Acquiring a Sound Heart Is the Prerequisite for Enjoying Lasting Happiness and Peace
We stated that the world is not our home and we were born from Alam Malakut (Celestial Kingdom) into this world to actualize our potential qualities and we will return to Alam Malakut (Celestial Kingdom). In this regard, we also discussed “becoming” as the process of turning our potentials into actual capabilities, and we pointed out that this becoming should happen in the heart or the truth of our being, because the only thing we will take with us is our heart.
A heart that has moved towards reaching its full potential in the world is called a sound heart. As a result, the purpose of human creation can be summarized as acquiring a sound heart. In this article, we will examine this concept.
Of course, as we mentioned in previous lessons, when we talk about the heart, we do not mean the muscle that pumps blood throughout the whole body; rather, we mean the truth of human existence which can understand and receive. It is the eternal truth of our existence through which each of us displays our inner feelings and emotions, such as love, hate, fear, hope, desire and even our anxieties. The heart is a tool that governs our being, loves, fears, hopes, and feels happy or sad. In fact, our heart is the center of our emotions, spirituality, understanding, and inner experiences.
Acquiring a Sound Heart, the Reason for Leaving Home
You may have experienced travelling somewhere, or leaving your home to do something. When you come back, you realize that you got caught up in a thousand other things, and you have forgotten the main reason for leaving your home. For example, you went to the store to buy a certain product and then you returned home with a food basket full of various foods, but you did not buy the item you needed.
Most of us are already in such a situation. We have left our eternal home with a purpose, but other things have kept us occupied along the way. Of course, our situation is a bit more complicated; it is like when we travel to another country to attend a specialized conference and we end up spending the entire trip sightseeing and exploring the destination country. The problem becomes even more challenging when we return home and we have to apply that knowledge and expertise.
Of course, we never forget to take our heart to the hereafter. This is because it does not matter whether our heart is sound our unsound, our heart or soul is the only part of our existence that has the possibility of eternal life. As a result, it is considered our only asset in the hereafter, but there is the possibility that we forget about acquiring a sound heart.
Our only true assets are the happiness, peace, and love we have in our hearts. You must have seen many people who have all animal perfections, but they do not enjoy life and are hopeless, anxious, and sad. The heart of these people has a disease because they are not able to rightly recognize the value of things.
A sound heart gives the right value to various phenomena, so it does not tie its inner worth to worldly affairs. A sound heart remains sound all the time and in any situation; it is also free from any deviation and deficiency. The heart is the truth of our existence, and its soundness is vital for us in this world and the hereafter. Without having a sound heart, our life in the hereafter is almost impossible, and without acquiring a sound heart in this world, it is impossible to acquire it in the hereafter.
Everything we achieve in this world- whether it is wealth, social status, and educational achievement, or even emotional and human relationship- only has value and credibility in worldly life and it will not accompany us on the journey to the hereafter. In other words, all our worldly achievements will be useful for us only if we acquire a sound heart. Without acquiring a sound heart, our worldly achievements will be like extra organs in the body of a newborn, who may have made three pairs of hands and legs, but not an efficient heart and respiratory system.
The Importance of Acquiring a Sound Heart
To understand the importance of acquiring a sound heart, it is enough to pay attention to the role that the heart plays in our existence and eternal destiny. Just as a fetus needs special conditions and care to be born healthy into the world, our heart and soul also require special practices and protection against potential risks and harms to get to their desirable state, which is becoming a sound heart.
Our heart gradually becomes like something that has filled it. If we are attached to material things such as cars, houses, wealth, and such things, our heart also establishes a deeper relationship with these things and lowers itself to the inanimate level. If we seek social status, physical and bodily attractiveness, or gaining power, we have lowered our dignity to the level of animal desires. If we only care about things like eating, beauty, or physical strength, we have behaved at the level of a plant. Therefore, the orientation of the desires of our hearts affects our deeds and the truth of our existence. To have a happy and peaceful life in this world and the hereafter, we definitely need to manage the desires and beloveds of our hearts.
The Necessity of Acquiring a Sound Heart in the World
A sound heart is the heart of a person who truly understands the truth of her existence and considers herself a human being. Therefore, when she faces the difficulties, pains, and sufferings of worldly life, she never loses her inner peace, happiness, and kindness. Only a human being knows that worldly credentials are transient, and her personality is not tied to these definitions. As a result, no situation can make her angry, sad, and anxious.
In addition to the fact that a sound heart guarantees our happiness and peace in the life of this world, the necessity of acquiring it becomes clear as soon as we enter the hereafter. The importance of this issue increases when we know that it is possible to acquire a sound heart only before leaving the world. All our efforts and provisions will only be useful if we take a sound heart with us to the hereafter. This is because only a sound heart is compatible with the living conditions of Alam Malakut (Celestial Kingdom). Our heart, which is the truth of our existence, is only considered sound when it is in perfect compatibility and harmony with the living conditions of the environment it enters. This harmony will not be achieved unless we have prepared our hearts in the worldly life to face the conditions of the Malakut (Celestial Kingdom).
In this article, we learned that whatever we achieve in this world only gains value through acquiring a sound heart; otherwise, it will be an obstacle to our happiness. Then, we must manage what our heart is attached to in order to achieve eternal peace and happiness. In this lesson, we only introduced the heart as our eternal truth and acquiring a sound heart as a tool to maintain lasting happiness and peace. In the next lessons we will examine the whys and hows of these concepts.