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Last Updated on August 5, 2015

Hṛdaya Yoga (Hridaya Yoga) is Yoga of the Heart. The word Hṛdaya is also written in the forms Hrdaya (without the diacritic dot under the r) and Hridaya (a phonetic English form of the word). I may use any and all of these spellings in my writing about the Hṛdaya and Hṛdaya Yoga.

The Hridaya is the spiritual/cosmic heart centre within Man. In this first part (Part One) of Exploring Hrdaya Yoga, we will take a look at what the Hṛdaya is. The best way to perhaps start that discovery is by quoting the great saint Ramana Maharishi from when he described the Hṛdaya centre to a student of his:

Here [referring to the right side of the chest] lies the Heart, the Dynamic, Spiritual Heart. It is called Hridaya and is located on the right side of the chest and is clearly visible to the inner eye of an adept on the Spiritual Path. Through meditation you can learn to find the Self in the cave of this Heart.

Ramana Maharishi also explained to another student the following:

“Just as there is a cosmic center from which the whole universe arises and has its being and functions with the power or the directing energy emanating therefrom, so also is there a center within the frame of the physical body wherein we have our being. This center in the human body is in no way different from the cosmic center. It is this center in us that is called the Hridaya, the seat of Pure Consciousness, realized as Existence, Knowledge and Bliss. This is really what we call the seat of God in us.

“It is this Hridaya that is said to be different from the physical heart, regulating the blood circulation. The Hridaya has its being on the right side and is not commonly known or felt. The primary thought in us arising as ‘I,’ when traced to its source, ends somewhere in us and this place, where all thoughts die, where the ego has vanished, is the Hridaya. From this center is felt and enjoyed the Pure Consciousness.

“Hridaya described as ‘the literal, actual, physical seat of the intuition of the Self’ has the meaning explained above. Perhaps the words ‘physical seat’ may create some confusion. What it really means is that there is a center of Pure Consciousness in the physical body. It is related to the physical, but is not itself physical.

“The word Hridaya is a composite of hrid and ayam – “center, this”. It is the center on the right, which we reach as a result of meditation. From the Hridaya, consciousness arises to the sahasrara through the sushumna and from there spreads out to all the parts of the body through the several ‘nadis’. Then alone we become conscious of the objects around us. Man, due to the illusion that these have real existence, experiences suffering, as he strays far away from his Self. The seat from where all these arise and manifest is the Hridaya.

“Whether in sleep, joy, sorrow, fear or satisfaction, we return to this heart and that is why we feel lost to all consciousness of things around. If by meditation or Vichara we attain to our centre, the Hridaya, and thus are our real Self, we enjoy unalloyed bliss.

“In the course of tracing ourselves back to our source, when all thoughts have vanished, there arises a throb from the Hridaya on the right, manifesting as ‘Aham’ ‘Aham’. This is the sign that Pure Consciousness is beginning to reveal itself. But that is not the end in itself. Watch wherefrom this sphurana (throbbing) arises and wait attentively and continually for the revelation of the Self. Then comes the awareness, oneness of existence.

“When we steady our breath we feel the steadying of our thoughts. Then the thoughts turn inward and melt away at a point. Watching this point, where the thoughts vanish, will also help us to merge ourselves in the Hridaya.”

Hṛdaya Yoga, therefore, is the Yoga that arises from the spiritual heart centre within Man. It is also the heart’s approach to yoga practice (the various physical, mental, and spiritual practices as taught in the science of yoga (Hatha yoga, Kundalini yoga, Sexual yoga, Pranayama, etc.).

The Heart has an approach to the world and to Life what differs greatly from that of the rational mind. The approach of the Heart is orientated more towards the Feminine side of Awareness, whereas the approach of the rational mind is orientated more towards the Masculine side of Awareness. The Heart is that receptive and inclusive quality within Man. Within the spiritual Heart is Man’s capacity to embrace and incorporate all of Life… the “good”, the “bad”, the “pretty”, the “ugly”, the light and the dark. For it is within the Heart that a subtle blending of all these apparent manifestations of Life takes place, and it is through that subtle blending and the spreading of that throughout the body that Man’s experience of separation and division ends. Yoga is in essence the Union arising from that.

 

The approach of the Heart is like that of a mother to her new born baby. There is in reality nothing to think about or analyse with a new born baby. The mother does not yet have any concepts or thought-forms pertaining to that baby, because she has not yet entered into a relationship with it on that level. Instead, the mother simply embraces that child as it is, and lovingly brings the child to her breast in order to feed and nourish it. Of course, ordinary Man these days has a mind filled with fear and socially inherited misconceptions about Life. Some women are taken by that, and going into fear and mentalisation in relation to their new born child. That is a sad state of affairs, for there is really no-thing to bring to that child at a mental level. The child only requires the mother’s instinctively heart felt love and attention, and nothing more.

It is in the spiritual Heart of Man that reality as we experience is is “dreamed” into existence or into our perception. Many of the ancient cultures I am familiar with deeply understood that Man is dreaming reality into being, and that the source of this arises from a space of love deep within the heart. It is through awakening to ourselves within that spiritual Heart centre that Man is able to then consciously participate in the manifestation of his/her reality. Ordinary Man has no knowledge or comprehension of this capacity within his/her Heart… within the Hridaya.

In Part Two of this article series we will explore Hṛdaya Yoga as I understand and teach it.

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