What is the heart?

[sattvicmonkey]

Hi guys. I'm always hearing about how we shouldn't live in our heads but in our hearts.

I always thought it was just poetic expression, but is it possible to be in the heart or look into the heart?

I'd like to take refuge in a safe place within myself for a while... but I have no idea how to do it. So do you have any advice or know what the heart is?

[JosephineB]

Does it feel right or sit well with you. Is it about love. I'm not a Christian but I like these words about love:

[Miss Hepburn]

http://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/sh...ighlight=braco

-From Xan, a thread. 2010?

Also, many links here:


https://www.google.com/search?client...hakra+blockage

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by sattvicmonkey

I always thought it was just poetic expression,
but is it possible to be in the heart or look into the heart?
I'd like to take refuge in a safe place within myself for a while...
but I have no idea how to do it. So do you have any advice or know what the heart is?

HA!
Find out where your Venus is...see if there is an issue!

Hahaha.....cuz some people only live in the heart ...many have 5 planets
in Pisces...or Aquarius...or Taurus....or at least the heart isn't blocked!
Do you have access to a Shaman? They can open it...the chakra, that is.

Oh, that heart.
It can be maddening!


I was going to say you're prob 28....a tough time!!!! But you're 29 ...same thing...
the time to ques so many things. I rem it like it was yesterday....ugh.

[iamthat]

Some thoughts from Ramana Maharshi concerning the heart:

Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharshi taught that the heart, not the head, is the true seat of Consciousness; but by this he did not mean the physical organ at the left side of the chest but the heart at the right, and by 'consciousness' he did not mean thought but pure awareness or sense of being. He had found this from his own experience to be the centre of spiritual awareness and then found his experience confirmed in some ancient texts.

When his devotees were instructed to concentrate on the heart, it was this spiritual heart on the right that was referred to; and they also found it the centre of an actual, almost physical vibration of awareness. However, he would also speak of the Heart as equivalent to the Self and remind them that in truth it is not in the body at all, but is spaceless.

D.: Why do you say that the heart is on the right when biologists have found it to be on the left? What authority have you?

RM: No one denies that the physical organ is on the left; but the heart of which I speak is on the right. That is my experience and I require no authority for it; still you can find confirmation of it in a Malayali book on Ayurveda and in the Sita Upanishad.

Saying this, Bhagavan showed the quotation from the latter and quoted the text from the former.

Sometimes, when asked, he referred also to the Biblical text from Ecclesiastes: "The wise man's heart is at the right hand and a fool's heart is at the left."

D.: Why do we have a place such as the heart to concentrate on for meditation?

RM: Because you seek true Consciousness. Where can you find it? Can you attain it outside yourself? You have to find it internally. Therefore you are directed inward. The Heart is the seat of Consciousness or Consciousness itself.

I ask you to observe where the 'I' arises in your body, but it is not really quite correct to say that the 'I' arises from and merges in the chest at the right side. The Heart is another name for Reality and this is neither inside nor outside the body. There can be no in or out for it, since it alone is. I do not mean by 'heart' any physiological organ or any plexus or nerves or anything like that; but so long as a man identifies himself with the body or thinks he is in the body, he is advised to see where in the body the 'I'-thought arises and merges again. It must be the heart at the right side of the chest since every man of whatever race and religion and in whatever language he may be speaking, points to the right side of the chest to indicate himself when he says 'I'. This is so all over the world, so that must be the place. And by keenly watching the emergence of the 'I'-thought on waking and its subsidence on going to sleep, one can see that it is in the heart on the right side.

When a room is dark you need a lamp to light it, but when the sun rises there is no need for a lamp; objects are seen without one. And to see the sun itself no lamp is needed because it is self-luminous. Similarly with the mind. The reflected light of the mind is necessary to perceive objects, but to see the heart it is enough for the mind to be turned towards it. Then the mind loses itself and the Heart shines forth.

It is a tantric practice to concentrate on one of the chakras or spiritual centres of the body, very often on the point between the eyebrows. As will be shown in a later chapter, the heart on the right side is not one of these chakras; nevertheless, in the following passage, Bhagavan explains concisely his teaching that concentration on the heart-centre is more effective than on any other point but less effective than pure enquiry.

D.: There are said to be six (subtle) organs of different colours in the chest, of which the spiritual heart is said to be the one situated two fingers' breadth, to the right from the centre! But the heart is also said to be formless. Does that mean that we should imagine it to have a form and meditate on this?

RM: No; only the question - 'Who am I?' is necessary. That which continues to exist throughout sleep and waking is the same being in both; but while waking there is unhappiness and therefore the effort to remove it. When asked who awakes from sleep, you say 'I'. Hold fast to this 'I'. If that is done the Eternal Being reveals itself. The most important thing is the investigation of the 'I' and not concentration on the heart centre. There is no such thing as the 'inner' and the 'outer'. Both words mean the same or nothing at all. Nevertheless, there is also the practice of concentration on the heart-centre, which is a form of spiritual exercise. Only he who concentrates on the heart can remain aware when the mind ceases to be active and remains still, with no thoughts, whereas those who concentrate on any other centre cannot retain awareness without thought but only infer that the mind was still after it has become active again.

Peace.

Great thread !
Nice post iamthat.

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

http://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/sh...ighlight=braco

-From Xan, a thread. 2010?

Also, many links here:


https://www.google.com/search?client...hakra+blockage

Thank you for sharing this Xan thread Miss Hepburn.

My heart Loves this one. It expanded just reading it and seems to be one of the more valuable pieces of knowledge I have seen in awhile.

Originally Posted by sattvicmonkey

Hi guys. I'm always hearing about how we shouldn't live in our heads but in our hearts.

I always thought it was just poetic expression, but is it possible to be in the heart or look into the heart?

I'd like to take refuge in a safe place within myself for a while... but I have no idea how to do it. So do you have any advice or know what the heart is?

Hi sattvicmonkey,

My 2c -

Look for a spiritual practice and follow it.

In the shorter term, is there something you really love? Makes you happy, carefree, joyful?

JL

[Miss Hepburn]

Ok, I'm going to say something Christian, sort of, hahaha......on Easter no-less.
This is a personal experience learned here in 2011 from a Canadian poster,
Divine Love...you want to open the heart?
❤️
Ask.
Ask the Father for His Divine Love.


As Constantine messaged to James E. Padget....With as much force as I can, I tell you to ask for His Divine Love,
it is the only thing that can transform the human soul.*

* from memory.

[Altair]

Originally Posted by sattvicmonkey

Hi guys. I'm always hearing about how we shouldn't live in our heads but in our hearts.

I always thought it was just poetic expression, but is it possible to be in the heart or look into the heart?

I'd like to take refuge in a safe place within myself for a while... but I have no idea how to do it. So do you have any advice or know what the heart is?

It is not poetic, sattvicmonkey..!
I think the dichotomy between head and heart is not needed, we need to know when to use reason in our world and how to let heart flow. Ignoring one isn’t needed, a human needs both..

The heart is of course an organ and there is the heart chakra. This can be felt, and spiritual practice can make this active. You want shelter, you should find a practice and apply it daily.. you can find your shelter and receive benefits. Experiencing it for prolonged periods however, or even to ‘master’ it would probably take decades..(!) But you find your shelter first...

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

[/color][/b]This is a personal experience learned here in 2011 from a Canadian poster,
Divine Love...you want to open the heart?
❤️
Ask.
Ask the Father for His Divine Love.


As Constantine messaged to James E. Padget....With as much force as I can, I tell you to ask for His Divine Love,
it is the only thing that can transform the human soul.*

* from memory.

Yes.. this is a nice way to pray.. devotional and surrendering..