude
to the Divine Light, the Inner Guiding
Force that resides at the Guru Chakra
— the center between your sixth
and seventh chakras. This center is
beyond the earthly plane, the sensory
plane and our minds. The Divine
Light and the guiding force residing
here transcend all. In this center the
sages, the great masters of light,
live together in perfect harmony and
oneness with the Absolute Divine
Being. Sense a flame or inner light at
the point between your eyebrows.
Let the light of this flame at the Guru
Chakra lead you to your heart. Follow
the light into your heart center. The
heart center is slightly to the
left of the physical heart,
and slightly below
the sternum.
Stand at the door which opens
into the cave of the heart. Although
the passage is dark you walk through
guided by the light. At the end of
the cave is a beautiful lake in which
grows a blossoming lotus with eight
petals. On each petal is a flame.
Start with the flame in front of you.
Mentally pray to the flame shining on
this petal which is the earth element.
“Through this manifestation, Oh Lord,
may I experience your oneness with
the earth element. May the earth
element, the solid matter within me
and outside me, be nurtured by your
presence and your healing power.”
Now move clockwise to the next petal
and the flame shining on it. Here
pray to this flame, “Oh Lord of Life
this flame is your manifestation
of the water element. May I
experience your oneness with
this flame. May the water
element within me be guided
and nurtured by the Divine
power that flows from you.”
Then move on to the third petal
and the flame shining on it. This flame
is the manifest from of the Divine
Light. “May I experience the oneness
of the Divine with this flame, the fire
element. May the fire element within
me and outside me be nurtured
and healed by that presence.”
Now move to the forth petal and the
flame shining on it which is the manifest
form of the air element, the pranic force,
the force of animation. “This flame is
your manifestation, Oh Divine Being.
May I experience your oneness with
this flame. May the air element within
me and in the world outside me
be fully nurtured, guided and
healed by thy intelligence
and healing power.”
Then come to the fifth
petal and the flame shining
on it. I extend my love and
gratitude to this flame that
is the space element. “May I
experience thy oneness with this flame.
May the space within me and outside
me be guided and nurtured by thy
intelligence and healing power.”
Then come to the flame on
the sixth petal. This flame is
the sense of individuality, the small
self, the individual self, which is also
Thy manifestation, Oh Divine Light.
“May I experience your oneness
with my individual self. May the
wall of duality that separates me
from you dissolve. May this flame
of the I-am-ness of my individual
self be guided and nurtured by Thy
Intelligence and healing power.”
Now come to the seventh petal and the
flame shining on it. This is the flame our
lunar energy, the feminine within us, the
tenderness and kindness within. This
is the forgiving, loving, embracing part
of the Divine. “May I experience Thy
oneness with this aspect of the Divine.
May this tender, kind, lunar energy
within me be guided and nutured by
Thy intelligence and healing force.”
Then come to the eighth petal and
the flame shining on it.This is the
flame of solar energy, the masculine
energy of strength, vitality, will power,
determination, and the indomitable
will to do, to become, to be. “May
I experience Thy oneness with this
energy. May this form of yours within me
and outside me be nurtured and guided
by Thy intelligence and healing force.”
Finally come the central flame.By this
time all the other eight flames join each
other in one big flame. This is totality
of our known world, the totality of our
existence. It is also one with the pure
absolute Divine Being. “May the totality
of this, my existence composed of
earth, water, fire, air, space, individual
consciousness, lunar and solar energy
become one with you, the Divine Being.
May this central flame in the Cave of
the Heart, the Jiva Atman, the complete
being within me and the Universal
being outside me be nourished,
nurtured, and guided by Thy
intelligence and healing force.”
Here you May offer your
heart-felt prayers in
your own language:
Oh Divine Light, Sacred Flame,
it is you that connect all hearts. It is
you as the Divine Light that creates
a bridge between individual soul and
the Absolute Divine Being. Knowing
this allows us to open to all and gives
us strength and wisdom to embrace
all and exclude none. May this Sacred
Flame be experience by all of us as the
Sacred Link connecting all aspects
of reality within and outside us.”
Pray to you mantra, your tradition,
and all the saint and sages know and
unknown to you. Pray to God. Pray
to Goddess. Pay to you inner self to
nurture this flame so that you may walk
in the Light, so that you may never
tumble in the darkness. With that prayer
recall your mantra, recall the object of
your mediation and begin to meditate.