“Whether this is the first day of the Apocalypse or the first day of the Golden Age, the work remains the same… love each other and ease as much suffering as possible“.  Ram Dass

Again, this week we face an assortment of disheartening and difficult events.  As a result, I look to all the writings and teachers and wisdom to find the way back to the heart instead of allowing the heart to fill with the difficult emotions.

In my endless stream of thoughts, I was thinking about the wisdom of Chinese Medicine and an acupuncture point on the pericardium meridian. The pericardium is a meridian/organ that works to open the heart to allow people to come into your authentic, truthful, and loving self.  In our acupuncture school we called it the heart protector which would take the blows that would allow one to have the vulnerability and love for intimacy, friendship and fellowship.  Through this meridian one can gain the capacity to love others.  I use the metaphor that the pericardium was like holding a pillow over the heart chakra.  It softens the blows to the heart.

 As to the acupuncture point, there a point in the center of the palm called palace of weariness.    If you hold your hands together in pray pose your finger touch and the center of the palms do not touch. Here at the center of the palm is where palace of weariness lives.   I used it when people were experiencing a sense of heartbreak after being in a long relationship that came to an end.  The ending was just more than some people could bear.   The person was weary from the pain.

Now, I think of it all the time.  I read the news and think about how weary I am.  If I massage it can I leap to a faraway land where we all look out for one another?  I don’t think so, but I do believe that there is a different kind of heartbreak that we are going through together.   It really redefines weariness for me.  Weariness can be a worn-out description or when you lose something that has been the juice for keeping things going.  I would argue that in this case I am weary because I have lost something that is truly of my values.  When something going on is in direct opposition to your values there is a deflation, fatigue, depression or despair.

Right now, I want to recommend that you rub this point in a clockwise rotation 2 to 3 times a day to keep your heart able to hear its own melody.  We don’t require distractions, but we do need to be able to hear the melody that our hearts can sing to keep us moving forward in the present.  We need to feel into our hearts.  We must be able to love one another and relieve suffering where possible.