Dear Ram,
According to Paul Brunton Ramana said that the mind should be placed in the
Heart. I’ve heard this is what the Chinese yogis do. What does this mean?
Dear Franklin,
Whether or not one can ‘put
the mind in the heart’ depends on the meaning of the words,
‘mind’ and ‘heart.’ If the heart referred to here is
the physical heart it is obviously not possible. It may be possible to ‘put the
mind in the heart’ if we understand the word ‘heart’ to mean
‘essence’ as in the expression the ‘heart’ of the
matter.’ But what kind of
‘putting’ is this? Is
it a physical putting done by an act of will? Or does it mean ‘think about or
contemplate on the essence i.e. the Self or Heart? The Self is called the Heart because it
is absolutely essential…if you are going to exist. So it means ‘pay
attention to what is essential.’
The problem here, as always, is the
meaning of words. The description
of the Kundalini by Brunton
and others as a journey through the chakras is actually a symbol of the whole
evolutionary journey. However, just
as the Self has been personified as God and located away from the here and now,
seeing the kundalini as a physical process that one can initiate by certain
practices that will result in enlightenment is an attempt to bring a spiritual
truth into the physical karmic world.
It is a projection based on a lack of understanding of the Self. The whole kundalini metaphor is very
artistic, dramatic and wildly romantic and easily lends itself to
misunderstanding.
Ram