[Advaita-l] Dialogue between the Intellect and the Heart

[V Subrahmanian]

Scene:

A busy street. Intellect and Heart stand side by side, watching a poor man
sitting by the roadside.


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Intellect:
Look at this scene. According to Advaita, all this is Maya. The poor man,
his suffering, even our own bodies—none of it is ultimately real. There’s
only Brahman.

Heart:
But if that’s so, why do I feel pain seeing his suffering? Why do I want to
help?

Intellect:
Well, those feelings arise because of ignorance. If you realize the truth,
you’ll know there’s no individual here to suffer, no one to help, and no
one to be helped. It’s all an illusion.

Heart:
Is that really what Advaita asks us to do—turn away and feel nothing?
Didn’t the great sages, who saw this oneness, become fountains of love and
compassion? Didn’t Sri Ramakrishna say, “He whom you call poor, sick, or
ignorant is none other than God Himself”?

Intellect:
Now that you say it, Shankara himself sang hymns to the Divine Mother.
Swami Vivekananda said, “If you cannot see God in the poor man in front of
you, your temple-worship is in vain.”
Maybe Advaita isn’t about denying the world, but about seeing the One in
all.

Heart:
Exactly! When I see the poor man as my own Self, as God in disguise, my
compassion is no longer just an emotion—it becomes the very movement of
Truth.
Serving him isn’t charity, it’s worship. Loving him isn’t separate from
knowledge; it’s the fragrance of true realization.

Intellect:
So, real Advaita isn’t dry detachment. It’s clear seeing, yes, but it’s
also boundless love.
I can rest in the knowledge that everything is one—and act with a heart
full of kindness.

Heart:
And I can love freely, without boundaries—knowing it’s not ‘me’ helping
‘him,’ but the One Self playing with itself, recognizing itself.

Both together:
This is true Advaita:
Not rejecting the world, but seeing through it.
Not denying the person, but seeing God in every face.
Where the head is clear and the heart is open—there, Advaita is alive.