THE HEART-MIND MATRIX

Many contemporary writers are engaging with the theme of imbalance in Western society between the intuitive and the rational, heart and mind, right and left hemisphere thinking. Joseph Pearce is concerned not only with rebalancing but also with reordering priorities so that we can function with the lowest in service to the highest rather than the other way round where we find the reptilian brain calling the shots in terms of fear and survival. He feels that our innate system of emotional-mental coherence was lost many generations ago with the breakdown of a nurturing culture represented by Abraham's many-breasted female God, El Shaddai.

Pearce defines evolution as the transcendent movement to go beyond limitation and constraint. This means that evolution is the transcendent aspect of creation, and creation the response to evolution. This is happening on a cosmic and personal scale as a mirroring loop of potential in the process of realising itself. We are always seeking out a level beyond our present state, which for contemporary humanity is an evolutionary imperative. It is interesting to learn that stochasm is not simply randomness, but randomness with purpose, a process of rigorous selection from Nature's profusion and overproduction. In what he calls the Darwin II, the evolutionary process moves to another octave through the emergence of love and altruism mediated by the creation of mind-fields with which we can resonate and to which we can contribute. These may also be a source of new creative insights for the unfolding of a musical idea into a symphony as with Mozart. Pearce also argues that in order to escape the constrictions of the reptilian brain and ancient survival instincts, we need to embrace death and move into the very unknown that our instincts guard us against.

The evolution of the brain predisposes us towards governing our instincts through the prefrontal cortex. In order for this to function optimally, we need to recover the lost heart-mind matrix of nurturing. This also means tuning into Spirit beyond mind-fields, as Jesus himself and George Fox did. Pearce cites some other interesting examples like Judith von Halle, a modern mystic who reproduced the stigmata and found herself physically unable to eat. Examples of people like this invite the reader consider the power of spiritual mind-fields and the transcendence of normal bodily functions. If evolution and life are work in progress, then where do we go next? One example is the work of Robert Monroe in which subjects are able to leave their bodies and enter into post-mortem states where they can reconnect with their loved ones. This indicates the continuity of life and consciousness, literally beyond the brain.

Nothing could be more important for our future than reconnecting with the compassionate intelligence of the heart and reconfiguring the separative thinking of the brain in the process, thus overcoming our destructive and self-reinforcing behaviour loops. Here forgiveness can play a crucial role, as we saw in South Africa; otherwise revenge keeps the old patterns going. Pearce reports on the work of the Heart-Math Institute exploring coherence in heart fields in the form of a torus. A peaceful and heart-centred person embodies a healing presence that helps bring coherence into their surroundings. The intelligence of the heart is concerned with well-being. While the brain asks whether something is possible, the heart questions whether it is appropriate, an important caveat in the light of the speed of potential technological development, especially when applied to weaponry. In terms of education, it is important that our young people spend at least as much time in Nature as they do in front of the screen, otherwise brain development will be warped with an overload of stimuli leading potentially to boredom and anxiety. Constant distraction makes it hard to concentrate and develop any sense of inner stillness. Children are also subject to contradictory imperatives to explore while remaining in contact with the nurturer. The difficulty arises when that same nurturer threatens them and activates the survival response to release adrenal cortisol into the young brain, the results of which are also discussed by Paul Gilbert in his work on compassion. This etches fear and doubt into the growing character and drives them to seek constant approval in order to read again a sense of worthiness. This rich book expands one's sense of potential and creativity and makes one acutely aware of the necessity of recovering the intelligence of the heart.