Ramana Maharshi’s explanation of Heart
Maharshi: Heart is usually understood to be the muscular organ lying on the left of the chest. The Modern Psychological Review speaks of the physical organ on the left and the Heart centre on the right. The Bible says that a fool’s heart is on the left and a wise man’s on the right. Yoga Vasishta says that there are two hearts; the one is samvit (Existence/Intelligence/Awareness); and the other the blood-vessel.
Maharshi: I ask you to see where the ‘I’ arises in your body, but it is really not quite correct to say that the ‘I’ rises from and merges in the Heart in the right side of the chest. The Heart is another name for Reality and it is neither inside nor outside the body. There can be no in or out for it, since it alone is.
Maharshi: The Heart is used in the Vedas and the scriptures to denote the place from where the notion ‘I’ springs. Does it spring only from the fleshy ball? It springs within us somewhere right in the middle of our being. The ‘I’ has no location. Everything is the Self. There is nothing but that.
