OPTIONS FOR OPENING THE HEART

1) practice giving without any selfishness and not expecting
anything in return; unselfish giving makes the heart to flow; so,
try feeding the homeless, etc
2) if meditation is your path, Amma suggests meditating on the
heart
3) imagine your diety in the lotus of your heart( middle of
chest ~ heart charka )
4) listen to( and sing if able ) devotional songs; let your
devotion flow from your heart
5) pray and allow prayer to come from the heart; imagine your
spiritual heart( or even your physical heart ) having lips to say
your prayers( this was a spontaneous experience of mine not too ling
ago by Amma's Grace )
6) if totally stuck in the head, just do japa or prayer
continuously( or as much as possible ); this will eventually bring
the mind from the head into the heart
7) some say praying/japa without ceasing is possible only if
done in the heart; so one has to work alternatively with several of
these approaches
8) "grab the mind and pull it down from the head into the
heart" is one suggestion
9) allow the "I" thought to sink from the head into the heart
with every exhalation
10) ask "who am I?" and then listen attentively not accepting
anything the mind says as the answer
11) listen attentively with alertness and patience when others
are speaking
12) listen to mother nature
13) "do not listen to your mind" ~ Amma
14) smile a lot
15) show appreciation and gratitude to everyone, everything and
everypath; in other words develop a GOOD POSITIVE HELPFUL ATTITUDE !
16) practice Awareness and when anger, selfishness, harshness of
speech, cussing, etc show up, bring them into the heart; allow the
stillness, silence and love of the heart to dissolve them
17) perhaps the same can be done with pain; Eckhart Tolle's
CD "Living the Liberated Life" includes how to deal with the "Pain
Body" (CD#3) by practicing "Presence/Stillness/Awareness" (CD#1,2);
most of Tolle's CD's and books should be available at your local
library
18) imagine seeing Amma everywhere
19) Amma says be optimistic; never give up; try and try again;
make an effort; try hard; then, when the ultimate sense of failure(
of the ego ) comes( as it must one day ), use all your spiritual
strength to give up totally by surrendering your burdensome ego to
God completely
20) as much as possible put LOVE and UNSELFISHNESS into
everything you do
21) remember that LOVE is your true nature
22) LOVE and LIFE are not two separate things; do not allow your
mind to deny your daily experiences of LOVE and KINDNESS
23) being in Amma's Presence pulls my mind from the head into
the heart; many say something similar; if this is not your
experience perhaps you should examine why?
24) Remember as long as the ego is not totally dissolved, it is
fighting for its survival with all sort of cleverness; it seems the
ego alternates between thinking it's great and has everything under
control or it creates great fear thinking it is victim to this cruel
and unjust world; the EGO is what closes the door to the heart

25) Pray to Amma: "Amma, please open my heart to Your Infinite
Love within me!"
26) If you have a family, give them your love, kindness,
affection, patience
27) Notice and acknowledge acts of kindness and love whenever
you see them
28) Contemplate and practice non-violence toward everything
29) Perhaps, others can add to this list? Some have already done
this( Amma Seva, etc ); Thank You Amma!

Amma Bless,
Amarnath
PS ~ boy, it's a though list; but, it's also for me; let us all try
our best ! I have tried some and it works and will continue to try
and try like Amma recommends.
remember: asking "how?" continually does not produce results; when
you got your first bike, did you ask "how?" or did you try and try
until you got it? Perhaps after a few/several scarped knees. Let all
the Beings in all the worlds be Happy!