What can we achieve by practicing Heartfulness?

The path of Heartfulness has stages and destinations, but let’s look at this from another perspective: are they things to be “achieved”? For example, suppose that a son stands to inherit the fortune of his mother. Should the idea of receiving the inheritance ever become his goal? Should that be his motivation for maintaining a good relationship with his mother? Receiving an inheritance may eventually happen as a result of the relationship, but it is not the basis of that relationship. The basis of the relationship is love and connectedness, which is beyond value. It is something sacred.

At the outset, we may be happy enough to experience greater levels of relaxation, calm, emotional maturity and focus. This is the aspect of stress management and emotional intelligence. As we incorporate more refined lifestyle choices, which are consistent with our evolution of consciousness, we start to develop higher aspirations. Our goals continue to expand. As our mind becomes regulated, and our thinking, intellect and identity are refined, we embark upon a new life of balance, excellence and higher aspiration, towards the loftiest ideals of enlightenment.

As wayfarers on the path of enlightenment, we receive bountifully throughout our journey. There are innumerable stages and conditions of being—peace of mind, joyfulness, lightness, subtlety, expansion of consciousness, egoless-ness, humility, simplicity, purity, a sense of liberation from within, the state of God Realization, and so on. Yet, if receiving those benefits were to become our goal or our motivation for continuing on the path, the path would somehow lose all of its meaning and beauty. We start to appreciate that the journey is not about getting or achieving anything. We could perhaps say that it is about entering into a simple and pure relationship with the Source within.

As a result of that state of deep connection or communion, all states and stages come to us automatically, and we become eligible for that spiritual inheritance. The path back to the Source is an infinite one, in which the path itself becomes the destination, and moving along that path becomes the greatest joy.

In this way, we can say that the goal of Heartfulness is ever evolving and ever expanding, without limits or restrictions. The goal continues to grow as we grow. We are offered our highest potential as human beings in the Heartfulness way and this is one of the great wonders of Heartfulness—the journey continues infinitely.

We must make the choices that enable us
to fulfill the deepest capacities of our real selves.
—Thomas Merton