The Meaning Behind the “Heart-Space” Logo

This logo is a representation of Heart-Space in that it combines, within the limits of a small icon, the notions of the heart-essence of existence in conjunction with the vast, unbounded nature of open space (In an associated essay The Heart Space of Self-Knowing Awareness", I briefly describe the reasons for creating the term “Heart-Space”).

The logo consists of two superimposed image layers, a heart and a spiral galaxy scene. The heart image represents the heart nature of self and all phenomena, which for all practical purposes, transcends any description or image, but the heart was selected as a sort of summary notion. Additionally the heart is globally seen as the locus of love, joy and compassion, all results of genuine spiritual growth.

The galaxy symbol represents the vastness of space, a place of “no-boundary”, universal and transcendent in scope.

A spiral galaxy was selected (for astronomy buffs, this is the galaxy NGC0224), because it represents the universal and archetypal symbol of the spiral. The spiral is found everywhere, in the structure of DNA, in the shape of spirulina algae organism, to the nautilus, to the pattern of hair growth on our heads (I'm coming from memory here!), to the shape of hurricanes, to vast galaxies in the solar system. Spiritual energy is often found to move in a spiral direction, as in the chi' of the Microcosmic Orbit or the Kundalini energy rising up the spine. The term Kundalini has Sanskrit roots that point to the notion of a spiral, or coiled snake. Personal and transpersonal growth has been modeled in the form of expanding spirals.

More succinctly, I also propose, from my own personal experience, that knots in the body-mind often release in a spiral-like fashion, similar to the opening of the diaphragm of a SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera. Chakra means wheel in Sanskrit, and these wheels tighten (and energy is bound) by enclosing upon themselves in a spiral like fashion. And they release in just the opposite fashion.

The logo is referring to one knot in particular, the “I”-knot, the knot of the 'assumed self' buried deep in the heart. Thus the center of the galaxy is placed directly over the heart and slightly to the right, inferring the terminus of the "amrita-nadi" or the "current of immortality".

At the center of these spiral galaxies is (in theory) a giant black hole. One way to define a notion of a black hole is to state it as a particular locus where the ordinary universal physics are suspended or transcended, acting as a doorway to what transcends time and space. And that is what the ultimate function of the heart is, to provide the doorway to transcendence.