Jacqueline is the author of two books on spirituality, Wonder and Words and Oceans and Clouds. She has been practicing Heartfulness meditation for over thirty years and is also a Chinese medicine practitioner in France and Switzerland.

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Jacqueline Camisa

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  JACQUELINE CAMISA explores the nature of the heart, and invites us all
  to experience its wonders.
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<p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify">
  The heart is a fascinating organ to explore, not only for cardiologists.
  Because of its central position, its role is paramount for physical
  health, but who amongst us knows that it also has the upper hand over
  intelligence, thought, judgment, discernment and caring about others?
  Even more, it manages in a masterful way a third, even subtler level –
  our evolution.
</p>
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  In these days of globalization, with the problems that have arisen, is
  the current instability that we see among human beings being addressed?
  If it is possible for a good gardener to care for and save plants that
  are threatened, is it not possible to do the same by going directly to
  the heart of human nature, and so treat and care for man’s heart? This
  is certainly an ambitious initiative, yet pragmatic and urgent.
</p>
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  We all feel our heartbeat, this relay point between the animate and the
  inanimate. The heart beats, gets excited, and sometimes misses beats. A
  doctor checks blood pressure and pulse rate, monitors the heart through
  an ECG,&nbsp; performs ultrasound echography, and sometimes does deeper
  functional exploration to secure our physical health, and physical
  exercise and diet contribute to fitness and well-being. Despite all our
  care and efforts the day comes, however, when the heart stops. This is
  the end of our earthly existence. But is it the end of life? This life
  has been infused by the heart, because it is through the heart that life
  is transmitted.
</p>
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  This life has been infused by the heart,<br />
  because it is through the heart<br />
  that life is transmitted.
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<p style="text-align: justify">
  This was revealed in Chinese documents several thousand years ago, in
  which the heart is presented as the conductor of our body symphony. From
  the third week of pregnancy, a ‘little heart’, known as the heart tube
  by embryologists, is already active, generating our organs and
  organizing their physiology, and transforming us continually. Ultimately
  it is helping us evolve. Elaboration and organization, transformation
  and, finally, evolution are the three stages attributed to the heart.
</p>
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  By giving ‘the little heart’ the name ‘the door of destiny’, Chinese
  philosophy attests the possibility of evolution beyond the physical
  body. So let’s look at the heart in its various stages and rhythms.
</p>
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  <span style="color: #bf63a2">The physical level</span>
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  Physical evolution in human beings has been very slow and rather
  limited. On one hand it has taken thousands of years for human beings to
  reach the stage they are today. On the other hand our parents and their
  descendants’ genetic data continue to impose their limitations. Even in
  the most favorable conditions we can only hope to be a little taller and
  a little more developed physically than our ancestors, as this will
  always be within the limits of a genetic program. To change the color of
  our skin or to stem old age is impossible for us, despite all the
  creams, cosmetics and vitamins displayed on the attractive shelves of
  health food shops.
</p>
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  The physical body is a temporary but necessary vehicle to carry us
  further through this adventure of life towards another more subtle
  level. And what is that? Perhaps it is the mind level. We are tempted to
  believe so.
</p>
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  <span style="color: #f58b2f">The mind level</span>
</h5>
<p style="text-align: justify">
  <img alt="spiritual-relationship" class="lazyload w-100"
    src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/globalization_through_the_heart_img1_ba96eb5b6b.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-30T13:00:34.248Z" />Since
  the Greeks, the mind continues to be the favorite playground of
  the Western world. We just have to look at our bookshelves. This
  academic affluence is proof of an interest to educate and instruct over
  the long term. However, has it really brought about real human
  transformation?
</p>
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  Fascinating as they are, have all the mental speculations helped us to
  develop simple wisdom embodied in our daily behavior? Or, even more
  modestly, do we now find a simple state of balance in human character in
  general? The present human context raises serious doubts.
</p>
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  Besides this already distressing observation, we know that we only use
  around 10% of our mental capacity. This&nbsp; compels us to humbly
  acknowledge that our most ambitious and remarkable initiatives are
  accomplished within such a narrow frame that our mental vision exists
  within a very thin beam. We focus upon this thin beam to the extent that
  we are blind to everything outside its sphere.
</p>
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  If we add to this the intense and accelerated media frenzy bombarding us
  day after day, the question of us having a mind capable of raising us is
  under question. How can we evolve when the mind is becoming heavier and
  heavier? Sensations, passions, urges and desires generate prejudice,
  habits and thought patterns. As the mind becomes heavier, it is less
  qualified to help us reach a higher level of consciousness.
</p>
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  The brain does, however, have a constant regeneration capacity. So is it
  right to keep it functioning at an optimal level. Reading, attending
  lectures, doing crosswords, mental calculations, games, art therapy,
  yoga, tai qi, chi gong, music and other activities boost our physical
  and psychic energies, but is all this sufficient to lead us to a more
  subtle level? A change of paradigm is required to rise vertically. As
  Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of
  consciousness that created it.”
</p>
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  So we must pass on to another stage, subtler than the mind level, for
  our evolution. This is the level of the soul, or the&nbsp;cause of our
  existence.
</p>
<h5><span style="color: #a080ab">The causal level, the soul</span></h5>
<p style="text-align: justify">
  <img alt="spiritual-relationship" class="lazyload w-100"
    src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/globalization_through_the_heart_img2_36902042c3.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-30T13:01:15.307Z" />To
  consider the soul as being only within the domain of religion is
  another obstacle on the path of a well understood evolution. This
  understanding appeared during the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th
  century.
</p>
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  When the scientific, rationalist mind tried to free itself from
  religious dominance, there was significant collateral damage: that of
  assigning the soul only to the field of religion. For a certain time
  this prevented any serious observation and scientific experimentation on
  the causal level of our existence.
</p>
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  But the human soul belongs to no domain, no institution and no religion.
  It belongs to each one of us because we all have a heart. Wherever we
  were born, and whatever our previous cultural, religious (or
  nonreligious) and community background, the soul level is our common
  identity card. It is our only passport to exit from this life to the
  next stage. Today, research on the world of the spirit is evident
  everywhere, in all cultures, and more and more there is a call for inner
  experimentation, even scientific experimentation.
</p>
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  The human soul belongs to no domain,<br />
  no institution and no religion.<br />
  It belongs to each one of us because we all have a heart.<br />
  Wherever we were born, and<br />
  whatever our previous cultural, religious (or<br />
  non-religious) and community background,<br />
  the soul level is our common identity card.<br />
  It is our only passport to exit from this life to the next stage.
</h5>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify">
  All ancient traditions were aware of the spiritual level of existence.
  The ancient Indian tradition claimed that a regulated and clear mind
  allows access to spiritual spheres. For example, in Raja Yoga, as a
  first step we go deep inside ourselves through meditation to experience
  the vast inner world, and then make use of these discoveries to embody
  them in daily life in a pragmatic way. A mind conscious of the unity of
  everything through experience, and no longer influenced by dogmas and
  theories, becomes calm and keen to care about others, while assuming its
  personal responsibilities.
</p>
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  Ancient Chinese wisdom recommended meditation, so that men could become
  “true men,” “real men”. Chinese medicine is the practical application of
  these discoveries in the health field through inner experimentation.
  Wise men, real men, of all cultures have always condensed their
  experiences into a few words, such as sutras or aphorisms. Here again
  there has been collateral damage throughout human history, as disciples
  and commentators who have not had the same personal experiences have
  distorted their meaning through interpretation and created dogma from
  their contents. This shows just how much the still narrow beam has
  remained powerless to infuse a rise in consciousness. This is also the
  reason why everywhere in the world the subtle essence of spirituality
  has remained hidden under various and numerous religious expressions.
</p>
<p>
  Between the spirit, which surpasses our earthly destiny, and the means
  we have to determine our destiny, the heart is our laboratory where
  wonders occur. To put it simply, we can change everything through the
  heart. The heart is joy, laughter, gratitude and love.
</p>
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  Let us dare to experience this heart globalization.<br />
  We all have the opportunity to experience this realm,<br />
  a space with no right of property,<br />
  with equal access by all, to be shared fraternally.<br />
  In fact this is its universal value.
</h5>
<hr />
<p>
  Let us dare to experience this heart globalization. We all have the
  opportunity to experience this realm, a space with no right of property,
  with equal access by all, to be shared fraternally. In fact this is its
  universal value.
</p>
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<h5 style="text-align: center">Article by JACQUELINE CAMISA</h5>
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