The Concept of People Having “Two Hearts”

Volume One of The Path of Life introduces us to the concept of people having “two hearts,” which must be combined, first by Master Ou, and later by all people. How do you
see these hearts best becoming combined? Do you see any significance in Master Ou’s initial exercises in heart combination?

I believe that when our earthly heart and heavenly heart combine together our body and soul will be in absolute harmonious relationship. The level of my heart and soul will match the requirements of Pangu, of God.

Perhaps our heavenly heart and earthly heart could also be divided as intentions and actions. My intentions and my actions would have congruency. My intentions would be purified enough that they would come directly from the kind portion of my soul, from heaven, and ultimately the portion that is deeply connected to Pangu. These intentions would be reflected in my words and actions and manifested on earth, with people, in the world. There would be no difference between the mental and physical, thoughts and intentions would create my physical reality. And these intentions and manifested actions would not only benefit myself but be focused primarily on how to increase the happiness of other people.

Perhaps our two hearts or two centers are microcosms of the chaos. Our two hearts combining may also mean that we have to reconcile the two centers, or the two “theories” within ourselves, meaning yin and yang, materialism and idealism, science and religion, the 50% evil and 50% kindness, the visible and invisible, and so on. The Path of Life indicates that every theory or issue in our life has two centers which means they also have at least two perspectives and two approaches. This can make the whole scenario much broader and open and ultimately easier for us to find the best resolutions. Rather than struggling and being at war, we walk towards finding harmony and resonance.

I imagine that as our body and heart and soul merge fully, in some ways we may all mirror Master Ou’s experience of combining hearts, however small or big. I believe my two hearts can only grow closer under a high level of kindness, and when I am calm enough to understand and feel the voice of Pangu, the voice of Heaven and how it may be different from my own voice. When I speak to others, I can be clear, have intention, maybe even wisdom, but does the sound from my voice , from my actual vocal chords merge seamlessly with my rich emotions, sentiments and divine energy?

More questions arise for reflection:

1. How is my regular voice different from my Divine voice?

2. Do I have accord with my intentions, words and actions?

3. Am I following the 5 intentions in a given moment or even 1?

In my own experience I’ve had teaching moments where I don’t recall what I shared and there is a distinct quality to the words and energy that come through. They seem to emanate from the center of my chest. I experience this as my Heavenly voice, the voice that speaks deeply, truthfully and without room for argument. It makes me feel like this wee drop in this boundless ocean. I’ve also reflected on chanting Master Ou’s songs or chanting with him. Would this be Pangu singing in to my heavenly heart and me singing through my earthly heart back to him? It’s mind blowing. I can only imagine what the energy of that would look like if I could see it. What I can say for certain is that when his voice and mine unite, I feel something being activated in my heart and through my voice, like a switch turning on, and I feel more power, more love and certainly more Yi or Spirit come through. I wonder how this will affect my hearts combining in the future?

When traveling with Master Ou I’ve experienced feelings of euphoria, anger, misery, and intense joy, emerging rapidly and fading just as swiftly, leaving me with a mix of insanity and desperation, causing my physical earthly heart and other organs to ache, pushing me to my emotional edge, and then, just as intensely feeling complete relief and ease. These are all important experiences for me to reflect on further. Sometimes I wonder, especially In such moments, do our bodies and souls even really belong to us?

I imagine this is probably a small portion of the indescribable discomfort and sacredness Master Ou felt, a small portion of all the wisdom and knowledge that awaits us all, if we are willing as Master Ou says, “to understand the rules”, make meaning from them for ourselves and march forward. My heart is truly hungry, excited and humbled for what lies ahead, and while prayer may not hold much value, my efforts in working towards being qualified for this union most definitely WILL.