Gems of Bhagavan 1

THE HEART IN BHAGAVAN'S TEACHINGS
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The Heart or Hridayam appears in Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi's teachings extensively.

D: Sri Bhagavan speaks of the heart as the seat of Consciousness and as identical with the Self. What
does the heart exactly signify?
M: The question about the heart arises because you are interested in seeking the source of consciousness.
To all deep thinking minds, the enquiry about the ‘I’ and its nature has an irresistible fascination. Call it by any name, God, Self, the heart or the seat of Consciousness, it is all the same. The point to be grasped is this, that Heart means the very core of one’s being, the Centre, without which there is nothing whatever.
D: But Sri Bhagavan has specified a particular place for the heart within the physical body, that it is in the
chest, two digits to the right from the median.
M: Yes, that is the centre of spiritual experience according to the testimony of Sages. This spiritual heart-centre is quite different from the bloodpropelling, muscular organ known by the same name.The spiritual heart-centre is not an organ of the body. All that you can say of the heart is that it is the very core of your being. That with which you are really identical (as the word in Sanskrit literally means), whether you are awake, asleep or dreaming, whether you are engaged in work or immersed in samadhi.

                                                                                                                              - Maharshi's Gospel

Bhagavan's Eka Sloki which appears in Sri Ramana Gita refers to Brahman in the cave of the Heart.



"Hridaya Kuhara Madhye Kevalam BrahmaMaatram
Hyahamahamiti Saakshaat Aatma Rupenena Bhati
Hridi Visha Manasa Svam Chinvata Majjata Va
Pavanachalana Rodhat Aatmanishto Bhavatvam"

Brahman is glowing lustrously in the middle of the cave of the Heart in the shape of the Self, always proclaiming‘I am, I am’. Become an Atmanishta, a Self-realised person, either by making the mind absorbed in the search of the Self or by making the mind drown itself through control of the breath.

The entire universe is condensed in the body and the entire body in the Heart. Thus the Heart is the nucleus of the whole universe. This world is not other than the mind, the mind is not other than the Heart; that is the whole truth.

The source is a point without any dimensions. It expands as the cosmos on the one hand and as Infinite bliss on the other. That point is the pivot. From it a single vasana starts and expands as the experiencer (`I'), the experience and the experienced (the world).

To Rama who questioned Vasishta: `Which is that big mirror in which all these are mere reflections? What is the heart of all souls or creatures in this universe?' Vasishta replied: `All creatures in this universe have two kinds of hearts — one to be taken note of and the other ignored. Hear their respective traits: The one to be ignored is the physical organ called the heart which is situated in the chest as a part of the perishable body. The one to be taken note of is the Heart which is of the nature of consciousness. It is both inside and outside (us) and has neither an inside nor an outside.'

This is the really important Heart. It is the mirror which holds all reflections. It is the basis and source of all objects and all kinds of wealth. Therefore, it is only that Consciousness, which is the Heart of all, not that organ - a small part of the body, which is insentient like a stone, and perishable. So one can achieve the eradication of all desires and control of breath, by the practice of merging the mind in the Heart, which is Pure Consciousness.

- Gems from Bhagavan