Many seek the heart, and many have tribulations of the heart – yet, where is this heart? Where is this place called the “sky of the heart”? There is the physical heart, enlivened by the atma, the power of the soul. What of the spiritual heart? What is this heart?
Glossary:
prana: breath that is inhaled and exhaled; vital force, life-breath;
vasana: tendencies or desires
vairagya: detachment
chitta: individual consciousness
brikuti spot between the eyebrows
Question 208: Sir, what is the heart in which all objects are cognised as shadows?
Answer: Ramji, there are two hearts. One is at a distance of ten digits above the navel and it is to be rejected. The other one is the cognitive power which is manifested with the realisation of wisdom, and it is to be accepted. This power pervades within and outside, but what is more subtle than this is the prime (or supreme) heart in which all objects are reflected. The cognitive power or the heart is the storehouse of all pleasures.
Ramji, fix your concentration on the pure cognitive power with the support of the prime heart, and the movement of your prana will stop. Practise according to the methods suggested by me, and control your prana. It is not possible to attain success without the precept of a guru. Only he who controls prana, gets redemption. Pranayama is mastered with practice, and vasanas are annihilated with vairagya. When one becomes firm in practice and vairagya, then chitta becomes uchitta or non-ideational.
Ramji, when one undertakes for a long time continuous practice of the breath that goes up to the distance of ten digits from bhrikuti (the spot between the two eyebrows), then also prana is stabilised. When one is engaged in spiritual discipline after fixation of the tongue against the palate for a long time, then also prana is controlled. The instability of chitta (mind) is stopped with these practices.
Such a seeker is at peace in Atma. When prana is controlled the chitta becomes stable and then the supreme stage is attained. Or, in other words, when the movement of prana is checked, vasanas become extinct, where-after liberation is attained. As long as one is seized with vasanas, one wanders in the cycle of rebirths; but when vasanas become extinct, liberation is attained. You should, therefore, practise control of prana, and be free from vasanas.
The Vedas are the oldest literary creations of man. Now the word ‘literature’ is used to connote writings scribbled while eager to find something to spend the time hanging on hand. They have no inner worth or significance; they destroy the traits of good character in the reader and implant bad attitudes and habits; they do not adhere to the path of Truth. But, Literature is a term that cannot be applied to writings or poems that reel off tales that are false. It should not emerge from the egotistic fancies of the individual.
The Vedas are the soul that sustains the spiritual life of Bharath (India); they are the breath that keeps the people alive. They possess a divine power, amazing in its effects. They are charged with the vibrations of mantras, which can be experienced by those who go through the process scientifically. They can impart also the strength derivable through symbols and formulae of tantric nature. ‘Tantra’ means ‘the means and methods of utilising the mantras for one’s own good’. Man has physical and material power only. His karma becomes holy and sacred when the mechanics (yantra) of life are ruled by mantra and tantra. The technique of this sadhana is in the karma chapters of the Vedas. The ancient sages became aware of this and have preserved it for mankind in the four Vedas.Sathya Sai Vahini
Hamsa Gayatri
Om Hamsaaya Vidmahe
Paramahamsaya Dheemahi
Tanno Hamsa Prachodayat
“May we realise Hamsa that is our own Self as the Swan. Let us meditate on that Paramahamsa, the Supreme Self. May Hamsa illumine us.”