“It is the heart that gives birth to all knowledge” – this is a common trait that runs in many traditional cultures, ranging from Ancient Egypt to Islam.
Indeed, ancient cultures thought that the heart, instead of the brain, commanded the rest of the body. In Ancient Egypt the heart was the place from which understanding, will and emotions would come from.
The heart in the Bible is “being from within”. Whilst man sees with his eyes, God sees the heart (First Book of Samuel XVI, 7). In India, the heart is where Atman lies – he is the absolute in Mankind. In Islam, it is in the shrouded heart, protected by many veils, where spirituality and contemplation live.
In our current societies the heart no longer represents the center of being but merely the center of emotions.
Now you take the floor: what do you associate with the heart?
I just had to add this song … it made me thinking about the heart & love.
Made me cry ;-)
I seem to have cried a lot lately.
I gotta find you - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8ZVB9nOPQ0
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When Newton discovered the law of Gravity, the way we look at the world changed. But Gravity is there and is in the heart of our universe. When we speak about God in different ways, whatever our believe or view is , it doesn’t change anything in the essense of God or THE TRUTH.
The Heart is the mean by which we communicate with the TRUTH. As much as we silence the chaos of our mind and body , as much as we hear the heart language which is beyond any language and is universal, and as much as we can see see through it the truth of this world. the truth in my opinion, is not in the heart but the PURE, INOCENT, PEACFULL HEART, is our way to TRUTH. Do you remember when was the last time you felt inocent?
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heart, feelings…. all gone today. we…. the hypocrites cry in the name of love but who….. of all of you of all of us really searching for love. few…. hearts dont speak any more to adults…you said so… and you are right. i keep out that voice and most of us do that. we all hide behind the world we are living. poor us . we just dont realise that this is it . nobody is going to give us a second chance to live , to love, to suffer . all my sences are telling me to live, not pretenting that i am living but to live. i dont do that and so do you silly me… silly you.
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The heart is the centre of truth. Ironically, I need to bring myself into a space beyond the emotions which are also a layer in Heartland, and into true feeling, the sensing of life, karma, the future, what is right for me.
In the heart space, I am in the now. Around me is a space, a time buffer between the world and my self. By that I mean that life seems to go more slowly and therefore there is more time to make decisions.
In the heart space, I am connected in calm and objective love with all that is.
From the centre of the heart space, resting in the now, I can sense the path forward. Unlike the thought sphere where I see the future, the heart sphere senses rightness and so is more process oriented while the thought sphere is goal oriented.
In the heart centre, there is trust and faith, in the thoughts, anxiety and worry.
Living in the heart is the most difficult thing I will ever achieve.
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Dear Paulo,
I have been a heart speaker for as long as I could recall. I feel before i do much else in my life, from these contemplations, navigation and insight arose. I don’t trust my brain as much as I trust my heart.
I am currently pursuing my MFA in Photography in NYC, in the education system there is this motion against the heart. I understand that intellectuality takes precedence but why the stigma now attached to the way we feel and internalize emotionally.
The heart stripped to its physical is a mere organ providing life its rhythm, this constant pounding gives me more than just oxygenated blood. It provides a means of searching, a key to truth by distilling all the misinformation. I understand why religions and various walks of life have honored the heart as it is the house of the soul, the chamber that supports life.
love and light
Holly
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@Adina:
“Imagination is more important than knowledge, for knowledge is limited while imagination embraces the entire world”
Albert Einstein
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I can just walk with my brain, but I can fly with my heart into the world that my brain cant know lonely!
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“The Heart” is the best equipped navigation system that is available to us… sometimes though… like with a GPS… we need to connect it to the Universe to be recharged…
Love, & stay connected, Paul
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Dear Paulo and Firends
After reading The Heart, I think about it to write for you and the others.
Heart is the center of our body, it means our soal is located in heart. we can underestand all of thing by our heart and if we hear our heart voice, we never do mistakes.
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contacting Eve
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I attended a ‘School of the Heart’, literally, it’s what Jean Vanier calls his communities of L’Arche. Many young people come to these communities to fill a need: caring for people with disabilities. I was one of them - a young 20 something year-old with a huge hole in my heart, a crevasse made worse by a world that was telling me my failure to succeed was a reflection of my worthlessness. The Heart is the place where the LIE can dig in and spread it’s deathly chill, losing and paralyzing us and it’s the ROOT deep inside us that melts through the healing power of compassion and Truth. I met so many “retards”, so many rejects of society, “imbeciles”, minds that could never “compete” - all those hard hearted terms you’ve heard these disabled outcasts called - so many “losers” whose thirst for love and simplicity saved my heart and my inner hope in the potential goodness of the world. The heart is hope - bruised, beaten, battered, nailed and shattered, but never broken, never unredeemable - salvageable until the very last breathe.
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Adina,
I can see where you’re coming from, and your opinion is definitely accepted, but allow me say, the question stated what one associates the heart with.. Which one can look at in two ways, the physical, or the more spiritual/ symbolic way. Personally i’ve experienced both incredibly. I choose the latter to speak about because i’m more of a dreamer and believer here than a scientist or doctor for that matter. As a doctor though, (well almost one) the heart is most definitely an organ, one that beats and circulates blood and yes it does its job like all the other organs do in the body. I’ve seen people on bypass, where they were in fact alive while their hearts were stopped. I’ve touched and held them actually and so Yes, i agree there was no physical soul visible in heart nor behind it, and yes that person was still alive. But, one must not forget, the soul itself may not be a physical entity that can be so easily held or found, and it lies throughout our body in every cell giving it life. There may be emphasis on the heart as it is a vital organ in the past, and both you and i have made speculations as to why thousands of years ago these philosophies of the heart were created. I think we should both not forget, that these religions were based on enlightened individuals, and while science claims to know alot, in terms of how things work, they can never answer why. Science itself, while it is evolving, has a very very long way to go with regard to discovering exactly how our bodies work. Our bodies are remarkable and are unbelievably fascinating.. And as for the heart, personally, when you see it beating in front of you, is definitely the ultimate. But again, this world is not only of the physical. Let us not forget to believe in the mystery of it all, to believe that our physical plane is linked to our spiritual one in ways we cannot comprehend yet.
Lots of love,
Yajna
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Dearest Paulo and Friends..
Although in this day and age of technology and scientific advances we have categorised logic from our mind and emotion from our heart, i still find myself a firm believer that the heart is, and shall always be the core of a human being.
Have you ever closed your eyes and really thought of someone you deeply love? Have you noticed that that absolute feeling of love and purity, strangely radiated from your heart? I know that scientists and doctors may argue a series of chemical reactions cause this sensation, but no can actually explain why specifically, in this bliss of love, your body tingles from the heart. I personally think that hundreds of years ago, people closed their eyes when they felt love, and as it originated from the heart, they named it the center of their being. You see, because, love itself, is either considered God or the closest forum to Him/Her. Every religion, most beliefs and even one’s self points us in the direction of ultimately loving..just loving, everything and nothing. You’re highest thought or action should be that of love, and your actions and the way you perceive any situation defines who you are- whom you may be.. Thus i can clearly see the logic behind every religion or ancient philosophy in this scenario.. In fact beyond this, i myself trust and believe in what i feel, and thats why i believe your heart deserves more than mere emotions, with our heart we love, and thus with our heart.. lies life.. lies upliftment to our soul..
Thank you for being
Yajna
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now this is one thing i can never understand.. lol.
think think think think think.
tired.
The Heart is where there’s room to grow, room to breathe, room to hold others and also to let them go.
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eartH or He-art
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It stil makes me dance and fills me with with joy and happiness.
Love
Luce
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Dear Paulo,
reading entries, mine too, reminded me of heart beat, the sound of positive force and energy.
Sound of heart is somehow like sound of Earth.
As member of the senior generation I remember discoteque music with rithmics like heart beat made us all hopp and dance until exhaustion, even persons who were not so eager to dance.
There is something premordial strong in that beat, it is heart and soul at once.
Love
Luce
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Dear Brigid,
To be realistic is no danger for the spirit or for your faith…Let’s not mix imagination with reality.
I feel my soul a lot above the organ named heart.My idea was and still is that the heart become during centuries a source of so many symbols (in poetry,everywhere, because it is the organ that moves,has a certain sound (you perhaps know that the rithms of the music are copied from the movements of the heart..),so it was easy for the human been to be counscious about its existency more than the existency of the brain (which makes no sound or movement)or other vital organs. Usually arts reflect our inner or visceral world.This is only my oppinion and I am not afaraid that I would be wrong.
Best regards,
Adina
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I belive That Heart meens the particular point betwin God and Mankind on the Erth(I meen a Bridge, and I visualise that Body that Leonardo da Vinci designed in a circle);a point,a door to God,Universe and Love.
In the moment I feel it a lot although ,that part in the body that represent the phisical heart,I feel some how like a litle pain or ,energy names (chi);That is why I am sure that a colective Heart worck is going on.I look of that with much suspans,and wish us all, good luck!!!
Thanks to them that are made so much efort for all of us!!!
Thanks God!
Love
Mirela(the woman in lift)
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What do I associate with the the heart? For me, it is a very simple question; “is this, for you, a path with heart?”.
I will always be thank-full to the very special person who introduced me to this question. It has served me well when I have been faced with challenges that, at the time, I chose to see as insurmountable.
Because asking that question cuts to - excuse the pun - the very heart of the matter.
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For me every cell of us is consious .the secret of live is in every part of us .
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The heart I associate with that of my child, yet still so small in my womb it is a being.. it is my emotions, my passion, my strenght and a reason for my being..
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A song about heart and love :-)
Nickelback - Gotta be somebody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y85scjU3rfw
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I have to add some things about heart and feelings :-)
Right now my body began to shake and I feel so nervous but in the same time happy. Because I know that everything can only get better from now on.
I feel that something good is coming my way soon …
But why am I nervous for having it better, maybe because I having thoughts that maybe it´s too good to be true ??
I have to tell myself over and over again, that I am worth it,
that I have done something good to have it.
Maybe I should stop thinking so much and only follow
my heart*LOL* ;-)
That makes my heart beat faster again !!!
Love Jessica
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Proverbs 4:23 (New International Version)
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.
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For me, the heart is the most honest part of man. We could easily lie to our self with our mind, but not to our heart. Therefore the heart is also the bridge to God. I firmly believe if we listen to our heart we can find God’s truth lies within it.
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feelings
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The heart is the refinery of the Soul.
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The heart for me is LOVE !!!!
Not what we think, what we feel.
Feelings can´t be controlled even though we often try to do
this with our brain.
Love can be compilcated sometimes, but the only thing we can do is to
say what we feel in our heart to the other person.
Speak our truth from the heart !!!
Why are we so afraid to love ???
Maybe is it the thought that we need love first instead of
give love impartial.
I have opened my heart bit by bit and to give love even to persons that I don´t even know, like in the accident when I helped them and like the man I picked up in the snowstorm.
It could have been me, what would I like other people to do if I where in the same situation??
We have to treat other people like we want to be treated ourself.
And don´t be afraid of give, we will recieve but maybe not from the person we gave to.
What goes around comes around .. the law of attraction :-)
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Just re-read your post Paulo, and this sentence stood out:
“In our current societies the heart no longer represents the center of being but merely the center of emotions”.
I think that’s because we are constantly being bombarded with an overload of information. To connect with the heart as the centre of being, one needs to be in the moment. One needs to be still, and listen, and feel nothing but the heart, become one with the heart and let the heart become one with the moment.
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Reading these posts, it is clear that some readers associate the heart with emotions and the soul, and other readers see the heart as a vital organ for pumping blood through the body and keeping one alive. Where and how do we feel emotions? In our brain, our body, our thoughts, our heart? For me my emotions are ‘heart felt.’ Perhaps because that is where the strongest sense of life force is. Between my heart, my emotions, and my thoughts, (sometimes lack of thoughts), my heart connects me to my strengths, my weakness, joy, love, and when joy and love combine, my heart is much more than a source of life it is a portal to spirituality.
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Listen to your heart… Than listen again and do not try to understand! Just accept whatever it says with love.
You think you’re right? It will show where you’re wrong. You think you’re smart? It will clear out the light (make you cry…). You think you’re week? It will make you sussed.
Yes, it’s strong and it’s yours, but it’s still kind of scared to be hurt. That’s why you need to listen to it, you need to talk to your heart and take care of it good. Than it’ll take care of you too and you’ll get what is yours, you’ll get what you should.
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Dear Paulo,
For me “The heart” is the door to my soul, my heart communicates with me even when I sleep. I listen to my heart even when my brain/thoughts reject what my heart said, it is GOD who communicates to me through it. God asked me to remember him every single day so God can assure the door into my heart is always open.
cheers,
Ellie
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Heart-works constantly, center of the chest, emotions, kindness, love, sadness
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LA INTUICIÓN QUE LLEGA DIRECTAMENTE A TRAVÉS DEL CORAZÓN.
UN BESO.
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After having suffered a minor heart attack at the age of 34, I view the heart as not only the organ that operates as a battery but I respect the heart even more.
The bitterness I accumulated over the years and stored took its toll on my organs and my body soon notified me that all systems would eventually shut down if I didn’t open up.
I view the heart as my center…the center of my body, my life, my world. I’m learning to be open to love and recycle my pain into loving more and receiving the love that awaits me.
I’ve heard people say ‘guard your heart’ and somehow I thought I did until I suffered an (heart) attack.
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I remember latest words of my friend”we are one heart in two bodies”.Means soul?I think heart I associate with true Love ,feelings,instinct.
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Heart of Gold
Richard Lionheart
Braveheart
Love with all my heart !
Luce
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For me heart means The Center, The Top, The Most of everything, The Life itself ! Source of life power, will, love, humanity ….
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Hola señor Coelho: aunque cientificamente se duda de que los seres humanos experimenten dolor en el corazon, por una causa no bioligica, tengo que decir que con la muerte de mi padre y por lo menos dos meses despues senti un dolor en el pecho, era como si me atravezaran el corazon, muchas veces cuando la depresion llegaba a su maximo punto ni podia respirar bien.
Tambien cuando algo me va a pasar siento una punzada en el corazon…debe ser lo que comun mente llaman una corazonada… algo que te avisa que hay un evento por pasar…
Gracias paula
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Today my heart is sad of compassion.
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Once I thought that in the heart relies the truth …but when I talked about this idea of mine to a very wise guy…he let me understand that we must be very careful in distinguishing good from bad and truth from false…. He said that as in each human being relies a bad and a good part between wich we choose , the same must be said about our heart. We must understand deep in the heart what is good and what is not in order to focus on the best part of our emotions and of outer and inner understandings.
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The heart is the motor of the body.There are proves showing that ill people with artificial hearts still have their soul inside the body and that still love and have emotions.
So…heart…is just an organ. Perhaps because it pump blood and we feel its movements we people had associated its movements with the feelings process or with the soul. But I don’t thik all these are true anymore now.It is just a symbol.But practically, the soul is behind the heart or in that area and exists as a spirit.
I know yoga exercises that sometimes explain biological senzations as spiritual feelings (such as the cobra asana, for those who knows).I’ve just experienced yoga when I was 17, for only 1 year, from pure spiritual curiousity.Bu is not true, is just self-sugestion.
I think heart just pomp blood, more or less, depending on our psychological pressure.
Adina
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(still the first everywhere hm) *kidding*
my heart:
its the room for my soul
the place where i go for questions
the beeing of me
the “line” where god talk to me
the thing, i will never miss in life :-)
the room where all those i love are inside
the heart is the manigfestic beat of the music of the universe
where the flame is inside
what we all take up to heaven (+ the thinkings)
the time…which we have on earth
Nia
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It’s no wonder the heart is associated with the emotions. When you feel a strong emotional pain, i.e. heartbreak, your heart can sometimes be in pain too. Other strong emotions have effects on the heart, physical effects that can be measured. Thus, it is easy to associate the heart with emotions. I used to have this kind of “emotional” responses very often and had to consult a specialist to stop “feeling” it. But I don’t think I’m less emotional, au contraire ! Today, I associate the heart with death but in a beautiful way : for when the heart stops beating, the end is there, and it’s the will of mother nature.
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Hola Paulo,
En anatomía, el corazón (de un derivado popular del latín cor, cordis) es el órgano principal del aparato circulatorio. Es un organo muscular hueco, una bomba aspirante e impelente, que aspira desde las aurículas o entradas la sangre que circula por las venas, y la impulsa desde los ventrículos hacia las arterias. Es el motor del cuerpo humano, pero a nivel espiritual, es el alma, los sentimientos, es todo es una amiga.. un amigo … es amar intensamente con todo el corazon, con el alma , desde el fondo del corazon .. Heart es Love, es Amor
con amor y corazon
Pilar
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My favourite quote
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
Before my heart was broken, I never appreciated this awesome organ - alive … and possessing the power to bring life and even diminish life.
In the West African system of wisdom, the heart appears many times as an Adinkra symbols: once as a symbol of patience & tolerance, another time as of learning from the past, and then again to signify hope. LAstly: ASASE YE DURU “the Earth has weight” is a
symbol of providence and the divinity of Mother Earth; This symbol represents the importance of the Earth in sustaining life.
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hi Paolo
for me The Heart is the song of the most solitary man.
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My heart…maybe two things. It is my inner voice, or maybe better -this is an association space, isn’t it- a ’space’ where my ‘light voice’ and my ’shadowvoice’ (based on Jung) are meeting eachother and talk and listen to eachother. It is a meeting place. And, if I am relaxed and free I can listen to it (I don’t know if i can talk back, because i am wrestling with the concept of the ego…i don’t believe there is one in a negative way).
The second image is also a meeting place. During the last 6 months I have the feeling that it is a place where different dimensions or energies meet. The place where the Life Energy is trying to make contact with this material world. I have the feeling the other life energies, spiritual or not, Godlike or not, are in a way disabled to do the spiritual things we, humans living in the material world, are doing to develop the life of the Soul. Some’times I feel a kind of scream in my heart, expressed in the limited words ‘listen to me!
So it is also a portal.
The strange thing is that i went to this site after writing in my diary about how te ‘become what I really am’. And I decided to join this assossiation and right now I am starting to really connect with my heart. Now, the words and images just come.
I feel a growth. I am a fan of john lennon. And just yesterday, I really listened for the first time to the lines of ninth dream. it is very hard for me to explain in words but i have the feeling that at that moment I had an insight through my heart to the energy behind the (material?) lines. i reread some of the books and texts of paulo and first it was a good book and now it is an expression of my ‘path’, of my not in words to express ‘heart thoughts’
So it seems like it is very good to try to listen and hear and see witjh your heart.
Maybe my heart is just a door. Maybe it is just the same as this assossiation space- an opportunity to exchange. Thank you
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Dear Paolo,
I believe in the the Indian concept of the soul (Atman) being vey closely linked to the Heart. In fact, according to Sri Aurobindo, who refers to it as the psychic centre, it is situated just behind the heart, and the soul is accessed through the heart. So, in India, yes, the heart and Atman are often not seen as seperate. I believe this to be true, not because I am Indian, but I have experienced it to be so. Also, the same man, whose philosophy makes a lot of sense to me, says the soul also develops a personality of its own that has no relationship to the the outer being (Ego). He calls this the psychic being. Interesting, no?
Warm regards,
Ajit. PS Your book ‘Brida’, has aroused my interest as someone I am very close to is reading it at the moment. I am trying to locate a good bookshop in India that may be able to help me. I don’t want to order it or pay for it online. Anyway, I’m looking forward to reading it when I do find it. God bless, Paulo!
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