The beautiful voice of the Heart || Acharya Prashant, with youth (2014)

Acharya Prashant

8 min
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The beautiful voice of the Heart || Acharya Prashant, with youth (2014)

Listener 1: How to differentiate between the voice of the heart and the voice of the mind?

Speaker: Both have their certain characteristics, it is very very easy to distinguish between them. The voice of the mind is always coming from fear. So, whenever you hear a voice; your own voice and the voice is afraid, it is originating from fear. You should quickly understand that this is not the voice of my heart, this is just the voice of the conditioned, trembling mind. The voice of the mind always talks about hopes and the future; it is a ‘big’ voice talking of ‘big’ things. Do this, do that, achieve, hope, and build a future for yourself. The voice of the heart is a soft voice that has nothing to do with ‘this and that’, it does not build great plans, and it only lives in the beauty of the present. So, the moment you hear something ‘big’ talking within you, grand talks of accomplishments, ambitions, you must quickly understand that this too is the voice of the mind; this is not the voice of the heart.

Next thing.

The voice of the mind is always a very reasonable voice. The mind is very smart, it is voice will be a well calculated voice, it will talk in logic, it will have rationale and reason, it will convince through argument, it will be the voice of a businessman- ‘how much do I gain? How much do I lose?’. Reason and calculation would be there. Whenever you find yourself thinking in terms of reason, logic, calculation, profit and loss, you must quickly understand that this is the voice of the…?

All listeners: Mind.

Speaker: Mind.

The voice of the heart is very very unreasonable, it knows no logic, it appears very very unreasonable. If you were to ask it that why must I do what you are telling me to do? The heart will say that why should there be a reason? Just do, that kind of voice, which says, ‘reasons are not important’. You will tell the heart that convince me, give me an argument, the heart will just smile. It will say that there are no arguments, there is only the truth and the truth needs no arguments, it is already there. It is an unreasonable voice. You cannot ask the heart to explain. The mind will always be able to explain; the heart cannot explain. Why it moves in a particular direction? Why it is longing for something?

The voice of the mind is the voice of a very civilized man; it is the voice of the society itself. So, the mind will talk a voice which follows lot of etiquette:

A socially acceptable voice.

A civilized voice.

A gentleman’s voice.

Where as the voice of the heart is the voice of the drunkard; it is the voice of somebody who is drunk.

Happily drunk,

Singing in his intoxication.

He knows no civilization.

He knows no etiquette.

He is just inebriated.

Fully immersed in something very beautiful and he is singing from there.

And even his song is a very unreasonable song. Society might not like that song, but it is a beautiful song, that is the voice of the heart.

Are you getting it? So the voice of the heart may actually be a dangerous voice, because there is no reason, because there is no ambition, because the society will not like it, and that is the reason why you do not listen to the voice of the heart.

Mind says, ‘go and get something’. Heart says, ‘what is there to get, everything is already there’, and you tell the heart that what nonsense are you talking? There is nothing, I am so poor, I need to get something, the mind is my friend, the heart is so stupid. Yes!

The mind will always call the heart stupid, but the heart has the wisdom that the mind can never have. The heart knows a thousand things that the mind can never know. The mind only has borrowed stuff taken from here and there: Parents, society, religion, books, and media. So, what can the poor mind know? It can only accumulate; all its knowledge is borrowed. The heart really knows without anybody telling it. The knowledge of the heart is original; it has not taken it from anywhere. So, even if the mind says that the heart is stupid, do not just believe the mind. If you identify with the mind and then you look at the heart, you will not find anything attractive in the heart, you will not listen to its voice, but if you sit in the heart, if you go close to the heart, then you will realize the beauty of the heart and the stupidity of the mind. Then you will say, ‘now I know where my real home is. Now I know who my real friend is. Mind is not my friend, the heart is my friend’. But that requires courage because the mind will terrify you. The mind will say, ‘how can you do something illogical? I have logic, I have reasons, come to me’, but the mind is so poor, just borrowed stuff. What can a beggar give to anybody? What can you get by going close to the mind? It is simple, you will know.

Heart speaks in music; mind knows no music.

The heart speaks softly, it whispers; the mind speaks like a dictator, it shouts.

You will know, it is so easily distinguishable.

The heart calls for love; the mind calls for targets.

The heart says, ‘give, you have so much, nothing will reduce, keep giving’; the mind says, ‘take, you are a poor man, take from everybody, keep gathering’.

There is no way you can be confused between the voice of the heart and the voice of the mind, they are two very very different voices. The mind says, ‘be afraid, the world is a terrible place, anything can happen to you. The heart says, ‘you are always in your home, wherever you are, nothing can ever happen to you. You sing and dance and enjoy, you are alright’.

The mind says, ‘even if you have to dance, go and rehearse first, all your steps should be very well calculated and well practiced steps. If you have to dance, go so that you may get a lot of applause’. The heart says, ‘you want to dance, dance right now. Dance in the rain, dance on the floor, dance in the sun, dance if you are with somebody, dance if you are without somebody, and don’t worry about how well you dance. Forget the steps; just dance. The mind says, ‘alright, even to dance you need some music, play the music. The heart says, ‘it is always there and I can hear it’. The mind says, ‘how can you hear it? There is no music. The heart says, ‘you cannot hear it, I can hear it, it is there.

The mind says, ‘beauty is only when somebody looks in this particular way, when something is shiny, when somebody talks like this’. The heart says, ‘beauty is when you love, beauty is within you’. The mind says, ‘but I do not see any beauty’. The heart says, ‘I see that’.

Listener: Sir, I am confused to decide between further studies or a job in future.

Speaker: Whichever way is the way of fear and hope and ambition, that way is the way of the calculative mind and walking down that way, you will only get more fear, more ambition, more confusion; it is a certainty. Nothing done out of fear and greed can ever bring you any peace or happiness. So ask yourself, ‘Am I doing this in love or am I doing this in fear or greed? Am I entering this because I really want to enter?’

Ask yourself and be clear.

Excerpted from a ‘Shabd-Yog’ session. Edited for clarity.

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/qYfdmU3Iaj8

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