IS IT ONLY THE ORGAN THAT IS MEANT?

 
"Christ and His inner circle, and the Christian mystics, all stressed purity of heart. Mohammed and His Immams 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 organ that is meant, or something deeper?

A Sufi said: "The Abode of Love is infinitely higher than the domain of intellect. 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 the 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 intellect can never attain to the One Who transcends the mind. So we now understand that God can not be understood. He is not visible, because He is infinitely visible to that eye which has no veil of desires, or of 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 so they appear as thoughts. This thinking function of mind is known to the Vedantists as 'Manas.'

"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 both through thinking and through feeling. In the first functioning of the mind are included thoughts of all kinds. In the second functioning of the mind, that is heart, are included all feelings and desires — feelings of joy, pain, disappointment, happiness, shock, all belong to this 'Antahkarana.'

"In sound sleep, the impressions that have been registered in the mind lie in a latent, dormant state. We won't discuss dreams now; they have all 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 His Gita, said, 'Let impressions 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, but 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 all desires and all feelings, unless the heart is pure and naked, God, who is your innermost Self, can not reveal Himself. Is this clear?"

Malcolm asked, "What about repressions?" Baba replied, "Do not ask this now."

"God is your innermost Self. That means that behind this limited body, you have within you energy and mind, with both its functions. You as you — the ego — are also there. Behind all this, imagine God as infinite in space. Try to grasp what this means. You have this idea of yourself as body; you feel happy, depressed, hungry. You, you, you. This you think to be yourself; but behind this you, there is something that cannot be got rid of, even if the body is not there. If both your hands or both your legs were to be cut off, you would still exist as you. That means that you are not this body. In sound sleep, you are unconscious of your body, but you still exist; so you are not this body. Who then is this you? This you is your innermost Self. We must find, in our own self, this important 'I.'