Heart and Mind

It is common in "New Age" beliefs to place the heart and the mind in opposition and say something along the lines of; heart and feelings are good: mind and thinking are bad. I have heard so many versions of this formula over the years. From a tantric perspective this is wrong. The Sanskrit word "citta" which is often translated as mind, is seen as the centre for both thoughts and emotions. It would be better translated as heart-mind as both are closely connected and give a limited sense of our self as a separate being. The heart-mind perceives duality and sees everything through the filter of good or bad; useful or not;  safe or dangerous. Thoughts and feelings are equally caught up in this evaluative, dualistic dance which leads towards desires or attachments and fears. Mostly they lead to fears; as we also fear the loss of what we are attached to. The only way out of this is to come to the subtle appreciation of awareness and how it creates its experience of reality in everyday life, moment-to-moment. Awareness of awareness fundamentally shifts that experience. This is non-dual tantra. Being caught in fears prevents tantra which is why traditionally tantra was the path of  virya or the warrior.  At a very ordinary level it is the denigration of the mind and thinking which leads to some of the vast irrationality that pervades public life at the moment. Donald Trump did not appeal to people's ability to think clearly!