The Educated Heart
Photo Credit: Delphina Raven, Grand Mesa, CO, USA
An educated mind, without an educated heart, is a heartless and narcissistic menacing machine that manipulates, exploits, and tyrannizes.
A heart that is truly educated from life experiences and daily practice, not merely wearing of a cloak or badge of empathy, is the real deal.
It is what we do every day to nurture and foster in educating the heart that creates an outcome of an unpolluted, educated heart. Merely expecting that outcome is only a shell, a cloak, a badge, with zero substance, similarly to wearing an object or putting on an act merely serves as an empty symbolism of an empty heart full of mere weightless words.
When the heart is truly full, such is the meaning of living mindfulness, because the origins of this word “mindfulness” come from the Chinese word, 念. The top component of the character means “fully in now”, and the bottom part means “heart”. In essence, mindfulness means “Heart fully in the Now”. In that vein, the mind is actually in the heart, not divorced from the heart. The heart is where love resides.
When an educated heart is nurtured via daily practice, it won’t need grandstanding with moral superiority or a sense of righteousness or entitlement. Morals and ethics will simply be side effects or necessary consequences. Instead the educated mindful heart would be full of true and real humility, opening the path to true compassion. A truly compassionate and educated heart does not weaponize victimhood mindset, which in effect disempowers others; instead it continues to see people with different (and even opposing) viewpoints as human first, not dehumanize them, and it actually empowers the powerless.
To continually nurture an educated heart is a daily practice in mindfulness. It is not for the lazy nor is it convenient or a wave of a magical wand. It is hard work. Everything that we do each day builds the groundwork for tomorrow, no matter what it is. So why not put a full heart into educating the mindful heart, toward building the web of humanity, instead of burning the bridges of humanity?