upadesa saram, V. 20: the Heart

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When the 'I'-thought perishes,

then another 'I-I' springs forth

as the Heart, spontaneously.

It is Existence in all its fullness.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A.R. Natarajan

~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

from S.S. Cohen: Guru Ramana:

 

Sri B.V. Narasimha Swami is in the Ashram

to prepare the third edition of his English translation

of Sri Bhagavan's Upadesa Saram with his own

commentary. He requests the Master to give him

some more details about Heart and its movements

Sri Bhagavan said:

 

Heart is the seat of Jnanam as well as of the granthi

(the knot of ignorance). It is represented in the physical

body by a hole smaller than the smallest pin-point,

which is always shut. When the mind drops down

in Kevala Nirvikalpa, it opens but shuts again after

it. When sahaja is attained it opens for good.

 

The granthi is the knot which ties the insentient

body to the consciousness which functions in it;

that is why when it is loosened temporarily in

Kevala Nirvikalpa there is no body consciousness.

 

I used to feel the vibrations of the Heart, which

resemble those of a dynamo, even in school.

When I developed rigor mortis many years

ago in Tiruvannamalai, every object and sensation

disappeared, except these vibrations. It was as if

a dark screen was drawn before my eyes and shut

the world completely from me, but of course I was

all along conscious of the Self, with a vague feeling

that someone was crying near me. This state continued

till just before I regained physical consciousness, when

I felt something rush from the Heart to the left chest

and re-established life in the body.

 

A sudden fear, sudden joy, or a shock makes the

Heart vibrate very forcefully, so that it can be felt

by anyone who pays attention to it. Otherwise

it is felt only in Samadhi.