Digest Number 1327 - The meaning of Hrdayam

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The all pervading Self, as Brahman, is situated in the Heart, and from there

light the body and the mind. To gain some clarification about the

relationship between the Heart, the Self, and Maya, here below is also a

quote from the Sri Ramana Gita, which focuses on jnana or enquiry into the

Self. (As an analogy, the Heart is to the body like the singularity of a

Black Hole in the Universe. It represents the substratum, ground or basis

behind all appearances.)

 

"The 'I'-thought is said to be the root of all thoughts. In brief, that

from which the 'I'-thought" springs forth is the heart. (verse 3)

"The heart is different from the blood circulating organ. 'Hridayam' stands

for Hird 'the center which sucks in everything', and ayam, 'this', and it

thus stands for the Self. (v 5)

The location of the Heart is on the right side of the chest, not at all on

the left. The light (of awareness) flows from the heart through the

sushumna (para nadi*) to Sahasrara (thousand petalled lotus in the brain).

(verse 6)

"From there it flows to the entire body, and then all experiences of the

world arise. Viewing them as different from the Light, one gets caught up in

samsara. (verse 7)

"The Sahasrara of one who abides in the Self is nothing but pure Light. Any

thought that approaches it cannot survive. (verse 8)

"The universe is nothing but the mind, and the mind is nothing but the

heart. Thus, the entire story of the universe culminates in the heart.

(verse 12)

"The notion that the seer is different from the seen is only in the mind.

For those that abide in the Heart, the seer and the seen are one. (verse

19)

Sri Ramana Gita, Ch V, p. 26-27

 

It becomes apparent from reading the various Gitas (which are predominantly

non-dual) that they all state that it is only due to lack of enquiry into

the nature of the "I"-sense in the body and mind that the True identity of

one's self as the Self, with the all pervading, causeless, Brahman is not

realizes. Once this enquiry is made the (para nadi) nerve referred to also

in the Katha Upanishad, begins to resonate or pulsate "I as I" or "I, I, I,

I, ..." versus the constant grasping of attention to "I-this",

"I-that", and

so forth with each rising thought.

To paraphrase, when the sense of "I" becomes localized through single

enquiry, the nerve referred to begins to radiate incandescently, and the

whole body is outshined in a blaze of living Light, having no more

separation from the all pervasive Brahman. (This is similar to matter that

blazes when sucked into a Black Hole.)

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