Is There a Knot of the Heart Within the Body?
Questioner: Acharya Ji, pranam. Ramana Maharshi says, “Since the self is free from the notions of knowledge and ignorance, how can it be said to pervade the entire body in the shape of sentience or to impart sentience to the senses.”
“Wise men say that there is a connection between the source of the various psychic nerves and the Self, that this is the knot of the heart that the connection between the sentient and the insentient will exist until this is cut asunder with the aid of true knowledge that just as the subtle and invisible force of electricity travels through wires and does many wonderful things, so the force of the Self also travels through the psychic nerves and, pervading the entire body, imparts sentience to the senses, and that if this knot is cut the Self will remain as it always is, without any attributes.”
And then comes the question, what is the knot of the heart connecting the sentient to the insentient? I suppose the knot is that of ignorance. Is the Maharishi speaking of discretion to identify the false from the true or something else? What is the force of electricity referred to in the text?
Acharya Prashant: You See, there is the physical process of the body and then there is the consciousness that is longing for the self because it is rooted in the formless self. Therefore, saints and wise people have always wondered and therefore speculated that there must be someplace, some point where these two meet. Otherwise, the existence of the human being is not possible. The human being is such an impossible confluence. The sentient and insentient, Jad and Chetan, the material and the para-material converge in the human being.
So, they said, they postulated, that surely there is some knot within, where these two are being kept together. Otherwise, how can the human being exist? And, because the human being is a mass of suffering and another name for ignorance, so they said, “When this knot is cut ascender, then the human being will be liberated.” In some sense, this knot is the knot of attachment of consciousness to material. This knot is where consciousness gets knotted to the material.
The immaterial gets knotted to the material. Now, obviously, that is tangibly not possible. So, no such material does not exist within the body. Even if such a material does not exist within the body, you will not see the material being tied to the immaterial there. Why? Because the immaterial cannot be seen. So, you will not be able to see any knots.
To be able to see that knot you should be able to see, the two ends. Right? The two sides of the knot. Only one side can be seen because by definition this knot is where the material side meets the immaterial side. So, even if such a knot exists what would you be able to see with your material eyes? Only the material side, so will you be able to see the knot? So, actually, no such physical knot exists. And, a lot of spiritual energy of so-called spiritual people, has often gone towards looking for such a knot.
Now, we will revisit what the Maharshi is saying, “Since the self is free from the notions of knowledge and ignorance, how can it be said to pervade the entire body in the shape of sentience or to impart sentience to the senses?” Now pay attention, “Wise men say that there is a connection between the source of the various psychic nerves and the Self, that this is the knot of the Heart, that the connection between the sentient and the insentient will exist until it is cut asunder with the aid of true knowledge, that just as the subtle and invisible force of electricity travels through wires and does many wonderful things, so the force of the Self also travels through the psychic nerves and, pervading the entire body, imparts sentience to the senses, and that if this knot is cut, the cells will remain as it always is, without any attributes.”
Get the gist! Get the drift! The Maharishi is presenting a model. Do not take the model as material. I will repeat that well-known caution which is as ignored as it is well known. What is that caution? “Be careful with pointers.” Pointers want you to look at some place, they do not want you to take the pointing element or pointing aid itself too seriously. What is the model that the Maharshi is presenting here?
He is saying, “So, there is the body, and the body is material. But look at the senses, they are operating. They are operating, correct? And they feed material to the mind, information to the mind, and the mind has the power to process and understand. Therefore, something is happening here that is beyond material. No machine can really understand. No camera can ever comprehend. No structure can ever go beyond its architecture or programming. And. If, it is to go beyond its architecture, that would have to be contained in the architecture.
But in the body, something beyond the material seems to be happening. The brain not merely is the seat of storage of information or processing of information, we are also able to come to a cessation of information. By hearing the words of a saint with these very material ears we are able to come to peace. So, what is powering this machine? Something beyond itself must be powering this machine.
The model presented is that of let’s say, a capacitor or a dynamo, some source from where electricity is being released. So, what is being said is electricity being released from that center and that electricity is consciousness. Because all consciousness comes from the self, and then through psychic nerves it is reaching the eyes, the ears, all the senses, and the skin, and it is making them sentient. Just as electricity reaches various equipments and makes them work, similarly the source of electricity is the true self, and from there that energy arises and proceeds via the psychic wires to the various senses.
That’s what Maharshi is saying, he’s presenting it as a model. A model needs to be taken just as a model. Then he says, “Once the connection of the source of electricity to the various sense organs is cut asunder, disrupted, then all that will remain is the true and blissful self alone.” It is a way to explain to the people. But if you take this model too seriously then you will find that you are objectifying the self, you are turning it into some kind of electrical equipment, which it is not, neither is it something that is contained within the body.
So, just use this quote to understand what the Maharshi is trying to point at, not beyond that. There is actually no knot. There is actually no self within the body. There are actually no psychic wires. You can cut the body open and investigate every single tissue and cell you will not find any psychic nerves. There is no self within the body. Getting it?
