- by Roy Kirkland
In our modern world, we have re-defined intellegence to mean the ability to collect, sort and retrieve information. Tests in schools are designed to judge how much one can remember, not how well one thinks. In fact, most modern institutions have been gradually phasing out the whole concept of education as a tool to better the world by creating philosophers and great thinkers. Great thinkers and philosophers are ignored or marginalized, and the anti-intellectual movement of some countries has become such an ingrained part of modern culture that children don't want to be thought of as 'smart'.
This is only because most of us have forgotten that intellegence comes from the heart, not from memorized information.
In many cultures, people identify themselves by pointing at the heart, not the head. In many languages, the words for intellegence, knowledge, spirit and other attributes of "that which separates humans from animals" are derived from the word for heart. We use the heart as a symbol for one's all, one's best or one's integrity, as in expressions like "he really put his heart into it" or "her heart is in the right place". It can be demonstrated that 'emotional intellegence' (which integrates the feeling world and the world of information), is a far more powerful indicator of success and happiness than the IQ, a culturally distinct measurement of information retention.
In almost all religious teachings, deist or not, one's compassion, love, joy and sense of equality are considered as either the manifestation of the best human qualities or an expression of an individual's closeness to god. The practice of cultivating these qualities is at the heart of Yoga, Tantra, Kabbalah and many other mystical exercise systems. The majority of these practices help turn the focus of attention on to the heart, consequently releasing its power. The experience of the conscious connection with the heart is usually followed by experiences such as lucid dreams, healing, siddhis (superpowers such as telepathy), and eventually states of ever increasing bliss.
Practitioners of the philosophical and metaphysical systems of both the East and the West tend to believe that intellegence that does not serve the betterment of the quality of life is, in fact, ignorance, and ignorance supports greater suffering. They also believe that improving one's own life improves the lives of those with whom one comes in contact. They worked towards a universally applicable 'language' composed of speech, bodily expression, and philosophy. When they found it, they realized that it was always there, waiting in the heart without a cause or reason for being there, radiant and full of joy.
It is really easy to bring the breath to the heart and abide in positive feeling for a little while, but very difficult to do without understanding of the immense power of the heart and its role in the life of a human being.
Most people think of the heart as a pump, but it is much more than that. The heart is the vibrational center of the human being, and, in fact, regulates the brain, the emotions and the chemistry of the body: it works from before birth, and life ceases when it stops operating. The heart is the most powerful organ in the body. It expresses itself in four ways -
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