| The First Three Tenets of the Heart, by Puran Bair |
Following the 'Path of the Heart' requires an understanding of what the heart is. This article is the beginning of Puran's description of the heart and how it operates.
1. There is only one heart, the Heart of All; it is simultaneously within each heart, and the sum of all hearts. The heart in every being is, so to speak, a reflection of a ray of this heart, which we call the Universal Heart, similar to the way the rays of the sun reflect off shiny objects all over the world and make each object appear to be a miniature sun. Each heart, being in reality a reflection of the Universal Heart, feels all that the Universal Heart feels. Therefore, all people have the same fears, hopes, anxieties and joys in their depth because all share the experience of the one Universal Heart.
You can find the Universal Heart within yourself by going deeper and deeper into your own heart until you come to the 'Inverted Space.' In the depth of each heart, space inverts to reveal the universe, so that within yourself you will ultimately find every being, all emotion and all life. Each person can find the All by going deeply into the Self. Every actor knows that when a deeply personal emotion is felt in the actor, it immediately connects to the same emotion in every member of the audience; this is a practical example of the Inverted Space
2. It is the heart that unites the two worlds: the seen and the unseen; the personal and the impersonal; earth and heaven, matter and spirit. Where they all meet is the heart, the sacred middle ground where God becomes real. Because the world of spirit and the world of matter meet in the heart, all people, cultures, and religions meet in the heart. Nothing is excluded from the heart; the heart is inclusive of all life, both that life which is seen and that life which cannot be seen.
Therefore, to overcome the feeling of separation from 'that world' that people commonly have in 'this world', you need to experience your heart. Also, to experience your common humanity with people who seem outwardly very different from you, you need the experience of your heart.
The heart can perform this function of uniting the worlds because it is itself in both worlds: the heart is both physical and spiritual. It regulates your body and directs your mind, and it also represents the core of your Self. It circulates both blood through the body and love through the space. Your heart receives divine guidance from the Universal Heart and then expresses it as its own fervent, compelling wish that is manifested in your life.
3. The heart's function is to reflect the light of your soul into the world. What is the soul? Your soul is the blueprint or the recipe of your Self. Your body, mind, and personality are the products of your soul. The soul is nonphysical, but it contains the design for the physical, like the acorn contains the design of the oak tree or a blueprint contains the design of a house. The house can come out differently from its blueprint, and the oak can become a bush instead of a tree because of factors in the development and growth of the potential of the soul.
Your soul is unique in the universe, and therefore your soul is the highest aspect of your individuality. While the whole universe is contained in every being, and therefore all the qualities of the divine are present in everyone, the relative strengths of those qualities are different. Each person is a unique experiment of the universe in its self-expression, part of the process by which the universe discovers its own potentials. The uniqueness of each person is designed to serve their reason for being, the purpose of their life, that for which you volunteered while still an angel.
The first step the soul takes in its journey toward fulfillment is to create a heart that can represent the soul as it comes into life. So the heart is born from the soul, and your body is born from the heart. The purpose for which the soul was created is stamped into the heart, never to be completely forgotten. The heart then becomes the core around which the body is formed, as the heart is the first organ developed in the fetus. If the soul's purpose requires a powerful physical body, then the heart will direct your body to develop physical strength. If the soul's purpose requires an unusual intelligence, then the heart will direct your body to develop a keen mind, and so on. It is the reflection of the soul in the heart that directs your development.
The development of the plant from the seed is not the end of the process; there is a third step. Out of the heart of the plant comes a new seed, wrapped in a gift to the world of flower or fruit. So it is the nature of the heart to be generous. Furthermore, the seed the plant produces may be different than the seed that produced the plant: it's own experience is passed on to its progeny as an enhancement. Hence, a species learns to adapt to its environment and becomes more efficient in using its resources.
It is the innate generosity of the heart that allows the universe to develop its richness and complexity, for the heart, in reflecting the light of the soul into the world, becomes a source of that light for others. When other beings seek love, they can find it more easily in the heart of another being than in the source of all Love in the Universal Heart. The Heart in you becomes a source of love, so love is readily available in the world of life, not only in the world beyond life.
While Love is abundant in the Source, being the very fabric of the universe, very few can access it there; love is much more easily found in the heart of a human being. It is the role of the heart to make the qualities and powers of the universe visible and accessible. By the power of the heart, you become a secondary source for the Love of the universe, an embodiment in the physical world of the qualities of Love that originate in the non-physical world.
The rose was designed in a world of perfect beauty, which was given into its soul and developed in its heart. Maturing as a flower, the rose then becomes a source of beauty in the physical world. Similarly, you are a source for the love, intelligence, beauty, harmony, etc. that was encoded in your soul, to the extent that it develops in your heart. If it remains only in your soul, then it cannot be shared with the world.
This gives us the vision of the spiritual work of our time: not to dissolve into the universe in selfless consciousness, but to deliberately and responsibly become a source for what the universe has invested in your soul. This is the aim of Heart Rhythm Meditation, the meditation of our time that works on all three levels at once: body, heart and soul.