Consciousness has the capacity to reside in two different states, one is centered in the mind and the other is centered in the heart. This represents the primary duality of nature, one of which is masculine in nature and the other is feminine in nature. It is through the harmony of these two perceptual faculties that one is able to get a full picture of nature in its essence.
Mind centered consciousness is masculine in its qualities- rational, linear, reductionistic, and analytical. In this state, there is an observer and something that is being observed, thus creating a duality. This state of consciousness is marked by separateness or division.Here I am, and there that is. The mind by its very nature is fragmentary, it sees things as parts and to do so, will dissect, analyze and reduce things into its constituent parts. It is a narrowing of consciousness, in the sense that it single pointed in its approach. Quite often times this results in a constant looking at the parts, while forgetting the whole.
It is this state of consciousness that is dominating the world today. It is the religion of science. We worship the mental faculty in this age, and all progression, evolution, and change is based on the products of the mind. The world as we know it, is tangible mind, thoughts in manifest form.
All objects of artificial nature began as ideas originating in the mind of the human, which has been conditioned in a paradigm that is disharmonious with nature.
Heart centered consciousness is the flip side of the coin.
Rather than being rational, linear, reductionistic and analytical, it is non-rational, non-linear, all encompassing, and empathic. It’s qualities are feminine, receptive, intuitive, sensitive. So whereas consciousness centered in the mind is marked by separation or division, in the heart, it’s quality is that of unity.
This is that state of consciousness that dominated the ancient human being, where they lived in harmony with the Earth, as opposed to living in the world, which is our own projections placed onto the Earth. Living in a world surrounded by things created by the human mind only increases our mind centered consciousness, whereas living in an environment surrounded by things created by the Creator, or natural phenomenon, increases our heart centered consciousness. In this state, we are connected to the environment in a deep and profound way; it begins to teach and heal us.
“Although it is true that the secrets of the outer world disclose themselves inside us, in the spirit we step outside of ourselves and let the things themselves tell us what is significant for them, rather than for us.”
Rudolph Steiner