Unfolding Journey: A Reflection on Heart versus Mind
All my life, I have been seeking
Answers, insight, understanding, meaning
I have never been able to be here
I haven’t been here for a second
My mind thinks about being here
So it’s not, it’s elsewherePoor creature, water runs downhill!
Here will fill you up
For a thousand years after
You can blabber on and on
And never empty the wellI tell you
My heart finally let my mind
Taste an atom of its sweetness
Where it went, I do not know
But it isn’t here
John Harper
What influence are you driving under? This question becomes essential on the spiritual journey. Are you letting your heart lead, or is your comparative, dualistic mind in the driver’s seat, dictating every turn with its relentless search for answers?
My life has often been steered by the mind, always seeking, always trying to grasp meaning—like trying to push water uphill. But what happens when you switch drivers?
The Diamond Approach® teaches that the mind, while powerful, often separates us from true nature. In the poem, I reflect on how my mind, in its constant motion, keeps me “elsewhere,” never allowing me to be “here truly.” This is the mind driving under the influence of its illusions, pushing water uphill, constantly struggling against the natural, effortless flow of essence that pools in the depths of our consciousness.
But then, there’s a moment when the heart takes the wheel. This isn’t about abandoning the mind but allowing the heart’s wisdom to lead, letting the mind taste the sweetness of authentic presence.
“The greatest ally of awakening is the mind that stops—not because it has found all the answers, but because it has discovered that it never will.” Adyashanti
When the essential heart is in charge, we drive under the influence of love, essence, and truth, flowing with the natural current instead of against it.
Yet, how often do we surrender the wheel? With habitual patterns, the mind tends to reclaim control, driving us back into familiar territory—thinking, analyzing, and ultimately separating us from the present moment.
“Calmness is the living breath of God’s immortality in you.” Paramahansa Yogananda
When we let essential heart guide us, calmness replaces the mind’s restlessness, and we effortlessly move with the flow of essence.
So, what influence are you driving under? Are you pushing uphill with the mind, or are you allowing the essential heart to guide you, flowing with the natural rhythm of essence? This poem and my reflections on it challenge us to reconsider who—or what—is in the driver’s seat on our spiritual journey.\
The heart is the center of our true nature. When it opens, it reveals the deepest truths about who we are, connecting us to the essence of love, compassion, and the fundamental reality of existence. – A. H. Almaas
John Harper is a longtime teacher, guide, and human development student whose work bridges psychology, spirituality, and deep experiential inquiry. He is the author of The Enneagram World of the Child: Nurturing Resilience and Self-Compassion in Early Life, available on Amazon.