The Deep Heart: Our Portal to Presence
Explore the convergence of psychological healing and spiritual awakening that happens most clearly and powerfully in the depths of the heart.
The great human quest is to discover who we really are—a discovery that changes our lives and the lives of those around us. With The Deep Heart, spiritual teacher and psychotherapist John J. Prendergast, PhD, invites you on a pilgrimage within, using the heart as a portal to your deepest psychological and spiritual nature.
The “deep heart” is Prendergast’s term for the subtle center of emotional and energetic sensitivity, relational intimacy, profound inner knowing, and wholeness found within our hearts. In this experiential guide, Prendergast offers precise and potent meditative inquiries to help you open your heart, see through your core limiting beliefs, and discover the true nature of your being.
Endorsements
- “The Deep Heart is what I call a living book, that rare gem of a book that is alive with the presence of its author . . . A book like this should be felt and experienced as much as it should be read.” – Adyashanti, teacher and author of Falling into Grace, Losing Your World, and Emptiness Dancing
- “The Deep Heart is what I call a living book, that rare gem of a book that is alive with the presence of its author . . . A book like this should be felt and experienced as much as it should be read.” – Adyashanti, teacher and author of Falling into Grace, Losing Your World, and Emptiness Dancing
- “The Deep Heart is an invitation to discover our sacred calling and unveil the core of our very being. Tapping into our natural curiosity and wisdom, John Prendergast guides us on a transformational journey from head to heart—and to the full and pure essence of love.” — Tara Brach, PhD, teacher and author of Radical Acceptance
- “The Deep Heart is an invitation to discover our sacred calling and unveil the core of our very being. Tapping into our natural curiosity and wisdom, John Prendergast guides us on a transformational journey from head to heart—and to the full and pure essence of love.” — Tara Brach, PhD, teacher and author of Radical Acceptance
- “With tender clarity, John Prendergast draws us deeper on every page. A master teacher and beautiful writer, he lays out a clear path to our true home, and then walks it with us with practical heartfelt suggestions. This book is profound, powerful, and true. What a gem.” — Rick Hanson, PhD, teacher and author of Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom and Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence
- “With tender clarity, John Prendergast draws us deeper on every page. A master teacher and beautiful writer, he lays out a clear path to our true home, and then walks it with us with practical heartfelt suggestions. This book is profound, powerful, and true. What a gem.” — Rick Hanson, PhD, teacher and author of Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom and Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence
- “A book of great wisdom and heart from an authentic and experienced teacher of Presence. John’s wise, loving, and deeply insightful words about meeting our raw experience with honesty, courage, and grace will be of immense benefit to people all over the world.” — Jeff Foster, teacher and author of The Way of Rest and The Joy of True Meditation
- “A book of great wisdom and heart from an authentic and experienced teacher of Presence. John’s wise, loving, and deeply insightful words about meeting our raw experience with honesty, courage, and grace will be of immense benefit to people all over the world.” — Jeff Foster, teacher and author of The Way of Rest and The Joy of True Meditation
- “The Deep Heart is a beautifully written and masterful guidebook that eloquently shows us how to recognize and embody our essential wholeness in everyday life. Both profound and practical, this seminal work reveals the road we all must travel to embody our potential as fully alive and authentic human beings. A must-read!” — Richard Miller, PhD, teacher and author of The iRest Program for Healing PTSD and Yoga Nidra: A Meditative Practice for Deep Relaxation and Healing
- “The Deep Heart is a beautifully written and masterful guidebook that eloquently shows us how to recognize and embody our essential wholeness in everyday life. Both profound and practical, this seminal work reveals the road we all must travel to embody our potential as fully alive and authentic human beings. A must-read!” — Richard Miller, PhD, teacher and author of The iRest Program for Healing PTSD and Yoga Nidra: A Meditative Practice for Deep Relaxation and Healing
- “The Deep Heart leads us on a journey of awakening from head to heart, where it becomes safe for the heart to freely shine. This book is a deep dive into the heart of who we really are. John Prendergast offers us beautiful words and unique forms of meditative inquiry, so that we can directly experience the deep heart, which is so needed in our world today.” — Loch Kelly, MDiv, LCSW, teacher and author of The Way of Effortless Mindfulness and Shift into Freedom
- “The Deep Heart leads us on a journey of awakening from head to heart, where it becomes safe for the heart to freely shine. This book is a deep dive into the heart of who we really are. John Prendergast offers us beautiful words and unique forms of meditative inquiry, so that we can directly experience the deep heart, which is so needed in our world today.” — Loch Kelly, MDiv, LCSW, teacher and author of The Way of Effortless Mindfulness and Shift into Freedom
- “This is a wise, inspiring, beautifully written book. It points to our true nature, and to the love, compassion and acceptance that naturally arise in us when we experience who we really are. The deep love that motivated the writing is present on every page and has the gentle power to deepen and open the heart of the reader.” — Judith Blackstone, PhD, teacher and author of Belonging Here, Trauma and the Unbound Body, and The Enlightenment Process
- “This is a wise, inspiring, beautifully written book. It points to our true nature, and to the love, compassion and acceptance that naturally arise in us when we experience who we really are. The deep love that motivated the writing is present on every page and has the gentle power to deepen and open the heart of the reader.” — Judith Blackstone, PhD, teacher and author of Belonging Here, Trauma and the Unbound Body, and The Enlightenment Process
- “Psychotherapist and spiritual teacher John Prendergast has devoted his life to exploring the intersection and intermingling—indeed, the inherent inseparability—of the psychological and spiritual dimensions of being. In this profound, practical, and potentially life-changing meditation on the Heart in all its subtlety and complexity, he guides us on the journey home to our essential nature, with meditations and inquiry that lead us into and through our trauma and pain to our deepest inner knowing. If you read only one book on the spiritual journey this year, let it be this one!” —Stephan Bodian, spiritual teacher, psychotherapist, and author of Wake Up Now and Beyond Mindfulness
- “Psychotherapist and spiritual teacher John Prendergast has devoted his life to exploring the intersection and intermingling—indeed, the inherent inseparability—of the psychological and spiritual dimensions of being. In this profound, practical, and potentially life-changing meditation on the Heart in all its subtlety and complexity, he guides us on the journey home to our essential nature, with meditations and inquiry that lead us into and through our trauma and pain to our deepest inner knowing. If you read only one book on the spiritual journey this year, let it be this one!” —Stephan Bodian, spiritual teacher, psychotherapist, and author of Wake Up Now and Beyond Mindfulness
- “The Deep Heart is a beautiful, wise, and practical guide to opening to our true nature, guiding us toward waking up, as well as down and in. Integrating and distilling wisdom teachings and his own insights and inner explorations, John Prendergast has translated complex information into a clear, accessible, and contemporary form. The meditations and inquiries are wonderful invitations to explore the depths of the heart for ourselves. I highly recommend The Deep Heart for anyone who wishes to embody their true nature as loving awareness.” —Laurel Parnell, PhD, author of Rewiring the Addicted Brain with EMDR-Based Treatment and Attachment-Focused EMDR: Healing Relational Trauma
- “The Deep Heart is a beautiful, wise, and practical guide to opening to our true nature, guiding us toward waking up, as well as down and in. Integrating and distilling wisdom teachings and his own insights and inner explorations, John Prendergast has translated complex information into a clear, accessible, and contemporary form. The meditations and inquiries are wonderful invitations to explore the depths of the heart for ourselves. I highly recommend The Deep Heart for anyone who wishes to embody their true nature as loving awareness.” —Laurel Parnell, PhD, author of Rewiring the Addicted Brain with EMDR-Based Treatment and Attachment-Focused EMDR: Healing Relational Trauma
- “If, as you read this exquisite book, you feel into the depths from which the author writes, you will find yourself drawn into your own depths from which healing and wisdom arise.” —Roger Walsh, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry, philosophy, and anthropology, University of California at Irvine, author of Essential Spirituality: The Seven Central Practices to Awaken Heart and Mind
- “If, as you read this exquisite book, you feel into the depths from which the author writes, you will find yourself drawn into your own depths from which healing and wisdom arise.” —Roger Walsh, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry, philosophy, and anthropology, University of California at Irvine, author of Essential Spirituality: The Seven Central Practices to Awaken Heart and Mind
- “The Deep Heart carries the taste and flavor of an author who has himself spent a lifetime immersed in the deep heart where soul and spirit meet. This book is a truly elegant and practical road map that seamlessly weaves soul work into the timeless wisdom of spiritual practice.” —Roger Housden, author of the Ten Poems series, and Dropping the Struggle: Seven Ways to Love the Life You Have
- “The Deep Heart carries the taste and flavor of an author who has himself spent a lifetime immersed in the deep heart where soul and spirit meet. This book is a truly elegant and practical road map that seamlessly weaves soul work into the timeless wisdom of spiritual practice.” —Roger Housden, author of the Ten Poems series, and Dropping the Struggle: Seven Ways to Love the Life You Have
- “John writes from authentic experience of both the challenges of being a conditioned human being and the freedom of simply Being. Through numerous guided meditations and exercises, he invites the reader to deeply inquire into the truth of experience, and to allow the wounded heart to be touched and transformed by the Deep Heart that is undivided and whole. John approaches with great sensitivity the human experience through the single Eye that sees the inseparability of the Heart of Awareness and its expressions as life itself.” —Dorothy Hunt, spiritual director of Moon Mountain Sangha and author of Ending the Search: From Spiritual Ambition to the Heart of Awareness
- “John writes from authentic experience of both the challenges of being a conditioned human being and the freedom of simply Being. Through numerous guided meditations and exercises, he invites the reader to deeply inquire into the truth of experience, and to allow the wounded heart to be touched and transformed by the Deep Heart that is undivided and whole. John approaches with great sensitivity the human experience through the single Eye that sees the inseparability of the Heart of Awareness and its expressions as life itself.” —Dorothy Hunt, spiritual director of Moon Mountain Sangha and author of Ending the Search: From Spiritual Ambition to the Heart of Awareness
- “Prendergast lays out a strategy … to make 'a spiritual pilgrimage from the head to the heart’ and escape the ego’s endless 'agenda for self-improvement' in this inviting inquiry. Readers ...will appreciate (his) enthusiastic take on deconstructing self-imposed limitations.” - Publisher’s Weekly
- “Prendergast lays out a strategy … to make 'a spiritual pilgrimage from the head to the heart’ and escape the ego’s endless 'agenda for self-improvement' in this inviting inquiry. Readers ...will appreciate (his) enthusiastic take on deconstructing self-imposed limitations.” - Publisher’s Weekly