32 § The Heart and the Cave

We have already mentioned the close relationship between the symbolism of the cave and that of the heart, which explains the initiatic function of the cave as spiritual centre. In fact, the heart is essentially a symbol of the centre, whether it be the centre of a being or, analogously, of a world, that is, whether the standpoint be microcosmic or macrocosmic. It is therefore natural, given such a relationship, that the same meaning should be likewise attached to the cave; but that symbolic connection itself calls at this point for a fuller explanation.

The 'cave of the heart' is a well known traditional expression. The Sanskrit word _guha_ generally designates a cave, but it is used also of the internal cavity of the heart, and consequently of the heart itself. This 'cave of the heart' is the vital centre in which resides not only _jivātmā_ but also unconditioned _ātmā_, which in reality is identical with Brahma itself, as we have explained elsewhere.^[1] The word _guha_ is derived from the root _guh_, meaning 'to cover' or 'conceal' or 'hide', as does another similar root, _gup_, whence _gupta_ which applies to everything of a secret character, everything that is not externally manifested. This is the equivalent of the Greek _kruptos_ that gives the word 'crypt', which is synonymous with cave. These ideas are related to the centre insofar as it is considered as the most inward and consequently the most hidden point. At the same time, they refer also to the initiatic secret, either in itself or insofar as it is symbolised by the disposition of the place where the initiation is accomplished, a hidden or 'covered' place,^[2] inaccessible to the profane, whether the access to it be barred by a 'labyrinthine' structure or in any other way (as for example, the 'temples without doors' of Far Eastern initiation), and always regarded as an image of the centre.

On the other hand, it is to be noted that this hiddenness or secrecy which characterises spiritual centres or their figurative representation implies that the traditional truth itself is no longer accessible in all its fullness to all men equally, which is the sign of a period of 'obscuration', at least in a relative sense. This makes it possible to 'place' such a symbolism in the course of the march of the cyclic process; but that is a point to which we shall have to come back to more fully in studying the relationships between the mountain and the cave, insofar as both are taken as symbols of the centre. For the moment we will simply point out in this respect that the diagram of the heart is a down-pointing triangle (the 'triangle of the heart' is yet another traditional expression); and this same figure also stands for the cave, whereas the mountain, or the pyramid which is its equivalent, is figured on the contrary by an up-pointing triangle; this shows that we have here a relationship that is inverse, and also in a certain sense complementary. Let us add, on the subject of this representation of the heart and the cave by an inverted triangle, that here is one of those cases in which clearly no idea of 'black magic' is involved, despite the all too frequent assertions of those whose knowledge of symbolism is totally insufficient.

Let us now return to what is hidden, according to the Hindu tradition, in the 'cave of the heart': it is the principle of the being, which, in this state of envelopment and with regard to manifestation, is compared to what is smallest (the word _dahara_, which denotes the cavity where it resides, also refers to this same notion of smallness), while in reality it is what is greatest, just as the point is spatially infinitesimal and even null, although it is the principle by which all space is produced, or again, just as the number one appears as the smallest of numbers, although it contains them all principially, and produces from itself all their unending series. So here again we find the expression of an inverse relationship, inasmuch as the principle is considered according to two different points of view; of these, the point of view of extreme smallness concerns the principle's hidden and as it were 'invisible' state which, for the being in question, is as yet only a 'virtuality', but which will be the starting point of its spiritual development; there indeed lies the beginning (_initium_) of this development, which is directly related to initiation in the etymological sense of this term; and it is precisely from this point of view that the cave can be considered as the place of the 'second birth'. In this respect, we find texts such as the following: 'Know that this _Agni_, who is the foundation of the eternal (principial) world, and through whom that world can be attained, is hidden in the cave (of the heart)'^[3], which in the microcosmic order refers to the 'second birth'; and also, by transposition into the macrocosmic order, it refers to its analogue, which is the birth of the _Avatāra_.

It has already been mentioned that what resides in the heart is both _jīvātmā_, from the standpoint of individual manifestation, and unconditioned _ātmā_ or _Paramātmā_ from the principial point of view; the distinction between individual and principle is no more than an illusory one; it only exists with regard to manifestation, but they are one in absolute reality. These are the 'two who have entered into the cave' and who at the same time are also said to 'dwell on the highest summit', so that the two symbolisms of the cave and the mountain are here reunited.^[4] The text adds that 'those who know _Brahma_ call them darkness and light'; this refers especially to the symbolism of _Nara-nārāyana_ of which we have spoken in connection with the _Ātmā-Gītā_,^[5] quot-ing this very same text: _Nara_, the human or mortal who is _jīvātmā_, is identified with _Arjuna_; and _Nārāyana_, the divine or the immortal, which is _Paramātmā_, is identified with _Krishna_. Now, according to their literal meanings, the name _Krishna_ denotes darkness of hue and that of _Arjuna_ lightness, or, respectively, night and day, inasmuch as they are considered as representing the unmani-fested and the manifested.^[6] An exactly similar symbolism in this respect is that of the _Dioscuri_ in their relationship with the two hemispheres, one dark and the other light, as we have indicated in connection with the meaning of the 'double spiral'.^[7] On the other hand, these 'two' that is, _jīvātmā_ and _Paramātmā_, are also the 'two birds' which appear in other texts as 'abiding on the same tree' (just as _Arjuna_ and _Krishna_ are mounted in the same chariot), and who are said to be 'inseparably united' because, as we said above, they are really one, the distinction between them being no more than illusory.^[8] It must be noted here that the symbolism of the tree is essentially 'axial', like that of the mountain; and the cave, inasmuch as it is considered as situated under the mountain or within it, is also on the axis, where in any case, whatever the point of view, the centre must always be, for it is in the centre that the individual is united with the Universal.

Before leaving this subject, there is a point of language to be considered, the importance of which should not be overestimated, but which is curious nevertheless. The Egyptian word _hor_, which is the name of _Horus_, seems to mean heart. _Horus_ would thus be the 'Heart of the World', according to a des-ignation that is to be found in most traditions and which is in perfect keeping with his symbolism as a whole, insofar as that can be determined. It might be tempting, at first sight, to connect this word _hor_ with _cor_, the Latin name for heart, the more so in that in the different languages the similar roots which denote the heart are to be found with either the aspirate or the guttural as initial letter: thus, on the one hand, _hrid_ or _hridaya_ in Sanskrit, _heart_ in Eng-lish, _herz_ in German, and on the other, _ker_ or _kardion_ in Greek, and _cor_ itself