In the West, we tend to separate the mind and the heart. The mind thinks rationally. It knows hard and objective truths. It judges good from bad, right from wrong. The heart is emotional and soft. If we pay too close attention to it, it will make us weak or lead us astray. But the truth lies outside this dichotomy altogether. The mind is most powerful when it is situated in the heart, when striving and trying to get something right is held with love and compassion. As Kornfield writes, and as Lauren experienced, the mind in the heart gains “a diamond-like clarity.” Hence the jewel in the
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