Keep My Heart Open in Hell (Nachama Greenwald)

Our willingness to feel the pain of the world is inextricably entwined with our capacity to love. What is the value of keeping our hearts open in hell, when life is most painful and difficult? We all have a deep desire to have our hearts awakened to love. Love can transform us in a powerful way when we are in hell. There is a lot of sorrow in life, but we can choose joy and beauty in the cracks between our sorrows. We can’t keep our hearts open when we are identified, but we are much more than our identifications. In the unitive state with the entirety of creation, we can keep our hearts open in hell. We don’t want to lose our sense of humor, especially in these times when there is so much suffering. Inspiring examples of people who have been able to keep their hearts open in hell are discussed. When we are suffering with the hell of ourselves, aspects of ourselves we are not proud of, how do we stay open with compassion and honesty, without judgment? The capacity to face the truth about ourselves and the world, the way things really are, is essential to the awakening of freedom in life. To love the truth is to love reality, both the heaven and hell realms. To love the truth more than our delusions is the state of a mature adult. How do we go from accepting to loving what is? We learn to love everything by becoming intimately familiar with it. We can walk through hell with our heart open when we are able to love what we do not love. It is possible to be settled in a state of love. Keeping our hearts open in hell is a very high practice that requires a lot of us and is very nuanced, but it is worth discussing if our hearts want to go there. We can work with this by paying attention to the simplest interactions when our hearts are not open. Nachama Greenwald is a physical therapist, editor, and musician who for seventeen years was a member of the Shri blues band which performed Western Baul music.