The Holy Ground of the Broken Heart

We have been conditioned to separate the prophet from the mystic, action from contemplation, and transcendence from immanence. This false division limits our spiritual depth. We do not have to choose between being a prophet or a mystic. We are both. Contemplation gives us direct experience of the sacred, while prophetic action compels us to respond to suffering. The meeting place of the prophet and the mystic is grief—grief for the illusion of separation from the divine and grief for the world’s injustice. The prophets, like the mystics, responded from the holy ground of the broken heart. Contemplation strengthens our capacity to sit with this grief, neither avoiding nor bypassing it. From this place of openness, we act—not as reactionaries, but as those who have learned to stay present with reality.

May we stand in the holy ground of the broken heart,
embracing both contemplation and action
as we bring love and justice into the world.

(inspired by Mirabai Starr, Inconsolable)