Re. Word for Heart

[Ven. Tantra]

Subject: Notes on bija-mantra hrii in regard to
"heart" meaning 'an organ handling blood' vis-�-vis
*blushing* and *diversions in the blood*

RM. Krishnan wrote:

<<I would greatly appreciate and learn, if someone
establishes the etymology through Indo-European the
connection of the word 'hRdaya' with the meaning
related to 'blood,' and not just sound changes. . .
[and] . . .I did not say that they knew that the heart
is a pump; I only said that we get the meaning of an
organ handling blood in this way of looking (which is
quite scientific).>>


I don't know if this relates, but you might consider
hrii [pardon me if my diacritics are off] as a
bija-mantra, "sacred seed-syllable." It seems to be
rich in cross-cultural connotations. To understand it
fully it has got to be approached in terms of
symbolism, philology, and mantric sound. I am looking
here at Lama Govinda's _The Fundamentals of Tibetan
Mysticism_. I assume the Indians developed this first.

Hrii is poised at the very heart of things. Firstly,
hrii is the bija-mantra of Amitabha, the Being of
Infinite Splendor and Light. Now, the mantra Hrii
acquires further meaning in view of its appearance in
the enigmatic and "creatively derived" Mandala of the
Five Dhyani-Buddhas,

<http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0007&L=indology&P=R13890&D=1&H=0&O=D&T=1>,
etc.,

where each of these five Meditational Buddhas retains
its own sacred bija-mantra. Now the bija-mantra for to
Amitabha is hrii.

More significant however, though far-less understood,
is the fact that hrii is silently expressed at the end
of the Great Six-Syllable Mantra of Universal
Protection and Blessing or Om Mani Padme Hum (Hrii).

Fascination has normally been derived from the
mantra's devotional underpinnings, but maybe better to
look at its pre-verbal resonance. According to
Govinda, it 'connotes not only the warmth of the sun
(the emotional principle of sympathy), but also the
power of illumination, the faculty of vision, of
immediate perception.'

But hrii's greatest bearing lies in its special moral
appeal. 'Hrii thus signifies the inner voice, the
moral law within us, the voice of conscience, of inner
knowledge � not the intellectual, but the intuitive,
spontaneous knowledge � due to which we do the right
thing for the sake of the good and not for the sake of
any advantage' (Govinda). This is why the literal
meaning of HRI is *"to blush"* or "to feel shame."

"If we analyze the psychological origin of the feeling
or innate faculty of shame, we shall find that it is
based on the noblest quality of the human character,
namely an inborn sense of values and responsibility.
It is one of the strongest and most subtle of
phenomena, in which the deepest forces of the human
soul act independently of our desires, our will, and
our intellect, and set in motion reactions
*(diversions in the blood stream)* which likewise are
not under our control" (Govinda, _Creative Meditation
and Multi-Dimensional Consciousness_, 1977, 74). 'Hrii
is then the leitmotif, the guiding principle, and the
special virtue, of the Bodhisattva, who is bent upon
the enlightenment of all, like the sun which shines
equally for sinners and saints.'

As mantra, 'Hrii means far much more than is hinted at
by its philologic associations. For it possesses not
only the warmth of the sun, i.e., the emotional
principle of goodness, compassion and sympathy�but
also the power of illumination, the quality of making
things visible, the faculty of perception, of direct
vision.' 'Hrii is a mantric solar symbol, a luminous,
elevating, upwards moving sound composed of the pranic
aspirate H (the sound of the breath), the fiery R
(ra.m is the seed syllable of the element "fire") and
the high i-sound, which expresses upwards-movement �
it is the vowel of highest intensity and vibration
standing for the highest spiritual activity and
differentiation.' Finally, 'hrii stands for Yama, the
Judge of the Dead, who does not condemn, but only
holds up the mirror of conscience, by which every
being pronounces his own judgment' (Govinda,
_Foundations_).

Rgrds,

VT

References:
1. Govinda, Lama Anagarika. _Creative Meditation and
Multi-Dimensional Consciousness_. Theosophic, 1976.
2. ________. _The Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism_.



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