Does the brain create the state of the heart, or the heart create the state of the brain?

September 25th, 2007

Here’s a recent article from the Wall Street Journal about a management professor who hopes to teach leadership skills by identifying the different parts of the brain that are used by “visionary leaders” as compared to “non-visionary leaders”.

http://online.wsj.com/

The professor, Pierre Balthazard, has found some interesting differences in electrical activity in the brains of people with different levels of leadership skill, and he hopes first to understand what the common elements are, then train people to activate the parts of the brain used by the “visionary leaders”.

This seems to be a common idea, that it is the structure and function of the brain that leads to the personality, and then to traits like sensitivity, charisma, and so forth. We see the causality running in the opposite direction. Our experience is that the heart is the center, and that the state of the heart creates the personality, the mind, and the physical structure and activity of the brain. It is futile to attempt to change the heart by starting with the mind, and even more so to start with the brain. We understand little of how the brain functions, but in any case, the brain is only the physical representation of the mind, it is not the mind itself.

When it comes to developing such leadership qualities as the ability to listen to others, take responsibility, take initiative, and attract people to your cause, the heart is the key. When these qualities are activated in the heart, it changes the thought patterns in the mind, and we believe (though science has yet to confirm) that it changes the physical structure of the brain.

Puran

Entry Filed under: Health