Themes for the heart centre
We have been working with two systems of the chakras: one, the yogic system of the seven chakras, form a vertical line corresponding with the subtle spine, the nervous system, the endocrine glands and the ascending transformation of consciousness. The second is the system of the Zikr of the Broom from the Naqshbandi Sufi tradition which emphasises evolution of consciousness through transformation in the heart, with three centres forming a horizontal line at that level, intersecting with the vertical line of centres. We will distinguish here some of the main attributes of the heart in each system.
In the yogic tradition
The name : the sanscrit name, Anahata, means ‘unbeaten (sound)’, a non-physical sound which continues without beginning or end. The primordial sound, source of all sound, which issues from beyond the material world. Manifests in the heart: eternal, unborn, undying vibrations, the pulse of the universe.
Connect with the yogic chakra, the Anahata, and its energy through:
Element: Air. Prana.
Associated: heart and cardiac plexus
Colour: green; Pir Vilayat worked with gold for this chakra, symbolizing divine love
The sense of touch ‘in the form of subtle air’
Sense organ: skin
Work or active organ: hands
In the Naqshbandi Sufi tradition
of the Zikr of the Broom there are three centres at the level of the heart: The Qalbiya in the left breast with the colour red, the Ruhia in the right breast with the colour white, the Sirriya in the centre of the chest with the colour emerald green and gold.
The Qalbiya relates to deep themes and symbols of our personal and collective unconscious and mythologies. Evolution of the Qalbiya opens cosmic consciousness and compassion. It mediates between the body and the Ruhiya.
Qalb, means turning, overturning, changing
a. God holds the human heart between two fingers and constantly turns it to align with His being. The heart liberated from the ego is aligned with Love and Truth in every instant.
Qualities: faith, vision, understanding, remembrance
b. Qalb also means mediating between spirit and nafs,
The heart is rotating back and forth between the subtle influences of the spirit and the gross influences of the nafs. It rotates between good and evil, right and wrong, spirit and body, heaven and earth, light and dark, love and passion.
Quality: evolution
c. Qalb also means resorption of multiplicity into unity, and manifestation of unity in multiplicity, ie fluctuation between divine or cosmic, and human consciousness
Only the heart through ‘fluctuation’ from one state to another, perceives God as Manifest and Nonmanifest, similar and incomparable, present and absent, near and far.
Ruhiya, means Spirit. Pir Zia teaches:
Ruhiya marks the transition to the transpersonal dimension
Our soul-spirit is an act of the divine light, of the Divine Spirit.
Spirit pervades the body as fragrance pervades a flower.
Qualities: innocence, wonderment, glorification.
Associated with the plane of Malakut: reclaiming our angelic nature.
Sirriya means the secret
This is associated with the plane of Jabarut: revealed knowledge rather than acquired knowledge, knowledge which transcends duality of subject-object: ‘I am’ rather than ‘I am [my name]’
It is knowledge by presence, the light of awareness; all light is the manifestation of a single luminous essence
Qualities: immediacy of knowing, self-presence, affinity with all things without intermediary
(With the angelic level where there is still some vague sense of personal identity)
In the Sufi tradition, the human heart is:
• the Throne of God in the creation,
• the spiritual capacity of the human being
• the site of all revelations of the divine mysteries through different levels of the Essence
It reveals true knowledge, receives comprehensive intuition, has the capacity for knowing God (gnosis)
Behavioural characteristics of the heart in both yogic and Sufi traditions include:
Clarity of consciousness. Ability to become centred, concentrate, meditate.
Mastery of one’s self and one’s life. Awareness of one’s spiritual goal in life.
Dedication, devotion, faith, self-confidence.
Faith in the divine, and become a source of faith for others.
Worshiping God with love, finding God everywhere and in everything.
Compassion and love flows through their whole being.
Harmlessness, people feel secure in their presence.