In the name of God, I am at your service for the presentation of the sixteenth article with the title "The Meaning and Function of the Heart". This article raises a general discussion, but we raise it in this part of the collection, because you have got acquainted with backgrounds in previous articles that are important for understanding this discussion. It is hoped that by studying this article you realize that all that preparing of the ground was with the goal of understanding the meaning of the heart and perceiving the concept of the heart requires studying previous articles.

Text of the Article

The heart represents the mechanism by which shaped data—arising from practical experience—are transformed into abstract concepts on one hand, and the application of results derived from rational experience back into the Shaped Space on the other. Now, let us review the stages of the presence of the heart:

1. Entering the realm of forms or Shaped Space for practical experience, with full observance of time and space parameters.

2. Creating a secure channel to transfer the collected data from the input gateways to the active rational, safely navigating through the Illusory Mental Space.

3. Extracting abstract concepts through rational experience, in order to form an imaginative space within the mind for deeper interaction with the unconscious mind.

4. Generating a Space of Will (space of intention) within the mind, to convert abstract concepts back into shaped data, preparing them for external action.

5. Creating a secure channel to transfer the shaped data—now refined by the Space of Will (space of intention)—from the Space of Will (space of intention) to the output gateways, again carefully passing through the Illusory Mental Space.

6. Re-entering the Shaped Space, this time for the execution of willful action, again in strict observance of time and space parameters.

The Illusory Mental Space arises due to the connection between the mind and the Imaginal Body as well as the mind's interaction with the Shaped Space. When shaped data from the Imaginal Body and the Shaped Space enter the mind without respecting time and space boundaries, and without proper cognitive processing, they generate mental agitation and disturbance. Moreover, the use of pre-processed information from other human minds, especially when such information fails to align with the time and space conditions of the receiving mind, further exacerbates this internal turmoil.

Explanation of the Article

The initial definition of the heart is this: the heart, on one hand, is the transformation of shaped data arising from practical experience into abstract concepts. That is, you obtain shaped data through practical experiences; and the heart is that same mechanism that receives these shaped data at its input gateways. By "input gateways" we mean anything that is accompanied by sense: you use sight, you see or hear an event, you touch an object, you taste a flavor. This practical experience of yours gives you data; data that become the inputs of processing. Processing for what? For abstract concepts, which we call "abstract concepts", to emerge. For example, seeing or smelling a flower: the abstract concept obtained there is "beauty".

But if that concept is obtained, the work is not finished; you must return after all. You cannot remain in that abstract space forever; being in the abstract space also has an instantaneous state. That is, you reach beauty, but you do not stay there, and without perhaps your realizing it correctly at first, you see that you are automatically returning to the scene. This second stage can be called "the application of results arising from rational experience"; meaning this too is included in the concept of the heart. Why "rational experience"? Because when you obtained those abstract concepts, you must perform studies on them, determine their boundaries, describe that obtained concept, and be able to classify it. All of this is what we call "ratiocination" (khradvarzi - intellection); reason enters the work so that you can return to the Shaped Space and enter these results well into the Shaped Space and continue your experience. So you saw these two aspects—going and returning.

For this general description to become more precise, we redefine it in six stages: if a heart really exists—meaning this concept, this mechanism is completely present—one must see these six stages in it: First, entering the Shaped Space for practical experience, with observance of time and space parameters. Someone who wants to enter practical experience, if they possess the presence of the heart, if this mechanism leads correctly, they must know where in this chain of events they are situated and from what elevation they look at the issue. If they do not pay attention to this chain and to the suitable elevation, that first step, meaning their practical experience, will not have much credibility.

Second, creating a secure channel to transfer the collected data from the input gateways to active reason, from amidst the Illusory Mental Space. This stage is very important. What danger exists in this transfer? The danger is that you mix this raw information with a series of your previous information and conclusions. When you enter practical experience, you have initial conditions and a kind of initial "bias"; you stand somewhere, you have limitations of time and space, you have initial beliefs and perceptions. So you confront an experience that is colored in advance. If there is a heart, it does not allow fresh data to be mixed with the past for no reason; the space in which you might think what you see now is similar to what you saw earlier and as a result believe that nothing new has happened, is that same gray and ambiguous space that must be guarded against. The presence of the heart allows the path to continue and not be cut off.

Third, extracting abstract concepts. This is where "the space of imagination" is formed—the same discussion that was raised earlier about the imaginative mind; the sign of this stage is this: there must be a mind that imagines from various aspects, to see what shape and role the available data create in the mind; because to imagine, one must perform role-play in one's mind. There, one can experience abstract concepts at higher levels; and in this very imaginative space, the possibility of receiving inspiration also exists.

Fourth, "the Space of Will (space of intention)". When after imagining from different aspects and the formation of fresh concepts in the mind, you want to return, the space changes and turns into the Space of Will (space of intention); meaning you are still on a path where the heart operates and wants to convert those obtained abstract concepts back into shaped data. When you want to will, you must translate for yourself or for others what you have thought, what space you have formed, what pre-assumptions you now have in mind; and now you want to re-enter the Shaped Space, express your opinion, show an intention and will.

Fifth, creating a secure channel to transfer the collected data from the Space of Will (space of intention) to the output gateways, again from amidst the Illusory Mental Space. For this reason, when you make a will, one of your challenges is that you must again cross that Illusory Mental Space and again confront results you obtained earlier—that same "narrative life" and "narrative mind". Inevitably, when you want to re-enter the Shaped Space, your personal experience or the imposition that existed in your mind interferes again and creates a change in the decision you made to perform such-and-such action; as if it wants to change your vote; a kind of doubt that should I say or not, should I do this work or not; here too you will experience doubt, because this space is still the space of illusion.

Sixth, entering the Shaped Space to execute willpower, with observance of time and space parameters. If the heart is present, even at the moment when it wants to say a word, speak, make an impact in the Shaped Space, it still does not lose the chain of time and space; it knows where, when, and how it must enter its will. I think it has now become clear in a general way that when we talked about taking shaped data, creating abstract space, returning, and re-entering the Shaped Space, all of these are components of the very thing we named "presence of the heart". This explanation shows you where the Illusory Mind stands and how it can interfere with the work at two points of this path.

Many individuals do not have the presence of the heart, or this presence is weak and shaky in them; meaning from the Shaped Space that they enter the first floor—that same space of the Illusory Mental Space—they are deleted right there and live right there. They are the same ones we said earlier have a narrative life; they no longer have much desire to imagine on their own part, propose fresh hypotheses, obtain fresh theories; their life is not accompanied by innovation, by understanding new concepts, by fresh definitions. This term they say "be the child of your own time", its meaning can be found in this very article: you must exit this Illusory Mental Space; you too are responsible, you too have a duty to live with attention to your own conditions; chains of time and place in which other people were not, they were in their own chains. But if you remain in this same definitional and Illusory Mental Space and do not pay attention to where your chain of time and space is, in fact you use descriptions, methods, and aspects that belong to another period and temporal chain; as if you live in another place and are unaware that you must have a fresh description, a fresh definition, a fresh innovation.

The concept of "knowledge" also goes back to here: the space of knowledge cannot be an Illusory Mental Space; it is a space that must evolve, and this is not possible except through the space of imagination. If a scientist lived in an era and imagined that perhaps one day human could fly in the sky (an example that is not too bad) when he shared this topic with those around him, meaning those who lived in the Illusory Mental Space, he would hear: "You say a strange thing, we do not have such a thing, who said such a thing is possible? It wasn't before and it won't be after this; as if you live in a kind of dream." But those very people who imagined, we saw that the result of their imagination appeared in their own temporal chain and their will turned into what we see today.

The point is that many people live in that same part of the Illusory Mind (that same Illusory Mental Space) and cannot imagine. Even if they sometimes want to enter this work, their data are so mixed with beliefs, certainties, and dogmatism (and they have biased thoughts) that if they want to speak a fresh word, ask a question, or examine something different, you see that they and those around them censor them; a self-censorship is shaped that prevents them from moving toward the space of imagination (that same space where active reason is present).

In other words: many of those who live in the Illusory Mental Space also claim that they perform a rational work; but when we see their behavior, in fact we confront "pseudo-reason" (shibh-e aql), not reason itself. When you ask them where you brought this word, this process, this will, they often say: "We heard, we also know only up to here." When these questions continue and it is expected that a rational encounter take place, you see they run away, they do not stay, they resort to denial, and prevent the raising of fresher questions.

I hope the presentation of this article, though it was accompanied by limited explanations, can be a help to complete previous concepts; and if you want to get deeper, pay attention to the terms you certainly see in various texts: there where they say such-and-such "has no heart" or "his heart is sick", or there where they say someone who wants to experience inspiration, their reason must be healthy or their heart must be healthy. You can also search for the "sound heart" (qalb-e salim); they say those can meet God who have sound reason or a sound heart.

Footnotes: The diagnosis of having no heart, sickness of the heart, sealing of the heart (khatm-e qalb), and sound heart is by very specialized and few, finger-countable individuals, and it is not such that one can easily put a label on anyone in society.