Is there anything more painful in life than a broken heart? If it’s not at the top of the hurt list, what is? And who is there among us who has not experienced the agony of a lovelorn, torn, worn and wounded heart? Heartaches and heartbreaks can be devastating, but they can also be glorious if we can adjust our thinking and view our broken heart from a different perspective.
Why do we suffer from a broken heart? One thought to consider is from Gautama the Buddha who said, Attachment is the source of all suffering. In other words, if we were not attached to some person, some thing, some event, project or circumstance, we couldn’t suffer. It’s when we are attached and lose the object of our attachment and desire that we suffer. Buddha also said, He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.The basic truth in this statement addresses the duality of this world. There are two sides to every thing in life — one positive; one negative. By the same law, there are two sides to a relationship: joy and sorrow. It’s impossible to have one without the other. Love and hate; pleasure and pain; happiness and sadness; exaltation and depression; ease and dis-ease; health and sickness; poverty and riches; day and night — all of these pairs occupy opposing sides of their cosmic coin. This is just the reality of life. We walk with the light and the dark. There’s nothing we can do about it. As the Chinese proverb states, Men grow old, pearls grow yellow, there is no cure for it.
So what then is the remedy of a broken heart? Answer: a whole heart. What is a “whole heart?” A whole heart is one immovably anchored and centered in its source, God. We normally suffer from a broken heart when a human love relationship falls apart. This is normal. However, were we to first be anchored in the centeredness of our own divinity, our intrinsic divine self, we could not suffer. Why? Because we are all spiritual beings first and human beings second. The problem is that we have placed our humanness before our spirituality. In essence, we’ve forgotten, even lost sight of, our spiritual heritage. While we can be separated from people, events, places, etc. — all things whose loss can create a broken heart, we can never be separated from our spirit because we are spirit. Therefore, our first attachment should be to God and our Spirit. When this attachment is strongly rooted in our consciousness, we can’t suffer because in effect we can’t lose our spirit. Yet, we can lose people, relationships, things and circumstances which, if we’re attached to them, will create suffering. To reiterate Buddha’s words, Attachment is the source of all suffering.
And here’s another thought: if God wants us to come Home, He may well break our hearts through some worldly event or circumstance to force us to redirect our attention and attachment back to Him in order to get us to come home to His heart. It may seem like a cruel act but it is really a blessing in disguise. Spiritually speaking, this world, with all of its allurements, relationships, scenery, events, amusements, enticements and activities, is not our true Home. Our real Home exists far above and beyond this world, which is which why all Perfect Saints, Masters and Mystics such as Christ, Buddha, Kabir, Guru Nanak, Charan Singh, Swami Ji Maharaj, Shamsi Tabrizi and others teach us in various ways of other options to life and not to be attached to this world. In fact, 20th Century Saint, Charan Singh, boldly admonishes us to just live in the creation and get out of it. When we do this, there will be no more suffering or sorrow of any kind, just the peace, bliss and joy of being saturated in the energy and essence of our divinity. This transition from worldly to Godly attachment is the true beauty of a broken heart. Through the process of the heartache, heartbreak, tears, sorrow and suffering we learn the truth of worldly relationships — that they’re ephemeral. With this new understanding we can reignite the flame of our spiritual candle and let it guide us on our journey Home where our soul will live in the light of eternal peace, bliss and divine love where nary a heartache exists.
Broken Hearts
Copyright by Richard Andrew King
I hear you’ve got a broken heart.
I empathize. My heart’s been broken, too.
I know your pain. I know your tears.
I know what you’re going through.
But give it time. Your heart will mend.
All life regrows anew.
Broken hearts are just God’s way
to show you what is true,
and what is true is you with God
walking hand-in-hand
across His universe of Love
to a Light-Filled Promised Land
where hearts are never broken
and tears are never shed,
where life is peace and peace is life
and Wondrous Music fills your head
from a Secret Source that dwells Within
to let you know you’re not alone;
where Sound and Light replace your night
and guide your Spirit Home.
So rest calm upon your pillow,
and, please, do not despair.
God sees and knows of your broken heart,
a heart, He promises to repair.
So give it time. Your heart will mend.
Have faith in His great Grace,
and one day, through His Promise,
you will meet Him face to face,
and all your tears will vanish,
a thousand broken hearts will mend,
and the tears and fears of countless years
will all come to an end.
Copyright Richard Andrew King
All rights reserved
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