the heart of which I speak is on the right

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The Teachings of BhagavanSri Ramana Maharshiin His Own WordsCHAPTER ONEHEART AND HEADThis seems a suitable place to set forth the Maharshi's teachingabout heart and head. He taught that the heart, not the head,is the true seat of Consciousness; but by this he did not meanthe physical organ at the left side of the chest but the heart atthe right, and by `consciousness' he did not mean thought butpure awareness or sense of being. He had found this from hisown experience to be the centre of spiritual awareness andthen 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 physicalvibration of awareness. However, he would also speak of theHeart as equivalent to the Self and remind them that in truthit is not in the body at all, but is spaceless.Devotee: Why do you say that the heart is on the right whenbiologists have found it to be on the left? What authority have you?Bhagavan: No one denies that the physical organ is on the left; butthe heart of which I speak is on the right. That is my experienceand I require no authority for it; still you can find confirmationof it in a Malayali book on Ayurveda and in the Sita Upanishad.11 Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, 4.