[blockquote source=”Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche”]“Real fearlessness is the product of tenderness. It comes from letting the world tickle your heart, your raw and beautiful heart. You are willing to open up, without resistance or shyness, and face the world. You are willing to share your heart with others.”[/blockquote]

When I was a young schoolgirl, the boys liked to play a game called, ‘flinch’ – the object of which was to hold steady one’s arm while the other boys took turns pounding their fists into it.

It wasn’t very pleasant, at all.

I’m not sure whatever happened to those boys, but I always imagined they grew up to have massively toughened arms.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes the anticipation of pain is actually worse than the pain itself. I suppose, that was the real object of this ‘game’ – to stand steady against what our mind would too easily create.

And, that’s not at all easy.

To live from a place of open heart – in that quivering, tender space where vulnerability meets intention – my dears, that requires courage.

It’s from the softness that true awakening begins.

So, what does it mean to live with ‘open heart’? That’s something quite difficult to ascertain, and yet – we all know it when we feel it.

And, we know how it feels to be closed off, too. There’s a palpable thickness about it, a profound heaviness that is often constricting. Something we’ve spent our whole lives conditioned to flee.

In Buddhism, we refer to Prajna – a Sanskrit word literally meaning “best knowledge.” It refers to that natural bubbling up of curiosity, doubt…uncertainty – all intended to deepen our awakening. I like to think of Prajna as a pureness of knowledge – resting in that moment before our mind has entered into the land of qualifying judgement.

These is an authenticity about living from a place of open heart. The masks come off, if you will – and we are finally able to embrace the truth of our being.

And, oh my dears ~ it can be so very liberating. Nothing to hide, no past judgements to navigate – we live in the loving-kindness of self.

But how do we stay open in a world that seems determined to cause harm?

My dears, in every aspect of our lives there will be a threat – a threat to our happiness, a threat to our safety, a threat to our spiritual well being.

But, there is also goodness.

It’s between the two that our softness if born.