Episode
Our Extra-Ordinary Heart
- Published
- Feb 8, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1756
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://amykisei.substack.com/p/our-extra-ordinary-heart
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Summary
Greetings Friends, I have been reflecting on one of the simplest and perhaps most profound teachings in the Buddhist tradition— the teaching of our extra-ordinary heart. Our extra-ordinary heart is the aspect of our being that doesn’t die, and isn’t born. That isn’t dependent on us but is a deep refuge and resource—one that we know and rely on all the time. One that we also see demonstrated and embodied in our communities, on the world stage, in the people we love and care about. We are living in a time in this country that feels like we are going backward in many respects. Where state-enforced violence has entered our communities, and families are being separated, detained and deported at an unprecedented rate. While our human hearts break, fear, grieve, feel deeply, love and desire—which is beautiful and painful, and part of what makes this experience of being human. We, together, have an extra-ordinary heart—that is boundless in it’s nature and is always abiding right here . This heart isn’t separate from the very experience of being human, it is intrinsic to our nature. So we too can practice recognizing and abiding in this heart. We too can embody these qualities and let them manifest in our lives and the world. The Buddha taught that our boundless heart has Four Qualities of Boundlessness, also called the Four Divine Abodes Boundless Love/Kindness — which is a friendliness toward existence, agape or universal love, the love of Jesus Christ or Amitabha Buddha or other such figures who love unconditionally Boundless Compassion — is a responsiveness to suffering in self or other which can have many different qualities(protective, patient, nurturing/gentle, strategic, discerning, creative, clear, resourceful) In the Zen tradition we have a story about boundless compa…