Intuition over logic 2: the heart as mind

In Tibetan Buddhism, it is the heart that is seen as the place where the mind resides. This struck me as odd when I was first talking to a Tibetan person and they talked about knowing something in their mind – and pointed at their chest as they spoke. I was mystified… why point there, I thought, surely the mind is in our heads!

That fundamental difference between western culture and the eastern sense of self is really important. So often we find ourselves stuck in our heads, ungrounded in the things that are around us. We live in a dreamland detached from reality. And this is because we regard as superior all that we think is going on in our heads – in our brains.

But that isn’t the only place where our mind is active. The sense of mind, of the source of thinking and of all that we create from within can come from different places within our body.

We can think of this simply as the hearts and minds idea. If we live purely in our heads and rely on the logic of thinking that will bias how we approach the world. There is another place, our intuition – the mind that resides in our heart that will give us a different view of the world. This heart mind will help us to tap into something deeper than the overarching logic of the head mind.

However, to some extent this heart and mind distinction that we have in the west doesn’t entirely capture what I am talking about. This is not the distinction between thinking and feeling – it runs deeper than that.  It’s more about the different ways in which we can think about things. Until we find a still voice deep within us that is guiding us.

When we reach down into our hearts for the answer to the challenges that face us in life, we can move forward and discover things that are truly startling. Life becomes more magical when seen through the heart mind.

Through accessing this deeper intuition we become able to make giant leaps to solutions that are not available to us if we follow a linear path of logic. And there is the grist of the creative source. That which flows through us rather than from us.

So, the next time you are struggling with a problem or with something that life has thrown at you – don’t just rely on the thinking in your head for a solution. Instead, kick back and relax, and try to access what your heart is giving you about this. Listen to that and move forwards.