About Heart Sessions

Hello all. This blog is intended to honor the group meditations initiated by Tom Sawyer, now carried on by friends of his since his passing. Being physically spread out as we are we have agreed to sit down in our own homes at the same clock time, 9pm EST on Sunday nights. We sit for at least 20 minutes, although sitting for longer periods is no problem if you so choose.


There is no specified technique for these meditations. Precisely prescribed actions sometimes become unauthentic and what is meaningful for one person may not be for another. So if you choose to assist you may use a favored technique or listen within, apply self-honesty, and allow growth. There is no political or economic agenda involved. There are no dues or dogma. The essential point is an honest willingness to help.


Each week there is a suggested focus as posted on this blog. We previously had been using an email list but now, through the kind assistance and generous guidance of Barbara Whitfield and Donald Brennan, we have the pleasure of this blog forum. Loving thanks to you both. Comments may be left by clicking the "Leave Comments Here" link below each post.

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Saturday, February 28

For Sunday March 1st, 2026

Hello to all those who 'look upward' for assistance. Whatever help may be coming from the spiritual realms, it can only have an effect where there is receptivity. Otherwise, nothing gets through.

So it behooves all of us to practice openness, in whatever way we find fitting.

May we sit with loving desire to be used as best suits our positions and talents. May we offer loving hearts, that God's will be done within us and through us.

Bless you all,

Richard

Sunday, February 22

For Sunday February 22nd, 026

Hello to all once more. Fervent prayer comes from a disciplined mind, one which can focus upon a single thing, person, event, or situation, without distraction. It can take years to develop the focused discipline required to set 'monkey mind' aside. Yet it can also arise out of intense, immediate need.

It is possible to increase our sense of immediacy by examining the fullness of a situation when we find something deserving of fervent prayer. Looking into who benefits right now, how that ripples into the future, and all those who will benefit then, can make it extremely important thereby focusing our attention. This expansion of awareness benefits us as well.

May we sit this evening for the greater good of setting our own houses in order. May we employ self-honesty like a scalpel, cutting to the core of our impulses. May we 'know ourselves' clearly, each and every whim of thought and desire as they occur. May we brighten the world from the inside to the out.

Bless you all for all you do,

Richard

Saturday, February 14

For Sunday February 15th, 2026

Welcome and a warm hello to all. As has been noted, it's easy to be a holy man on top of a mountain where temptations are few. Given that most of us don't have that opportunity, perhaps we're meant to do the difficult work of being holy right where we are, in spite of the chaos and stumbling blocks of modern society.
 
It helps to know ourselves. This is not just self-knowledge. It is watching each and every movement of our thought process then, knowing where each one leads us, we choose which to follow and which to discard. In that, it's our honesty which matters.

May we make the effort to be good neighbors and helpers to all we encounter, trusting that honest efforts are righteous, and that we will learn to do better as we go along.

Bless you all,

Richard

Saturday, February 7

For Sunday February 7th, 2026

Hello again, helpful people. Much is made of intentions and the setting of them. But history is full of politicians and shysters who've set very clear intentions which were entirely self-serving, rather than spiritual. So it's not just the setting of intentions but being clear about what our true intentions are.

When there is no hate, when there is no fear, when there is no ambition, when there is no self-concern, then there is love – which is integration with the Divine.

May we sit for our personal clarity this Sunday evening. May humanity gain the enhancement commensurate with our efforts.

Bless you all,

Richard

Sunday, February 1

For Sunday February 1st, 2026

A chilly but heart felt 'Hello' to all. As a group of monks make their way across the nation in a Walk for Peace, let us lend them our energy tonight.

They've run into problems, as can be expected, but are undeterred.

May we lend them the absolute best of ourselves.

With love for all,

Richard

Sunday, January 25

For Sunday January 25th, 2026

Hello, wonderful people. Watching the turmoil in Washington DC and Minneapolis, perhaps it's time once again to petition God to shine its Light down upon all involved. 

With love and reverence for all, may Divine will be done.

With blessings for all,

Richard

Sunday, January 18

For Sunday January 18th, 2026

Hello again, good people. It seems to have come around again to that time where it's appropriate to petition God to shine its Light down upon the arena of our political leaders, the time when human foibles and frailties have overwhelmed the human instinct for compassion and reverence.
 
It's a common theme throughout human history.

So tonight, with kindness and fervency, may we petition God's Light to come down and God's will be done.

With loving blessings for us all,

Richard

Sunday, January 11

For Sunday January 11th, 2026

Hello again, spiritual seakers. Out of all the various teachers and methods, what is the actual basis of meditation? Clearly it's not careless daydreaming. Musing upon a single subject can be useful. But, since we recognize ourselves as being made up of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual so perhaps, as Cayce says, it's to attune the physical and the mental to the spiritual.

It's not always easy to do.

Let's try again. May we take another attempt at going beyond our psychological limitations. May we settle in, put the world aside for a bit, and see where we go.

With love for all,

Richard

Saturday, January 3

For Sunday December 4th, 2026

Hello, hopeful people. In the chapter on Earth Changes in 'What Tom Sawyer Learned from Dying', Tom mentions humanity being so far off course that spirituality has a 'gun' loaded, cocked, and aimed at the Earth. He says it could come as anything from diseases, to volcanoes, to storms and droughts, to flaming rocks falling from the sky. He cautions that if you see anything of the sort happening you should simply be aware that global changes have to occur for life to continue on Mother Earth. As catastrophic as these may be, they are not chastisements. They would be a loving purification, done in a natural way, as ordered by God.
 
In such a case, our job would be to enhance and/or cushion those effects.

Right now, as political leaders grasp ever more tightly to the external power of finances, military force, and political leverage, our job remains the same. It is not for us to get caught up in anguish and fears. We are to be guides toward a heart-felt awakening, in whatever manner falls to us.
 
May we sit this Sunday with the understanding that we may be called upon to do difficult things, and do them with grace. Whatever happens has its importance. But how we handle what happens is where we'll show our spiritual growth.

With reverence for all and for the entire process,

Richard