Talk on Mind and Heart

by: Sri Chinmoy

Two instruments: mind and heart. The mind is division: world division and self-division. World division is nothing short of world poverty. Self division is the beginning of self destruction. The heart is acceptance: acceptance of the inner life and acceptance of the outer life. The inner life is aspiration. The outer life is dedication.

Again, aspiration is a kind of dedication and dedication is a kind of aspiration. When we aspire we climb up high, higher, highest. While we are climbing up, like a bird we are spreading our wings. And while we are dedicating ourselves to the cause of humanity, while we are spreading our wings, at that time we also climb up.

Aspiration and dedication form a life tree within us. The branches of this tree symbolise dedication, while the trunk of the tree looks up in order to reach the skies of aspiration. So our life tree at once embodies aspiration to reach God’s transcendental Heights and dedication to reach God’s universal Reality.

Usually we have two types of mind, the human mind and the divine mind. The human mind is apt to choose; while choosing it loses. What does it choose? It chooses doubt, it chooses to be with countless doubts. What does it lose? It loses its innate, illumining Light. The divine mind unfolds itself at every moment; while unfolding it becomes. What does it unfold? It unfolds its illumining beauty. What does it become? It becomes, on earth and in Heaven, an ever increasing, ever fulfilling Reality.

As a human being, very often we use the human mind, the earth bound mind. On rare occasions we use the divine mind, the Heaven free mind. The earth bound mind embodies doubt, suspicion, fear, jealousy, insecurity and many other unaspiring qualities. The earth bound mind tells us to be always cautious because the world around us is treacherous.

The Heaven free mind, which we feel deep within us on very rare occasions, tells us to be sincere, dedicated, devoted and loving. It asks us not to be suspicious. It tells us to love the world, because to love mankind means to serve our absolute, eternal Father. The Heaven free mind brings to us the message of peace in self giving, the message of light in self giving, the message of perfection in self giving.

As we have the human mind and the divine mind, even so we have the human heart and the divine heart. The human heart has a fearful beginning. The divine heart has a birthless song. The human heart has a tearful end. The divine heart has a deathless dance. The human heart has a fearful beginning and a tearful end. The divine heart has a birthless song and a deathless dance.

The human heart quite often mixes with the vital, the vital that is always hungry like a wolf. Just because it mixes with the vital, it takes upon itself quite a few of the problems and imperfections of the vital. At that time, the human heart teaches us to possess the world.

Alas, when we listen to the human heart, we only discover that possession is not satisfaction. There is not an iota of satisfaction in world possession. Therefore, we change teachers and go to the divine heart. The divine heart always teaches us the message of give, give and give; and while we are giving, we see that we have also become. What do we give and what do we become? We give a soulful cry and we become a fruitful smile. Our soulful cry is blessed by God’s transcendental Vision. Our fruitful smile is blessed by God’s universal Reality.

The earth binding heart and the Heaven-liberating heart. When we wallow in the pleasures of ignorance, when we lead the life of desire, the earth binding heart cannot enjoy a free access to the Real in us. But when we walk along the road of aspiration, the Heaven liberating, Heaven-enjoying heart enters into us and offers us its divinity, its supreme satisfaction, its supreme perfection.

Desire gives us the earth binding heart: the earth binding heart gives us desire. The Heaven enjoying heart gives us aspiration; aspiration gives us the Heaven enjoying heart.

Here we are all seekers. There was a time when we felt the fulfilment of desires was necessary in order to become happy. So we have fulfilled quite a few desires of ours. And what have we realised in the fulfilment of our desires? We have realised that we have acted like beggars. A beggar can never claim the plenitude, the infinitude of God’s entire creation, for he knows that there is a yawning gulf between his reality and the vast reality which is owned by somebody else.

Now we are aspiring and, in our aspiration, we have come to realise that we do not want to possess. We want only to give what we have and what we are. What we have and what we are is an inner cry to become perfect instruments of the Absolute Supreme: and what we shall establish is our conscious, constant, inseparable, unconditional oneness with the Absolute Supreme.

June 4th, 1976
Friends’ House
York, England