IS THIS CLEAR?

 
Christ and his inner circle, and the Christian mystics, all stressed purity of heart. Muhammad and his Imams also stressed purity of heart. So did Zoroaster and the Magis, so did Krishna and his companions, and the Vedantists. So does Baba stress purity of heart. Today we shall see what this means — what the heart is — what the mind is. Is it only the physical organ that is meant, or something deeper?

A sufi said: "The abode of love is infinitely higher than the domain of mind. He alone out of millions and billions of people, can touch and kiss the threshold of the Beloved who carries his life in his sleeves." This is a literal translation. What it means is that if you want to see your beloved God, you must go before him with your head in the palm of your hand. It means that the mind can never attain to the One who transcends the mind. So we now understand that God cannot be understood. He is not visible, because he is infinitely visible to that eye which has no veil of desires or ego over it.

The mind has a dual function, which I have explained at length in God Speaks. The first function is that of thinking. The impressions that lie dormant have to be worked out, and appear as thoughts. This thinking function of mind is known to the Vedantists as mun. The second function of mind includes all feelings and emotions. This is called antahkarana. That means the heart. So what is known as the heart is actually the second functioning of the mind itself.

The impressions called sanskaras are spent through both thinking and feeling. In the first functioning of the mind are thoughts of all kinds. In the second functioning of the mind, that is the heart, are all feelings and desires — feelings of joy, pain, disappointment, happiness, shock, belong to this antahkarana.

In sound sleep, the impressions registered in the mind lie in a latent, dormant state. We won't discuss dreams now; they have been explained in God Speaks. What wakes you up from sound sleep? The impressions of actions done, and these impressions are spent first by thoughts, then by desires, then by actions.

So Krishna, in the Gita, said something to the effect that "impressions should be spent only through thoughts." Then no new impressions will be formed. If you cannot do this, then let the impressions be spent through desires, longings, feelings, not through actions. Then new impressions will be formed, but they will not be so deep. If impressions lead to action, then new and stronger impressions are bound to be formed.

This means that the first functioning of the mind is not important in so far as spending impressions is concerned. It is natural. But the second functioning of the mind, which is generally called the heart, is important because it is the seat of desires, and unless the heart is void of desires and feelings, unless the heart is pure and naked, God who is your innermost Self, cannot reveal himself. Is this clear?