This past week-end my meditation teacher equated the heart with a portal, a portal to within, a portal to infinite self-love and compassion. Rudolf Steiner said over a century ago that our human destiny would change once we recognized that the heart is not a pump. There are two interesting articles on that, one by Thomas Cowan, MD and the other by researchers from Temple University. Both articles refute the pump idea from the perspective of fluid dynamics and propose an alternate way of understanding the heart. Perhaps rearranging this understanding of the mechanics will lead us to recognizing our interface with the spiritual.

Consider our cultural symbolism of the heart as the center of love, as an expression of our compassion. I like the portal analogy, especially after reading Harry Potter and its many portals, unassuming gateways to much larger realities, unrecognized and untapped by those not in the know.

Food for thought indeed.