The word hridaya in Sanskrit means a deeper region, but through prolonged usage the word hridaya has come to mean the physical heart, of which we are always aware. The atman or individual self, is not located in this physical heart, but in the central heart space of the inner body. This heart space is not in the cardiac region; it is located in the brain.
There is a particular section in the upper part of the brain, which is deep, spacious and is known as hridaya, meaning heart. You have to make a difference between the biological heart and the spiritual heart. The biological heart is in the chest area, but there is a spiritual heart space which is in the brain, and that is the truth. It is also said that in the brain, at the top of the head in sahasrara chakra, there is a thousand petalled lotus. Sahasra means one thousand, arara means spoke. On that red lotus resides the Param Shiva, which means transcendental consciousness. Transcendental consciousness and the self or atman are one and the same, just the names are different.
Kundalini Shakti, which is located at mooladhara, is completely separated from Shiva in sahasrara. Both Shiva and Shakti are located at two opposite poles from each other. When Shakti ascends to meet Shiva, it is said that the union between them takes place in sahasrara. According to all the different versions in the ancient texts, this union takes place in sahasrara. If not, then the place of the atman and Param Shiva would have been in anahata, for the union to take place. According to kundalini yoga, anahata chakra is the seat of the finest, most refined emotions such as romance, love, devotion which are the source of the creative arts such as poetry, painting and music.
1976, France