Heart vs Mind

Osho, which is the voice of the mind and which is the voice of the heart? What is the criterion to know? Please explain.

All voices are of the mind; the heart has no voice. Where voices disappear, there is the heart. Silence is the heart’s voice. Emptiness is the heart’s tone. So there is no complication at all. You think one voice is of the heart and another of the mind; you are falling into a great mistake. All voices are of the mind. It is the mind. It is the mind that wants to grasp wealth, and the mind that wants to renounce wealth. The mind is very complex. On one side it says, “Grab it, plunder it, enjoy!” On the other it says, “What’s the point? It’s all insubstantial.” But both are the mind. On one side it says, “Run! Life is only for a few days—win some position.” From the other side it says, “What’s in positions? Look at those who have arrived.” The mind keeps talking to itself, keeps…

Osho, you often tell us to listen to the heart rather than the mind. But how is one to know which voice is the mind’s and which is the heart’s? Please explain with compassion.

Renuka! The matter is absolutely straightforward. There is not the slightest confusion. The mind always points you outward; the heart always points you inward. When something within says, “Go out—earn money, gain position, prestige, ambition,” know it is the mind speaking, because these are not the heart’s longings. When something says, “Sit silently, close your eyes, dive within yourself, take a plunge into your own being, listen to your life-breath, step into the inner sound that is rising,” then know the heart has spoken. The inner journey is the heart’s message; the outer journey is the mind’s. There is no reason for mistake here. When hatred arises, know the mind has spoken; when love arises, know the heart has spoken. When thoughts surround you, know the mind has seized you; when waves of feeling rise, know you are in the heart. When negation arises—an urge to say “no,” when doubt…

Beloved master, is it always good to follow the heart or once in a while should a clear mind decide what is to be done? And what to do when they want to go in opposite directions?

Just a few days ago Hasya brought news of a sannyasin that had dropped sannyas because "Shree Rajneesh says many things which are not in THE BIBLE." I am not speaking on THE BIBLE. I don't care a bit about THE BIBLE. But deep down he must have been waiting to be confirmed in his beliefs, to be blessed: "You are right and your BIBLE is right." And strangely enough, before that he had not read THE BIBLE! He took sannyas first thinking that I am talking about THE BIBLE. And being impressed he went into an utterly boring book, THE BIBLE. No intelligent man can read it from the first page to the last page -- nobody does it. And what is the problem? Why should I talk about things which are in THE BIBLE? Rather than dropping THE BIBLE, he dropped sannyas. Such is the way of conditioning.…

Osho, would you please speak a little on witnessing and the heart. Can they be experienced simultaneously?

WITNESSING AND THE HEART ARE ONE AND THE same thing. Witnessing is not of the mind; mind can never be a witness. When you start witnessing, mind becomes the witnessed not the witness, it is the observed not the observer. You see your thoughts moving, your desires, your fantasies, your memories, your dreams -- just as you see things moving on the screen of a film. But you are not identified with them. That non-identification is what is meant by witnessing. Then who is the witness? Mind is being seen, then who is the seer? It is the heart. So the heart and witnessing are not two things. If you witness, you will be centered in the heart; or if you are centered in the heart, you will become a witness. These are two processes to reach the same goal. The lover, the devotee, never thinks of witnessing; he simply…