In the Heart of All that is: Part 1

Abstract

The "Heart," and the "City of the Heart," are central concepts in the Bahá'í Writings; and this presentation attempts to review a certain aspect of it. The title of the paper is taken from a prayer of `Abdu'l-Bahá; and another text from the Master about the Sympathetic Nervous System will induce us into the idea of the heart being the site where the spiritual and the physical meet: The powers of the sympathetic nerve are neither entirely physical nor spiritual, but are between the two (systems). The nerve is connected with both. Its phenomena shall be perfect when its spiritual and physical relations are normal. ... When the material world and the divine world are well co-related, when the hearts become heavenly and the aspirations grow pure and divine, perfect connection shall take place. 1