The significance of the word Heart is the significance of life itself as it beats eternally at the very heart of the universe.’
Tibetan Master

Opening our awareness toward the beating heart of the Universe we open to a much larger and fundamental principle – that all life is sustained by the living universe which has its own beating heart.

There are many leadership qualities associated with the heart – some quite familiar such as wisdom and courage as well as compassion and sympathy. Though familiar, we may still ask ourselves how well even these more obvious heart qualities are displayed in modern leadership.

Other heart qualities may feel less obvious such as sacrifice, where the old, transitory and imperfect parts of ourselves are destroyed in favour of a more evolved, more complete expression of our qualities. Sacrifice, meaning to make sacred, invites us to open ourselves to the process of enrichment and purification in service of a higher goal.

Or service, which, in the context of the heart, would be defined not as a task, but the manifestation of the quality of service in which our consciousness is deeply aligned with the needs and inclusion of others more so than ourselves. We could also name other heart qualities such as brotherhood/ sisterhood, persistence, patience and humility which we might also associate with leadership.

Drawing a direct equivalence between the heart and life itself directly opens us to the vast, expansive capacity and qualities of the heart which are only just beginning to know and understand. Similarly with leadership, we have been exploring in the foothills of the practise. In these foothills we have learnt how to take some level of responsibility, show degrees of care for others, human and other kingdoms, and demonstrated glimpses of courage as we hold ourselves to a higher standard of ethics and values evidenced, and this is crucial, through our actions.

How then to embrace the expansive qualities of the heart and the deep comprehension of life itself within our expression of leadership in the New Era?

In the following quote from Agni Yoga, we are invited to align with the heart as a pulsating and living energy where we feel the ‘link between the individual heart and the cosmic pulse’.

Heart, 586

With a pledge of leadership one can provide the same collective force that a commander provides on a battlefield. An experienced warrior is not flustered by the fluctuations of success. Pulsation is part of any process of growth; an even setting exists only in a state of no motion. So the living heart is not flat and even. But in times of cosmic tension one may suggest to the heart that it not overstrain itself. The link between the individual heart and the cosmic pulse is quite evident. The Universal Heart could be detected using laboratory methods.

Nature offers this example of leadership where we see the planet continually adapting and adjusting despite what we rain down on it – sustaining itself and us through an ever present love. It is pure love. Thankfully, this life giving and loving leadership can increasingly be seen manifesting every day as many parts of the collective humanity seek to embrace the qualities of pure love not only for self-benefit but knowing they bring ‘life’ to others – human, animal and plant.

We also can consider leadership as a life giving force. In her letters Helena Roerich makes this comparison directly with the role of women in leadership calling for more overt leadership by women ‘the life givers’.

Letters I, 17 August 1934

Yes, the time has come when woman should be prepared to participate in the burdens and leadership of government. Woman, the life-giver, who lays the first foundations of education, has also the right to create better conditions for those she brings into the world. Her common sense, and especially her heart, will dictate to her many correct decisions. If we take the historical facts and true biographies of many great people, we shall see that often the source of their inspiration and their chief adviser was a woman. Thus, in ancient Egypt the head priestess often inspired the hierophants by transmitting to them the will of their goddess. Thus, they were called the inspirers of the leaders of the people.

Inspiration is a creative process and creativity is also the domain of both the heart and leadership.

Returning the qualities of service and sacrifice we again see a blueprint for New Era leadership in the words of Helena Roerich:

Letters II, 15 April 1936

Beautiful are the words you wrote, “not only subordination but also power and leadership should be considered as service, and only as such can they be justified.” Verily, all power should be first of all—service. Power is sacrifice. And when the leaders of the future shall be filled with the spirit of true service, then a new degree of evolutionary structure of life will approach. The leaders will then rule in complete accord with the Cosmic Magnet, which is the bond and communion with the Higher World in the order of Be-ness.

The transmutation of power to service and sacrifice ‘will open a new degree of evolutionary structure of life’. What leadership this would be! Leadership where we are consciously and actively involved with the core expression of life itself. Where we use our power, human and spiritual, in service of the highest possible goals: Life and love.

The drumbeat of the Universal heart is ever present. As leaders, if we attune through our hearts we will find our way toward the qualities and practises that sit at the very centre of Life: Unconditional love, Service, Sacrifice. Through these portals we will advance as leaders, inspiring ourselves and others on the climb toward playing our part in the Cosmic Be-ness.

Lorraine Flower