user21913: Jon Kabat Zinn explains that Mindfulness in Asia means 'Heartfulness'
He describes integrating buddhist tenets such as beginner's mind, non-judgment, letting go, acceptance, trust, gratitude and generosity into mindfulness as part of informal meditation.
My difficulty with my formal and informal meditation practice through the course of the day seems mechanical because I don't know how to cultivate and integrate heart into it. I am aware of my senses. I have the mind be still with little or no thought. But there doesn't seem to be anything warm, understanding, loving or appreciative. It doesn't feel rewarding at all beyond discipline of the mind.
I ask myself, if mind must be still and thoughts silent, how to I cultivate matters of the heart in my meditation. Or do I allows for cultivating a 'Heartful' narrative that explores the buddhist tenets mentioned above.
It all just feels like cold discipline to me at the moment and nothing more.
Please help me understand what mindfulness may look like in the context of heartfulness.

user13709: It may be useful to read the Mettāsahagatasutta, whose title has been translated as "Full of Love". In the west, "love" and "heart" are closely associated. And in this sutta, we see that the focus of meditation is not just the being on the cushion. It is much much more.

SN46.54:12.1: And how is the heart’s release by love developed? What is its destination, apex, fruit, and end?
SN46.54:12.2: It’s when a mendicant develops the heart’s release by love together with the awakening factors of mindfulness, investigation of principles, energy, rapture, tranquility, immersion,
SN46.54:12.3: and equanimity, which rely on seclusion, fading away, and cessation, and ripen as letting go.
SN46.54:12.4: If they wish: ‘May I meditate perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive,’ that’s what they do.
SN46.54:12.5: If they wish: ‘May I meditate perceiving the unrepulsive in the repulsive,’ that’s what they do.
SN46.54:12.6: If they wish: ‘May I meditate perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive and the repulsive,’ that’s what they do.
SN46.54:12.7: If they wish: ‘May I meditate perceiving the unrepulsive in the repulsive and the unrepulsive,’ that’s what they do.
SN46.54:12.8: If they wish: ‘May I meditate staying equanimous, mindful and aware, rejecting both the repulsive and the unrepulsive,’ that’s what they do.

An open heart is not a cold heart locked into stillness. It is an open heart without walls. As the heart opens, a beautiful clarity emerges as walls dissolve.

SN46.54:12.9: The apex of the heart’s release by love is the beautiful, I say, for a mendicant who has not penetrated to a higher freedom.

The sutta continues with the further releases of the heart: compassion, rejoicing and equanimity. In all of these, there is, without limitation, an open mindfulness of the infinite expanse of heart.
In that very stillness you have found, open your heart to all around, beyond the cushion, beyond the room, beyond the city and on. Be mindful of your heart and open it. Don't still your heart into coldness. Open and release that heart into the beautiful and beyond.

21913: <p>Jon Kabat Zinn explains that Mindfulness in Asia means 'Heartfulness'</p>
<p>He describes integrating buddhist tenets such as beginner's mind, non-judgment, letting go, acceptance, trust, gratitude and generosity into mindfulness as part of informal meditation.</p>
<p>My difficulty with my formal and informal meditation practice through the course of the day seems mechanical because I don't know how to cultivate and integrate heart into it. I am aware of my senses. I have the mind be still with little or no thought. But there doesn't seem to be anything warm, understanding, loving or appreciative. It doesn't feel rewarding at all beyond discipline of the mind.</p>
<p>I ask myself, if mind must be still and thoughts silent, how to I cultivate matters of the heart in my meditation. Or do I allows for cultivating a 'Heartful' narrative that explores the buddhist tenets mentioned above.</p>
<p>It all just feels like cold discipline to me at the moment and nothing more.</p>
<p>Please help me understand what mindfulness may look like in the context of heartfulness.</p>
 13709: <p>It may be useful to read the <a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn46.54/en/sujato#sn46.54" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mettāsahagatasutta</a>, whose title has been translated as &quot;Full of Love&quot;. In the west, &quot;love&quot; and &quot;heart&quot; are closely associated. And in this sutta, we see that the focus of meditation is not just the being on the cushion. It is much much more.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn46.54/en/sujato#sn46.54:12.1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN46.54:12.1</a>: And how is the heart’s release by love developed? What is its destination, apex, fruit, and end?<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn46.54/en/sujato#sn46.54:12.2" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN46.54:12.2</a>: It’s when a mendicant develops the heart’s release by love together with the awakening factors of mindfulness, investigation of principles, energy, rapture, tranquility, immersion,<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn46.54/en/sujato#sn46.54:12.3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN46.54:12.3</a>: and equanimity, which rely on seclusion, fading away, and cessation, and ripen as letting go.<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn46.54/en/sujato#sn46.54:12.4" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN46.54:12.4</a>: If they wish: ‘May I meditate perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive,’ that’s what they do.<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn46.54/en/sujato#sn46.54:12.5" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN46.54:12.5</a>: If they wish: ‘May I meditate perceiving the unrepulsive in the repulsive,’ that’s what they do.<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn46.54/en/sujato#sn46.54:12.6" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN46.54:12.6</a>: If they wish: ‘May I meditate perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive and the repulsive,’ that’s what they do.<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn46.54/en/sujato#sn46.54:12.7" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN46.54:12.7</a>: If they wish: ‘May I meditate perceiving the unrepulsive in the repulsive and the unrepulsive,’ that’s what they do.<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn46.54/en/sujato#sn46.54:12.8" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN46.54:12.8</a>: If they wish: ‘May I meditate staying equanimous, mindful and aware, rejecting both the repulsive and the unrepulsive,’ that’s what they do.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>An open heart is not a cold heart locked into stillness. It is an open heart without walls. As the heart opens, a beautiful clarity emerges as walls dissolve.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn46.54/en/sujato#sn46.54:12.9" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN46.54:12.9</a>: The apex of the heart’s release by love is the beautiful, I say, for a mendicant who has not penetrated to a higher freedom.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The sutta continues with the further releases of the heart: compassion, rejoicing and equanimity. In all of these, there is, without limitation, an open mindfulness of the infinite expanse of heart.</p>
<p>In that very stillness you have found, open your heart to all around, beyond the cushion, beyond the room, beyond the city and on. Be mindful of your heart and open it. Don't <em>still</em> your heart into coldness. Open and release that heart into the beautiful and beyond.</p>
