[In this section we seek to answer frequently asked questions, at U.L.T. meetings or during private conversations and discussions with people who seek the answers in the light of Theosophy. Answers given in this section are by no means final. Only a line of thought is being offered by applying general principles of Theosophy.]

Question: Theosophical literature sometimes refers to the "Heart" of man and of Nature. Does it represent our emotional nature alone or does it stand for something definite, such as love, faith, etc.?

Answer: H.P.B. points out that the muscular heart is of greater importance as compared to other organs in the body. In the article "Psychic and Noetic Action," H.P.B. classifies the liver, the stomach and the spleen as the personal organs or Kamic organs. These organs store the memory of purely physical and personal (and selfish) deeds such as eating, drinking enjoying personal, sensual pleasures, acting so as to harm another, etc. On the other hand, the brain and heart are organs of power higher than the personality. It is only the higher forms of thought and mental experiences that can be correlated with brain and heart. H.P.B. writes: "Occultism teaches that the liver and the spleen-cells are the most subservient to the action of our 'personal' mind, the heart being the organ par excellence through which the 'Higher' Ego acts—through the Lower Self." Hence, Heart is said to be an organ of Spiritual Consciousness and corresponds to Buddhi principle, which is associated with spiritual discrimination and intuition. Chandogya Upanishad describes it thus:

There is this city of Brahman—the body—and in it the palace, the small lotus of the heart, and in it that small ether. Both heaven and earth are contained within it, both fire and air, both sun and moon, both lightning and stars; and whatever there is of the Self here in the world, and whatever has been or will be, all that is contained within it. (Vernal Blooms, p. 217)

In this, the body is compared to a city. Just as within the city there is the most important thing, a palace, so also within the body is the "lotus of the heart," corresponding to Buddhi-Manas, where there is sheer perception of Truth without reference to our likes and dislikes. There are varieties of lotus, which bloom under the rays of the moon or sun. However, if a knot is tied around the bud of the lotus, it can never bloom. Similarly, if the heart is not obstructed with too much involvement with the personality, it can reflect Akasic vibrations and ideations. "Through the Gates of Gold" says that the true heart of man, represented by the muscular heart, is the focus point for spirit, knowledge and power. However, an iron bar holds down the heart, which the Hindus call "the knot of the heart." The knot and the bar represent the astringent power of self—of egotism—of the idea of separateness. To free the heart and its powers, one has to conquer this egotism at all levels—gross to subtle—and it is difficult of surmounting near "the kernel of the heart." This egotism is like an iron bar put across the heart, and it has many strongholds. If you conquer it in its outer fringe, in its gross forms, it reappears, laughing at your imaginary conquests. Its final stand is near the "kernel of the heart" where it is most difficult of conquest. It is so subtle and appears in such delusive guise that one is not even aware of its existence.

Also, "Heart Doctrine," as opposed to "Eye Doctrine" or "Head Learning," is defined as that which sprang from Buddha's heart. It is not to be confused with personal feelings and emotional effervescence. Real heart quality is goodness combined with Wisdom. It is compassion and Buddhic quality with intuitive perception of Truth. To practise the Heart Doctrine is to have devotion to the interests of others. Heart Doctrine is the result of responding to our Divine nature, or the harmonious working of head and heart. It is said: "The heart has its own reasons, which reason knows nothing about."

In the mystical language of Light on the Path, "heart" and "blood" have yet another meaning. It says: "Before the soul can stand in the presence of the Masters, its feet must be washed in the blood of the heart." It describes a stage where the disciple is free from fear, from anxiety, from suffering, and his whole consciousness is centred in the divine life. But for this to happen, "the feet of the soul must be washed in the blood of the heart," which is attainment of equilibrium that cannot be shaken by personal emotion. Blood represents the "vital creative principle" in man's nature, which drives him into human life in order to experience pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow. When the disciple lets the blood flow from the heart he stands as a pure spirit, with the crude wish to live departed from him. He takes birth only in pursuit of a divine object and not for the sake of emotion and experience. (pp. 80-82)

We may take the heart to be the seat of faith, hope, love and devotion. As Light on the Path says, "There is a natural melody, an obscure fount in every human heart. It may be hidden over and utterly concealed and silenced—but it is there. At the very base of your nature you will find faith, hope and love." (p. 23)

In Nature, the sun is the heart of the Solar System. Our visible sun is only a shell and is the reflection of the real Sun—which is hidden behind the physical sun. The real sun is the storehouse and generator of the vital fluid. "There is a regular circulation of the vital fluid throughout our system, of which Sun is the heart." It is like the circulation of blood in the human body. (S.D., I, 541)

Question: What is gut feeling or a hunch that some people claim to experience? Some speak of the inner voice, instinctive feeling as regards judging people, prompting from within, premonition, insight, intuition, etc. Are these reliable modes of perception or are they illusions?

Answer: The above experiences are various grades of communication—a feeling or a passing thought—from ourselves to ourselves, and which are real even when vague and not always reliable.

It is difficult to categorize them in their order of usefulness or accuracy of perceptive faculty. But we are all endowed, more or less, with the ability to sense things not perceptible to ordinary physical senses. Sometimes, we can instantly judge people from their apparent "body language" or by reading faces or any physical clue that just flashes by and is instantly registered, yet not consciously recognized. These are almost like "animal instinct" by which the animals sense proper or improper food, shelter, company, etc., or apprehend a threat, deceit, etc. There is in us, as well as in the animals, an inner sentinel which warns and keeps us on guard, physically and more especially morally.

People in certain professions develop an instinctive cautiousness and readiness by training and habit. People who are expected to respond during emergency, like firemen, sentries on guard, security officers surgeons and anesthetists, martial art experts—who are expected to make quick or instant decision will have no time to measure different options. They feel something familiar that calls up the memory of earlier experiences, and respond accordingly. It has become a second nature. If you ask them, they would say, "My gut told me so!" These are the people who are habitually alert to the signs of danger, accident, etc.

By the same token, an inner sentinel can keep us morally alert to any sign of laxity or negligence, if we practise "concentration" and if we are strictly deloping our moral sense, which is a gift, present in all of us. There is an inner monitor, call it conscience or intuition, which promptly guides our decision-making with an instant warning of propriety for or against a situation or behaviour.

The voice of conscience may be persistent or instantaneous, like animal instinct, but unlike the latter its function is to warn against behaviour or thoughts which the individual has considered not proper through previous experience of learning, prejudice, traditional beliefs or brain-wahing. In a person given to practising "concentration," conscience may be active even during the dream state. But if there is genuine and persistent love of purity and integrity, the frequent promptings one gets are of a still higher nature akin to the "still small voice" of intuition which directs one to a definite action or an idea, and which must be answered with a positive response in order to keep alive this higher faculty of perception. The latter is available to a student-aspirant who subordinates his personal needs to the general good and reflects on universal ethics. It keeps on developing if one strives for ethical and spiritual betterment of self and others.

Intuition is considered in Theosophy as "Divine Conscience." The human principle of Manas, when freed from Kama or lower desire propensity, turns toward the still more luminous faculty of Buddhi for illumination, thereby becoming increasingly receptive. It manifests as intuitive "flashes," and at times as a direct vision—a sort of momentary clairvoyance. Its activity is a direct evidence of the Soul-presence in man.

Intuition, however, pertains to the higher ego, but here too it may not be fully reliable if the ego has to function through instruments which are not pure and responding to its behests. Intuition is far superior to "hunch" or the "gut-feeling" and may be called the higher aspect of the voice of conscience. Voice of conscience needs to be educated.

Finally, there is another form of spontaneous communication or a certain feeling that involves two or more persons in sympathy and having a strong bond of mutual trust and affection. These may sometimes transmit telepathic feeling or a thought-form from one to another.

Mr. Judge's advice to the student-aspirant is: "If we rely on the higher self and aspire to be guided by it, we will be led to the right, even if the road goes through pain; for sorrow and pain are necessary for the purification of the Soul."

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.

—Robert Louis Stevenson