In a discussion on Reframing Emotions, personal vs. impersonal perspectives arose. Seeing with the heart vs. seeing with the intellect.
I’ve spoken of this a number of times, both on it’s role in the awakening process and in how we see the world.
The personal is seeing the world from the heart, intimate and alive. It is seeing the seen, the expression of consciousness in all things. It is exploring how things are created and connected. It is seeing the flow of Love in all being, Shakti. It is intention, creative power, beauty. This approach is less familiar to western culture so may show up later on the path, especially for men. It is key for God Realization.
The impersonal is the way of the intellect, of discrimination. It is what allows us to see the seer itself, who we are and how it is we see what is there. It is how we see the mechanics of becoming, how the seer becomes the seen. It is the flow of intellect that structures all being. It is Shiva. It is attention. It is truth. It is key for Self Realization and Unity.
These aspects are not separate things – just the same thing seen in different ways. The 2 modes of seeing help us see the full picture. Help us complete the journey.
There is one cosmic being. We are that one. We share everything. We are never separated. We simply appear to open to ourselves so that we may know ourselves more fully. Small shifts in being and seeing unfolds everything to ourselves.
Davidya
Hi Davidya,
I would add that just as the personal, the way of Shakti might show up later on the path for men, like that, the way of Shiva, especially in expressions of discrimination and impersonal Love, may show up later on the path for women. There might even be some reluctance to step into Unity if only because it seems to be an obliteration of the Beloved Other.
Thank you for such beautiful discernments (-;
Hi Share
Yes, in some ways this may be true. But heart resistance is more a barrier to progress than the intellect. One must pass through the heart and do at least some of that before unity. But a heart route naturally takes one towards unity. In some ways, stepping all the way into the impersonal may not be necessary. Depends on the path.
There are several curious points on the path where it seems you’re about to step off a cliff. If I go further I will loose X. Then you make the step and discover nothing is really lost and everything is gained.
The Beloved is one of them. I did experience obliteration of the Beloved but soon found a much deeper, more intimate relationship was now possible. Others don’t seem to need the obliteration step – just the clear seeing. And the clear or resolute intellect will arise even in the Bhakti. It is the simple nature of Being.
Hi D, One of my spiritual teachers says, “The mind is filled with love.” I’ve always wondered if that means the heart is filled with truth. Is the simple nature of Being that love and truth are the same? That heart and mind are of the same continuum?
Nice. Reminiscent of the wonderful quotation for Aniis Nin: “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
Hi Share
No. The mind filled with Love doesn’t mean an opposite in the heart. It’s an also. When we discover the depths of love in the heart, soon we discover it in everything. Even the mind is filled with love. In fact, is nothing but love. The heart and mind are just variations in expression of the one continuum, yes, flowing within itself.
Hi Kaushik
Yes, as we are. But the are also 2 modes of seeing. We can as if “shift focus” or “gears” and thus see the world in a different way. Within one state or being, 2 ways of seeing.
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