The Avenues to Understanding – Heart must be free to determine ends of life

The mind is the treasure-house of learning, but the heart is the treasure-house of spiritual wisdom. The so-called conflict between religion and science arises only when there is no appreciation of the relative importance of these two types of  knowledge. It is futile to try to glean knowledge of true values by exercise of the mind alone. Mind cannot tell you which things are worth having; it can only tell you how to achieve the ends accepted
from intellectual sources. In most persons the mind accepts ends from the promptings of wants, but this means denial of the life of the spirit.
Only when the mind accepts its ends and values from the deepest promptings of the heart does it contribute to the life of the spirit. Thus mind has to work in cooperation with the heart. Factual knowledge has to be subordinated to intuitive perceptions, and the heart has to be allowed full freedom in determining the ends of life without any interference from the mind. The mind has a place in practical life, but its role begins after the heart has had its say.

-Discourses 7th Ed p 98

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