Arunachala. अरुणाचल. -14

~~~~Arunachala. अरुणाचल - 14.~~~~

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THE SECRET LOCUS OF THE SELF -II

(Continued from #13.)

Devotee. - Now, you were telling me that the Heart
is the centre of the Self..........

Maharshi. -Yes, it is the one supreme centre of the
Self. You need have no doubt about it. The Real
Self is there in the Heart behind the Jeeva (जीव)
or ego-self.

Devotee. - Now be pleased to tell me where it is
inthe body. 

Maharshi. - You cannot know it with your mind.
You cannot realize it by imagination, when I tell 
you here is the centre (pointing to the right side
of the chest). The only direct way to realize it is
to cease to fancy and try to be yoursel. Then you
realize, automatically feel that the centre is there.

          This is the centre, the Heart, spoken of in
the scriptures Hrith-Guha(हृत्‌-गुहा), அருள், Ullam.

Devotee. - In no book have I found it stated that
it is there.

Maharshi. - Long after I came here I chanced
upon a verse in the Malayalam version of Ashta-
nga-hridayam, अष्टाङ्गहृदयम्‌, the standard work
on Ayurveda, wherein the Ojas Sthana (ओजस्‌-
स्थान) is mentioned as located in the right side of
the chest, called the seat of consciousness (Samvit,
वित्‌ ). But I know no other work, which refers to
it as being located there.

Devotee. - Can I be sure that the ancients meant
this centre by the term 'Heart' ?

Maharshi. - Yes, that is so.But you should try to
HAVE, rather than to locate the experience. A man 
need not go to find out where his eyes are situated 
when he wants to see.The Heart is there ever open
to you if you care to enter it, ever supporting all
your movements even when you are unaware. It is
perhaps more proper to say that the Self is the
Heart itself, than to say that it is in the Heart .
Really, the Self is the centre itself. It is everywhere,
aware of itself as 'Heart', the Self-awareness.
Hence I said "Heart is Thy name" -(हृदयं ते नाम ).

Devotee. - Has anyone else addressed the Lord
 thus, naming him the Heart ?
Maharshi. - Long after I said this, one day I came
across a hymn in St. Appar's Thevaram, where he
mentions the Lord by the name Ullam which is the
same as the Heart.
Devotee. - When you say that the Heart is the
supreme centre of the Purusha (पुरुष), the Atman 
(आत्मा), you imply that it is not one of the six yogic
centres ?
Maharshi. - The yogic chakras counting from the
bottom to the top are various centres in the nervous
system. They represent various steps manifesting
different kinds of power or knowledge leading to
the ahasraara (सहस्रार), the thousand-petalled lotus,
where is seated the supreme Shakti (शक्ति). But the
Self (आत्मा)  that supports the whole movement of
Shakti is not placed there, but supports it from the
Heart-centre (हृत्‌-केंद्र).
Devotee. - Then it is different from the Shakti
शक्ति) manifestation .
Maharshi. - Really there is no Shakti apart from
the Self. The Self has become all this Shakti.......
            When the yogin (योगी) rises to the highest
centre of trance, Samaadhi (समाधि), it is the Self
in the Heart that supports him in that state
whether he is aware of it or not. But if he is
aware in the Heart, he knows whatever states
or whatever  centres he is in, it is always the
same truth, the same Heart, the one Self, the
Spirit that is present throughout, eternal and
immutable. The Tantra Shastra calls the Heart;
"Suryamandala" (सूर्यमंडल) or solar orb, and the
Sahasraara; "Chanramandala" (चंद्रमंडल) or
lunar orb. These symbols present the relative
importance of the two, the Atmasthana and the
Shaki Sthana (आत्म-स्थान एवं शक्ति-स्थान).




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 Continued...........