The Silence of the Heart
The way of Silence is a way of feeling, and the heart is the centre of feeling. When we are able to place our attention into the centre of the heart, we develop the cognition of Silence because feeling is a mode of knowing. . .
Up till now we have not signified how central the heart is to the Silence. To turn to the heart, we return again to the miraculous capacity of attention as the instrument for finding our way. . .
We come to these revelations concerning the heart and Silence not by theorizing but from the immediacy of experiencing. It is possible to develop the consciousness of the heart. . . We first have to find our way into the interior of the heart with our attention. . .
In this practice we move from the heart in its physical aspect to the heart in its soul and spirit aspect. But it is the same heart, only now experienced in its interior dimensions. It is a way to heal the split conception we have of the heart, but we must do so. On the one hand, we conceive of the heart as a physical organ that shoves blood around the body like a pump. On the other hand, we conceive of the heart as the centre of feeling, joy, and love. The former conception of heart is of a substance without metaphor, whereas the latter is of a metaphor without substance. The heart, though, is a dual purpose organ, simultaneously physical and spiritual. . .
Thus the heart is the organ for perceiving interiority, the infinite region of our own interiority, and the pure interiority that defines Silence. While there, we feel quickened and enlivened, as if we are within the wellspring of life itself. . . We feel as if we are kneeling at an altar, feeling the presence of the Divine within us. We feel this life we live flowing from the divine life.