---
title: "Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “We must manage emotions in the triangle of spirit, heart, and mind”"
description: "This week, in 'Psychological Conversations from Existence to the Search for Meaning' with Nevzat Tarhan, the topic of 'Managing emotions in the triangle of spirit, heart, and mind' was discussed."
url: https://uha.com.tr/prof-dr-nevzat-tarhan-we-must-manage-emotions-in-the-triangle-of-spirit-heart-and-mind
type: article
language: en
last_updated: 2026-03-01
category: haber
---

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# Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “We must manage emotions in the triangle of spirit, heart, and mind”

## Bilgi

| Özellik | Değer |
|---------|-------|
| **Kategori** | haber |
| **Yayın Tarihi** | 2023-03-07 |
| **Güncelleme** | 2026-03-01 |
| **Kaynak** | [Üsküdar Haber Ajansı](https://uha.com.tr/prof-dr-nevzat-tarhan-we-must-manage-emotions-in-the-triangle-of-spirit-heart-and-mind) |

## Özet

**Organized by the Conscience of the Age Club with the support of the Directorate of Health, Culture, and Sports of Üsküdar Üniversitesi, this week, the topic “Managing emotions in the triangle of spirit, heart, and mind” was discussed in 'Psychological Conversations from Existence to the Search for Meaning' with Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan. Emphasizing the importance of emotion management, Tarhan pointed out that feelings of hopelessness and pessimism come to people through the devil. Tarhan said; “A person falling into despair makes them a plaything for the devil. The devil can easily play with a person who falls into hopelessness and pessimism.” Tarhan notes that one can emerge from hopeless, pessimistic feelings by managing emotions in the triangle of spirit, heart, and mind.**

## İçerik

## ![](https://cdn.uskudar.edu.tr/uploads/images/2023/03/07/800/whatsapp-image-2023-03-07-at-11-48-02.jpeg)

## **“Pains, troubles, and difficulties are a part of growth”**

Drawing attention to popular culture encouraging humanity to live an easy, simple life, Tarhan emphasized that pain and difficulties are part of growth. Stating that the influence of modernism, spreading from individuals to society, causes the ruin of the entire society, Tarhan used the expression, “Evils spread five times faster than good deeds.” Tarhan said; “Modernism directs us to easy choices. Popular culture tells us to travel, have fun, live our lives and the moment. However, it's not 'live that moment' but 'live in the moment'. Do whatever you want, break chains, tear down walls; popular culture always recommends easy, pleasure-oriented things. Whereas, an ideal person in their personal development would pursue difficult things so that their future life becomes easier, but if they pursue easy things now, their life will become difficult later. Always easy, easy, and then you see the person can't finish school. Pains, troubles, difficulties are a part of growth. They remain undeveloped, and because they haven't grown, their life becomes harder instead of easier, and they waste themselves. In such situations, the devil says 'live your life, you only come to this world once'. Just saying this is enough to lead one astray. 'Forget it, let others think, live your own life,' he says, 'why are you thinking about those who died in the earthquake?' This is an easy way out, people like it. With a coffee in hand, they give advice about the earthquake on social media. If only they would get involved, do something and send it, support AFAD and associations there, but they do nothing, just produce words. This is what the devil makes them do. It's not understood when it's small, but when it spreads to much of society, society sinks, the ship sinks. One shouldn't say 'it's just one'. Evils spread five times faster than good deeds. It has such an effect. It has been tested in our brains too. Our brain responds to positive reactions at a speed of three hundred milliseconds, but to negative reactions after fifty milliseconds, even six times faster. Perhaps we are six times more sensitive to negative emotions, but we do something positive six times slower.”

## **“The devil gives advice that disturbs the peace of the universe and leads one astray”**

Making assessments in the context of types of medicine, Tarhan emphasized that true medicine is the prevention of disease before it is contracted. Tarhan said; “According to crime theory, primary prevention is creating awareness about crime in society. Secondary prevention is identifying risk groups. Identifying which groups are at risk, those with high potential to commit crimes. Tertiary prevention is punishment and rehabilitation after a crime has been committed. The Holy Quran provides primary prevention by doing this. In medicine, there are also three types of medicine: curative medicine, preventive medicine, and protective medicine. In Texas, there is a famous physician who wrote a book in his nineties, the name of his book is ‘How Not to Become a Heart Patient?’ The book then sold one and a half million copies. A journalist interviews him and asks if he has any regrets now. He says, ‘My regret is this: I operated on approximately fifteen hundred people and helped them regain their health, but if I had my current wisdom, I would have written that book at thirty, not ninety, and ensured that one and a half million people would not become heart patients.’ This is primary prevention. Here, too, there is a growing effect for sin to prevent people from causing discord and disturbing the peace of others. Sin, crime is easy. These are very easy, effortless things. For example, theft, you go and steal money from a person's pocket, you play with an account, you take a world of money, it's so easy. The person spent years to earn that money, now shouldn't this person be punished? Which system wouldn't give a punishment for this? You are violating the law of this universe. Even the fish in the sea would complain about it. Because they disturb harmony and order. So, it means that in such situations, the devil tries to lead people astray.”

## **“If a person has a mental refuge, they overcome calamities easily”**

Emphasizing the importance of seeing Allah as a mental refuge and seeking refuge in Him against calamities and trials, Tarhan stated that just as there is a balance of good and evil in a person's personal life, the same balance exists in society. Tarhan said; “People who are afflicted by calamities can overcome these calamities by seeking refuge in Allah, meaning by 'istiaza'. For example, there was an earthquake calamity, and there is a disease calamity right now; for those afflicted by these calamities, the secret of istiaza is a sanctuary, a refuge for them in these calamity situations. What is refuge? It means a safe area. You enter Allah's safe area. You feel that you are not alone against illness and calamities, meaning there is an omnipotent, absolutely wise, and absolutely willing power that knows everything and controls everything. That power sees me, it even feels the memories passing through my heart, I am not alone,' when a person says that, they take themselves into a safe zone. We call this a mental refuge in psychology. If a person has a mental refuge, they relax and say, 'If I have a mental refuge, I surrender to it.' They say, 'The captain of the ship knows this business,' they don't get restless, but they also express their situation. If someone inside the ship is doing something, 'this is leading me astray, but I seek refuge in you,' they say, seeking refuge in their captain and informing them. If someone causes discord on the ship, 'don't just sit and watch, seek refuge in Allah there,' it says. 'Correct it as much as you can, if not, seek refuge in me.' If the captain of the ship is negligent, if your situation is going wrong, 'seek refuge in me,' says the captain of the ship of the universe. Then, spiritual good and evil in the world are said to rise to the heavens. If there is much good, Allah would help there. If there is much evil, calamities would begin to come upon society. Just as there is a balance of good and evil in a person's personal life, the same exists in society.”

## **“In our brain, fire and gunpowder are side by side”**

Sharing insights on the characteristics of the devil and the various thoughts it instills in people, Tarhan, drawing from the Risale-i Nur, highlighted that different thoughts can come to one's mind, especially on religious matters, and this situation can turn into 'religious obsession'. Tarhan said; “In his work, Bediüzzaman Said Nursi states; ‘The most prominent characteristic of the devil is that it connects the imagination of disbelief with the depiction of disbelief in some sensitive-hearted and loyal-hearted people.’ Outside, fire and gunpowder don't come side by side, do they? But in our brain, fire and gunpowder are side by side. When you say fire, you immediately remember gunpowder, or when you say gunpowder, you remember fire. There is a close connection in our brain, and opposites balance each other. There is a 'possible universe, probable universe,' and also an 'actual universe.' This is also called modern logic. Bediüzzaman Hazretleri used modern logic extensively; there is a definition of logic made in the 1920s that he uses a lot. Here, we are inside a building in Istanbul; an earthquake is possible right now but not probable. In the Maraş region, it is probable because a major earthquake occurred a few weeks ago, and it could happen again now. That's why people don't enter even new buildings; they stay in tents. Because it is probable, but not merely possible, it is probable beyond possible. But when an earthquake occurs, it is actual on the day it happens; there are probability calculations for this, but in the brain, a person calls it 'imkan-ı zati' (inherent possibility). Disbelief against Allah, bad thoughts against sacred things come, and this is referred to as religious obsession. In reality, it is not possible or certain; something opposite within the circle of causes is not possible, but despite this, it feels as if it has happened to the person.”

## **“We must manage emotions in the triangle of spirit, heart, and mind”**

Drawing attention to the fact that feelings of hopelessness and pessimism come to people through the devil's whispers, Tarhan stated that those who succumb to these feelings can only be saved by 'managing emotions in the triangle of spirit, heart, and mind.' Tarhan said; “A person falling into despair, meaning hopelessness, makes them a plaything for the devil. The devil can easily play with a person who falls into hopelessness and pessimism. When one falls into despair, the devil also plays a lot with timid people. Despair manages hopeless, pessimistic, and timid people through fears. Because it manages with fear, it sometimes affects ambitions too. Managing emotions in the triangle of spirit, heart, and mind is very important here. The ego says 'go do this,' and the devil whispers to the mind. The devil has no coercive power; it only whispers, but as we keep thinking, our brain gains a material dimension. Whispers damage pathways in the brain; when pathways are damaged, there's no need for the devil; the brain starts producing automatically, then we hospitalize the person and apply treatments that correct brain chemistry. In that situation, there is no longer a need for the devil; in that situation, the brain gains a material dimension. The devil truly exploits people's weaknesses very well. That is why the greatest misleader of those who fall ill, who are in trouble, who are in distress, the weak and the powerless, is the devil. The devil knows their weak side and uses it. That is why it knows in what guise or form to enter to lead them astray; for this, I gave a TEDX presentation years ago titled 'How Does Our Mind Go Astray?' How does our mind go astray, how does a thought pattern come into a person's head that makes them make the biggest mistakes of their life? The devil also uses ambitions, including the ambition of a sick person to recover.”

## **“A person has three types of reality in this world”**

Tarhan stated that there are three types of reality perception in the human brain, and pointed out that reality testing develops in children after 5-6 years of age. Tarhan said; “A person has three types of reality in this world. In the 'physical reality' we live in, fire burns; for example, if you touch a stove with your hand, it burns – that's a reality. The other is 'imaginary reality.' In imaginary reality, you dream, you go to space, you fix the world, and you create whatever dreams you want, then when you come back to yourself, you say 'this was a dream' and return to yourself. Schizophrenics confuse imagination with reality; they dream, they fix the world in their imagination, and then they come to the real world and say, 'I fixed this, I did that, I started that war, I prevented it.' At that point, you say that this person has confused physical reality with imaginary reality. You say that these people have not activated the brain's reality-testing network. They misuse their brain and cannot distinguish between reality and imagination. The third reality is 'dream reality.' You wake up from a dream, and there's a twilight where you ask, 'Is this a dream or reality?' If it's good, you say, 'What a beautiful dream,' if it's bad, you say, 'I'm glad I woke up,' and we immediately perform a reality test and realize it. This is what disrupts the reality test; the person confuses imagination with reality. Since children don't know the reality test, it's dangerous for them to watch films alone until they are 5-6 years old; because they haven't yet gained abstract thinking skills, they assume what they watch is real. A child gains reality testing ability after 5-6 years of age; before that, they confuse imagination and reality.”

---

*Kaynak: [Üsküdar Haber Ajansı](https://uha.com.tr) — https://uha.com.tr/prof-dr-nevzat-tarhan-we-must-manage-emotions-in-the-triangle-of-spirit-heart-and-mind*