Knowledge is pointless if a heart is knotted

Bhidyate Hridaya granthis, chidyante sarva samshayaah… Ksiyante chasya karmaani, tasmin drishte paraavare.”

- Mundaka Upanishad 2-2-9

There are verses in the Vedanta which seem to have been specially designed for future generations of biologists, neuroscientists and physicists to unravel. This is such a verse. Of course, at the time of writing, its meaning was intuitively known. The authors wrote from direct experience. They used words that came closest to describing what they saw — words that gave meaning to experiences they knew to be utterly true.
‘Bhidyate hridaya granthis’— when the knot of the heart is finally opened…
‘Chidyante sarva samshayaah…’ the mind will stop twittering…all doubts will be resolved…
‘Ksiyante chasya karmaani…’ you will stop running around, knowing that you have finally arrived..
‘Tasmin drishte paraavare…’ as you behold the Portal of the Infinite, the Gateway to Immortality.
This is an awesome statement whose implications are far reaching. It asserts that you need go nowhere else but your own heart to have an experience of Divinity. By implication it negates a dependence on all external sources — all Gods, all temples, all religions, all rituals all chants, all book knowledge. It is a radical and devastating verse. In twelve short words it negates dependence on all Prophets, Gurus, and Godmen to ‘deliver’ us. It opens us to a democracy of spiritual thought.
All people are equal before the Spirit. All people carry the flame of Spirit within, and It is always within reach. Your own heart is a Portal to the Infinite. Find the knot and open it. That’s all you need to do to experience Divinity.
That is why the ‘opening the knot of the heart’ is considered to be a most worthwhile pursuit in Vedanta. It’s the reason why students study the writings, why they try and digest the teachings. Vedanta declares that all the knowledge in the world is of no use if the ‘knot’ of your heart isn’t opened.
Where is the “Hridaya Granthis”, the ‘knot of the heart’ located? What could this ‘knot’ be? In what way is it closed? How can it be opened? Future generations will no doubt find exact scientific answers to all these intriguing questions.
We are heading there. Medical understanding of the human heart has come a very long way since the days when the heart was just thought as a pump that circulated blood. Latest findings have spurred research into amazing new areas, ‘neuro-cardiology’ being just one.
After extensive research, scientists have introduced the concept of a functional “heart brain”. Their research work revealed that the heart has a complex intrinsic nervous system that is sufficiently sophisticated to qualify as a “little brain” in its own right. The heart also has a unique electromagnetic field that permeates all around the body and can be detected several feet outside.
This is how we can take an ECG by putting a sensor on the surface of our chest. This is also how — when someone important quietly walks into the room — your heart can suddenly skip a beat. We radiate an energy field from our hearts every second. We are sensing the fields of all others all the time and all others are sensing our field too.
These findings make absolute sense. After all, the human body has a hundred trillion cells, all working with perfect precision- each cell executing millions of reactions every second. What controls all their functioning at such nano second durations? It cannot be the physical nervous system, which moves at much slower speeds.
Obviously then it has to be some kind of Field, acting at the speed of light like an electromagnetic field, but with a subtlety and complexity way beyond our current grasp - a Field that penetrates every molecule in every cell - instructs it, controls it, directs it.
This is exactly what Vedanta says — the human heart has access to the One Source, the One Field that governs the entire Universe. The heart modifies the One Field and puts it to use to govern the human body. If we can somehow enter the heart-field, we can surf the One Field too.
The human heart holds the keys to Divinity. Call it by any scientific or spiritual name — this much is clear. Its right here — the One Field, Nirvana, Brahman — or whatever else you choose to call it. Its right here, beating quietly in the confines of your own heart.
One critical question remains — how do you ‘open the knot’? This is something we shall discuss next week.

The author is a filmmaker. Email him at mani2shankar@gmail.com