Click for audio: The Spiritual Link of Heart and Head
Part 4 of 6: Navigating from the Complete Soul
Traditionally, the heart is associated with our feeling nature, while the head is associated with our thinking side. In spiritually related terms, we’ll think of these as our intuitive and intellectual faculties. Intuition is associated with matters of the soul while the intellect tends to focus on our daily affairs.
Jesus suggested to the Pharisee, Nicodemus, that “unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:3). The well-educated Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus was talking about and he wondered how a man literally could enter a second time his mother’s womb and be born again. Jesus responded with, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (3:6). That which is born of the flesh is a reference to the purely intellectual approach to life, our taking material appearances only as the basis of our reality. That which is born of the spirit refers to the understanding that comes through our intuitive perceptions of the underlying spiritual reality.
On our own spiritual journey, it is very important for us to take time for quiet meditation. The object here is to silence the busy activities of the intellect and open our heart intuitively to the presence of God. At first we simply enjoy the peace of stepping off the busy churning of thoughts that race randomly through our mind. Eventually we become aware that there is a deeper presence asserting itself into our attention. Here we find assurance, a steadfast love that calms and strengthens us in ways that better equip us to deal with the various situations in our life. We begin to understand what it is to be born of spirit.
I don’t think Jesus would have taught his followers something they could not do. He was inviting Nicodemus to make the shift from a strict intellect to becoming more intuitively sensitive. This shift is not made through further study but through a conscious endeavor to let go and become receptive to that inner fountain of spirit that rises within each one of us. Take time to be still and turn to your indwelling spirit. You will find this a very calming act.