How much does your heart weigh?

In the Egyptian Book of the Dead, it is said that, after we die, we pass through a number of portals and tests, until we finally reach the Hall of Ma’at, the Goddess of Justice.

When we get there, a ceremony takes place. In it, the heart of the deceased person is weighed on a scale against the feather of Ma’at.

If the heart is heavier than the feather, the person doesn’t ascend to the afterlife.  If the heart is lighter than a feather, then the owner of the heart can ascend to the realm of Osiris, king of the blessed dead, and stay there for eternity.

But what makes a heart lighter than a feather? Well, it certainly can’t be material things, or heaavy emotions such as hate or attachment. What types of virtues, values and emotions make us feel light? Honesty, fraternity, love, justice…

Meditation is an effective and potent way to become aware of these virtues, the part of the Spirit, that lives within ourselves.

Many meditation practices focus on the opening of the heart, so that we can start to embrace our higher nature.

Through meditation, we can realise, still in life, what makes the heart lighter than a feather.