Heart

In the physical body, the heart is the vital centre of physical functions, circulating nourishment to all the other organs. Interestingly, the heart is also a powerful symbol of emotion. In many contexts, when we use the word ‘heart’ we think of love. Love is one of the most worthwhile feelings we can experience. A heart full of love allows us to pass the time with peace and contentment. A loving heart is forgiving. No matter what happens around us, the loving heart will take all situations lightly and with understanding. It will even be able to appreciate negative happenings as a source of growth and be grateful for that.

But what if our heart actually feels full of pain, distrust, anguish or whatever the mind dumps there? Just as a physically impaired heart will disrupt the whole body, so a heart which is heavy and distressed in the emotional sense will affect our well-being in every way. The sensations that flow from such a heart will filter unease into every part of the body. The eye will see the worst in everyone and everything; the brain will produce negative thoughts and responses; the tongue will find good food unpalatable; the ear will crave to hear the scandals and shortcomings of others; the mouth will speak words of bitterness and falsehood and worst of all, a sick heart will even turn away from God’s love.

If we find ourselves in this state we know things are awry with us. So, if we feel bereft of love – estranged from others, from ourselves, and without love for the Master, what can we do?

The cure is the tried and tested remedy – simran and bhajan. In Philosophy of the Masters, Vol. I, Maharaj Sawan Singh writes:

When one is torn by cares and anxieties, when his body is diseased, when he is deeply immersed in domestic worries … even then, if he repeats the simran of the Lord, he shall attain inner calm and peace.

And if we are so fed up and downhearted that our mind refuses to say the holy words, what then? What can we do if we become too lazy to get out of bed and sit up for meditation, go to satsang or read a Sant Mat book? What do we do when we don’t even want to try to cure ourselves?

Actually every minute of the day, the Master’s holy energy is always with his initiates. Nothing and no one can disrupt this invincible force. In its own way and in its own time, our heart-sickness will disperse and we will find the strength to engage with simran again. Maharaj Charan Singh told us in Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. III:

On the path, we are always going ahead and ahead. But we have to pass through so many phases; so many human failings are there. But we ultimately overcome them. The Lord doesn’t commit any mistakes. If he has marked someone, he has got to pull him to his own level. We commit mistakes, but not the One who has marked us, who is pulling us from within.

He will infuse his love into us so that it reaches every cell; our brain will start with one positive thought which will lead to another and then another. As he helps us think positively, our heart starts on the road to healing itself and we understand Maharaj Charan Singh as he goes on to tells us:

You see, the Lord has given us so much in life, but we don’t have that thankful heart. Instead of asking the Father to give us the boons in life, we should ask him to give us that heart which is full of gratitude for what he has given us.

With this sense of gratitude, comes the knowledge: of course the Master loves me, he is love; he only knows how to love. He loves me and he loves everyone all the time, eternally, forever.

Then the joy starts, then the simran in all seriousness, then real meditation. This is how we experience his love; this is how we stay with his love, and this is how the heart stays healthy and open to enjoy this amazing encounter.

Whatever good or bad happens to you, through whatever person or object, directly proceeds from our loving Father. All persons and objects are but tools in his hand. If an evil befalls you, think it his greatest mercy. We have to suffer for our past actions sooner or later. Our Master, by taking us through these sufferings speedily, intends to relieve us of our burden earlier. And by this early payment of debt – because debt it is – the amount of the suffering is very much lessened. If we had to pay one ton at first, now we are released by paying one pound only.
_{Maharaj Sawan Singh, The Dawn of Light}