Cîteva Corelaţii Medico- Istorice, Embriologice și Teologice Referitoare La „Coborîrea Minţii în Inimă” (Some Medico-Historical, Embryological And Theological Correlations Concerning “Bringing The Mind Down Into The Heart”)

Abstract

The paper presents some knowledge of history of medicine – especially those from the embryological field – correlated with theological marks in order to motivate the rightfulness of the method of „bringing the mind down into the heart”, a procedure during the Jesus Prayer. The ascetic Fathers mentioned that the mind is an energy which starts from the heart and reaches the brain – which offers the possibility to express itself. It is possible to consider that this transfer begins since the primitive heart is in the same plane and before the cerebral area. Then, after the folding of the embryo, the heart will be placed under the brain. So “bringing the mind down into the heart” is also biologically feasible. Although the primitive heart is structured after the neural tube, it starts beating at 21 to 22 days, unlike the brain which began its function on the 40th day. This explains the theological meaning of the heart, wider than the signification of the mind (attribute of the brain).