What is Oja??? Part 2 (Concluding part)

We have looked upon Oja very critically and to be frank, we have not yet found an answer that is satisfactory and which points out exactly what oja is all about. We have been given clues by our acharyas trying to explain it in their terminologies. The function of oja has also been specifically mentioned and the diseases or conditions occurring due to decreased oja specified.

We now know for a fact in our last discussion that :

v  Oja is no energy or an abstract but is a physical substance as its physical features have been well specified.

v  Oja has a very intimate relationship with shukra dhatu

v  Oja is the excellence of all dhatus and hence is superior to them

v  Oja helps to maintain the immunity of the body by helping in regeneration and hence gives strength and stability to the body

v  Oja has the quality of “Sheetatva” or coldness hence cannot withstand heat

v  There are 2 types of Oja – Para (superior) and Apara (Inferior)

v  Para oja is constant throughout life and Apara may change depending on various factors

v  Oja delays the degeneration and the ageing processes

v  Oja forms a link between the 3 bodies (Gross, Subtle and Causal)

We know all of the above facts and yet there is confusion in our minds as to what oja really is.

In this blog, I would like to explain, according to me “what is oja”

In the human body, there are some cells that are known as “Stem cells”. Stem cells are primal undifferentiated cells which retain the ability to differentiate into other cell types. This ability allows them to act as a repair system for the body, replenishing other cells as long as the organism is alive.

These cells are further divided into 2 major types as “embryonic stem cells” and “adult/somatic stem cells”.

Embryonic Stem Cells (Para Oja)*- The embryonic stem cells are tottipotent cells and remain constant throughout life. They are formed from embryos after fertilization. This very well explains why the content of embryonic stem cells or para oja remains constant throughout life as with only 1 gamete, more of it cannot be formed.

Somatic/Adult Stem Cells (Apara Oja)* - The adult stem cells are pleuripotent  cells which are present in the body in greater number than embryonic stem cells. These cells are not as potent as embryonic stem cells but have the capacity to multiply and specialize themselves to any tissue eg blood. Hence, the regeneration of the body depends directly on the amount of adult stem cells that the body has. Similarly the immunity or resistance to degeneration or to a disease is directly dependant on the amount of Oja the body has. This Oja is, as the name suggests, formed from shukra dhatu (only 1 gamete is involved)

Now, let us compare the parameters of oja to stem cells in the same order

v  Stem cells is no energy or an abstract thought, but is a physical substance with physical features matching the description of Oja given by the respected Acharyas

v  The relationship of Shukra dhatu with stem cells is obvious

v  Stem cells is definitely superior to all tissue elements as it can specialize to any of them at will, hence it is the most excellent of cells to be present in the human body

v  As this stem cell regenerates or replaces damaged organs or tissues by specializing itself to form the tissue, this acts as the best immunity provider in the body by providing strength and stability to the body

v  Stem cells require a cold temperature to thrive in vitro and in vivo. Heat destroys these cells easily.

v  The 2 types of stem cells have been discussed in short where the superior one being the embryonic stem cells and inferior being the somatic counterpart

v  Embryonic stem cells remain constant throughout life and if depleted the patient dies as regeneration stops completely whereas somatic stem cells may increase or decrease

v  Stem cells are used for delay in ageing processes as it stops degeneration by regenerating and substituting degenerated cells.

*(My opinion, may or may not be true)

Hence, I have tried to give my understanding of oja in very very short and easy language. I have also co-related it with stem cells specifically to explain why I think what I think.

According to me, the Acharyas of ayurveda knew of the complete existence of these stem cells and they chose the word Oja to explain it.

I hope to have clarified another tricky concept of ayurveda. If there are any arguments for or against this topic or any comments or critical analysis, please feel free to post them as it will only improve my understanding of the subject

What is Oja???

As we are discussing controversial and unclear topics on this blog, after agni I felt it right to understand ojas so as to get a clearer idea as we move ahead to discuss and dwell upon aspects of ayurveda in further blogs and discussions.

At first ojas seemed a very abstract concept and to pinpoint such a substance in the body, seemingly difficult.

There are varied opinions concerned with this highly accepted yet little known entity. Let me put forward some of the opinions that i have encountered.

We shall discuss these opinions one after another to understand more about what our preceptors tried to point out at.

1.         1. Some scholars of ayurveda say that it is the energy present in the body produced during destruction of shukra dhatu responsible for anabolic changes in the body.

2.       2. Some say it is nothing but the antibodies and WBCs present in the body

3.       3. Some say that it is no different from shukra, just that old shukra should be counted as oja

4.         4. Some say it is an upadhatu of shukra

5.         5. And others say it’s the mala of shukra

6.             6.Others, well, say that science is not good enough to figure it out or explain such concepts….???

Now, taking into account these opinions of various schools of thoughts, we need to list out the pros and cons to aid us in our search of what exactly is oja.

1.       In the first opinion,

Pros: It is by far the best attempt made to explain oja in terms of science of energies. It shows the intimate relation of shukra and points out at its function very clearly.

Cons: It does not point out what oja is, but points out the function of oja. For eg. describing a knife as something that cuts things is only a function not the knife itself. If this were to be accepted assuming that oja is energy and not a substance then the description of oja as having yellowish colour, resembling clarified butter(ghee) etc, seems useless as only physical substances can have such explanations.

2.       In the second opinion,

Pros: It is a good attempt to substantiate the oja by relating it in modern medicine by comparing it to WBCs and antibodies.

Cons: This explanation of oja does not really suffice as the intimate relationship with shukra is totally overlooked and the formation of it depending on the quality of shukra dhatu and its increase by conserving shukra in processes of bhramacharya etc are totally ignored. Hence to accept this does not seem complete.

3.       In the third opinion,

Pros: This explanation goes out of its way to show how intimately it is connected to shukra and how it is an upadhatu of the same. (I do not want to get into whether it is an upadhatu or mala of shukra, but we have a separate blog for it, if requested)

Cons: The cons are quite a few because this reason is rarely accepted due to the obvious fact that there are no definite parameters that differentiate it from shukra, if it really was nothing but shukra, then why is it even considered as another dhatu in itself? Hence this argument does not satisfy our intellectual needs.

4.       &     5.            These points on whether it is an upadhatu or mala and why need not be discussed here, but a blog can be specifically to clear that doubt if need be.

6.  In the sixth opinion,

Well, there is a good amount of truth in this statement as it is difficult to understand ayurveda which goes deep into layers of sukshma shareer and karan shareer on which modern medicine has not reached as yet. Quantum physics for that matter has definitely reached and is probing the manomaya kosha, hence trying to use it to understand those concepts should prove beneficial.

Hence, all the explanations provided to us individually seems a bit hazy and tough to grasp. But when put together and thought upon, the eventual answer could seem ridiculously obvious.

If any one of you would like to share your thoughts on this subject or have an opinion about my writings, please do comment, I shall try to better myself in each attempt.

In the coming blogs I will try and put my point of view trying to elaborate and understand oja, while showing how to tap it and use it for a complete transformation of life and psyche for the good.

What is Agni??? - Part 6 (concluding part)

I apologize to have taken a long gap in writing my next blog, but due to various reasons my focus was shifted to exams and some other cause I was dealing with. While again going through in brief, we had thought about agni, its different types, its form of existence and its mechanism of action. Now let us try and gauge the most important aspect, the one which deals with practical life, the ways to catch onto this and utilize it to speed up spiritual progress and health.

References in various books show some direct connection between spiritual growth and agni. According the Vimalananda, “The amount of indigested or unabsorbed food thrown out from your body reflects your growth or rather the absence of it.” This growth does not relate to physical growth, of course, but to spiritual growth. Such a statement seems very puzzling and sometimes it seems so vague that we push it aside claiming it to be blind faith, without trying to understand the science behind such a simplistically put statement.

As we have seen earlier, bhootagni is responsible for increasing our mental faculties, specifically by nourishing the indriyas by utilizing or making the most of what we ingest. And according to Srimad Bhagwad Gita “intelligence is nothing but the perfect functioning of the indriyas” and “sattva is nothing but intelligence.” Hence showing us the unavoidable importance of bhootagni.

Hence in yoga, the first step is known as “Bhootashuddhi”, referring to the process of cleansing the mahabhootas which reflect its presence in the functioning of its specific indriyas. For this, firstly there is an assessment made on the level of vitiation of the mahabhootas and accordingly the yogic therapy is advised.

According to Tantra Shastra:

These same rituals are followed in tantra shastra and are known by a different name of tattwa shuddhi, but the methodology and the science behind it is the same more or less.

As we know, the 5 mahabhootas form the senses and also form the base of the 5 chakras ie, from mooladhara to vishuddha. Hence their shuddhi clears and stimulates the indriyas and also facilitates the upward movement of kundalini, when awakened.

The principle behind this kriya, is to improve upon the bhootagni to a great extent without which, progression in yoga is not possible.

The starting point may be any mahabhoota of the person’s choice. Each mahabhoota has its own peculiarities, pros and cons. Let us discuss in brief about them.

1)      Pritwi (Earth) Mahabhoota: This mahabhoota has the characteristic of steadiness and stability, hence processes like Hatha Yoga are generally followed for shuddhi of this mahabhoota, in which a person needs to sit in a particular posture giving pressure on specific points thus stimulating and/or obstructing prana in specific areas giving about a desired result. For example, in Moola Bandha, the anal sphincter is to be closed, which obstructs the lower movement of apana vayu thus giving pressure on the mooladhar, the site of kundalini. Overdoing it or not doing it under proper guidance can bring about various complications like severe pain and constipation in this case.

Pros: It is the safest way of progression comparatively and once siddhi in this yoga is achieved it gives stability to the high energy flowing through the body. Brings about mental balance and stability.

               

Cons: The earth element being heavy and slow in nature, this shuddhi takes a lot of time, patience and perseverance. It may take from years to decades or even lifetimes to master.

2)      Jala (Water) Mahabhoota: This mahabhoota has the characteristics of fluidity and heaviness. It ranges from simple practices of giving water to specific plants and abhisheks on idols to practices requiring the person be underwater for prolonged periods of time. Water as an element is very puzzling and yet many mysteries have not been solved and are termed as anomalous. Mantras are frequently used in such practices.

Pros: The water chakra swadhistan is also known as the sex charka. Hence, this shuddhi brings about control over sex organs and thus enabling us to protect our veerya or sexual fluids giving us a lot of energy or oja and also helps in swadhisthan bhedan.

Cons: This process is slow, even though faster than prithwi element, but slower compared to the others. Water pollution these days also pose a threat these days and such impurities could do damage if used constantly.

3)      Agni(Fire) Mahabhoota: This mahabhoota has characteristics of sharpness and amplification. Due to this quality of amplification, it is preferred by many. This method was widely used in ancient days in both eastern and western mysticism where elements and mantras were continuously fed into the fire for amplification and faster results. Zoarashtrians also used this and were known as fire worshippers as they kept chanting hymns into the fire. Consecration of spaces was also done effectively using this method. Yagnas, havans, dhumas, etc are nothing but purification of the teja mahabhoota in the body. Satyug and treata yuga saw this process thrive.

Pros: Fast progress is possible due to amplification. It is a relatively safe method if used well. Due to qualities of amplification, it is used in consecrating spaces hence creating an environment of growth and purity.

Cons: It needs to be done in a particular way using particular mantras and at a given time. The fire must be fed with mantras and fuel continuously.

4)      Vayu(Wind) Mahabhoota: This mahabhoota has characteristics of mobility and quickness. Due to these properties, it is preferred by most. This method started off a bit late, after the period of the fire. Pranayams and different breathing related sciences and techniques came into the limelight. It was most seen during the dwapar yuga and is one of the preferred choices today but needs to be handled very carefully.

Pros: It is very fast acting and quick result giving method. It directly acts on the prana using no mediators. . Kundalini can be controlled to a greater extent through this method as prana is directly under control. There is no need of usage of mantras or physical substances. No barriers of time.

Cons: It needs to be done under proper guidance or else proves to be dangerous. Due to unavoidable air pollution, this method has been rejected by some seeing the damage it has on the saadhak.

5)      Akash(Ether) Mahabhoota: This mahabhoota is characterized by emptiness and subtleness. Due to this subtle property, it is the fastest acting, yet the most difficult mahabhoota to gain control of due to its emptiness. Being a powerful element, its followers are generally powerseekers aiming to attain quick siddhis or supernatural powers. These practices are totally based on shabda or speech. Fasting is one of the practices done here.

            Pros: Fastest way of progression.

Cons: Very difficult to gain control over such a subtle element. Very dangerous for true spiritual seekers if not handled properly due to lucrative siddhis.

All these practices increase the power of bhootagni which in turn purifies the mahabhootas or elements giving a base to the sadhak to start his/her inward journey.

According to Jainism:

The jains have a very similar thought process in which they emphasize on giving strength to the bhootagni which is the agni of the sukshma sharer. For this they avoid food and practices that stimulate the jatharagni which nourishes the sthula sharer (groos body). It is also found in various researches that food found under the soil contains lower frequency as that found higher. The higher the frequency, the higher the chakra it stimulates. Hence the jains say that food growing below the soil should be avoided for eg. onion, garlic etc. as they have “moola dosha”. This word moola dosha has been tampered around with quite a lot. Most jains believe that it is due to the fact that lots of micro-organisms die due to cooking and eating, whereas some believe that it is due to the fact that the whole plant needs to be uprooted hence causing more violence than a mere pluck. But going a bit deeper, I feel that such food stimulates the “mooladhara chakra” owing to its low frequency range giving rise to petty thought patterns known as “moola dosha.” which is definitely harmful for bhootagni but may prove excellent for jatharagni and bodily development.

Non- vegetarian foods are also to be avioded as they stimulate mooladhara and swadhisthan chakra and  whereas they are excellent for and are advised to increase and nourish sthula shareer. Also due to the karmas of violence it carries along with it, it is to be avoided.

Fasting is one of the practices for akash mahabhoota shuddhi and stimulation of bhootagni and is followed greatly in Jainism.

Tyag(letting go) and penance are given great importance. Hence, all these factors stimulate bhootagni and give about a fair chance of spiritual progression.

Other religions like Buddhism also try to increase this bhootagni, but due to my lack of proper knowledge, I will not delve into it much.

According to Ayurveda:

Ayurveda believes in a very systematic and layered thought process when it comes to spirituality. Ayurveda's chief aim is to bring about health in the body. Using different substances like aahar and aushadha the body is purified. Hence the annamayakosha or the physical body becomes pure. Using means of ayurvedic acupressure and acupuncture(marma vijnana), different nadis are purified. Hence the pranamaya kosha or the energy body is purified. Using practices of sadvrutta the manomayakosha or the attitude body is purified. Hence stimulating the bhootagni.

Thus, this agni is used in almost all shastras and it forms the base and measuring parameter of spiritual preparedness.

This blog is only my understanding of the subject. It may or may not be true. Please give suggestions, remarks, or a critical analysis of the same and possibly some tips to improve my understanding or writing skills.

Here I conclude my blog on “What is Agni???” Thank you for your patience.

What is Agni??? - Part 5

In the previous blog, we talked about the nature of mahabhootas, indriyas and the basic concept of samkhya darshan, ayurveda and their controversy.

In this blog, let us focus on the less talked about transformation process of bhootagni which is superlatively important in our life.

The human body consists of gyanendriyas or senses of perception, which are Shabda, Sparsha, Roopa, Rasa and Gandha as given in the chart below.

These Indriyas, as discussed earlier are present in the cortices of the brain. These indriya’s potency is dependant on the amount of activation of the cortex of the brain, the preciseness of the adhistan and the clarity of the pathway through which is the impulse travels.

Prana or the life force energizes these cortices and thus strengthens the indriays so that perceptibility increases. This prana is obtained from a combination of food and breath (as we all know that it is the inhalation of air containing oxygen that helps in the breakdown of food eventually).

Food, as we have seen, undergoes digestion in 3 general stages,
1. The gross digestion of food which is done by jatharagni
2. The subtle digestion, done by 7 different dhatvagnis and
3. The atisukshma digestion, done by bhootagni.

These digestive processes occur in specific sequences. Jatharagni digests the food first. It divides the food into useful and non-useful parts (sara-kitta vibhajana). The dhatvagni converts the useful protion (ahara rasa) into different tissues, hence nourishing them.

But the bhootagni not only works on the ‘sara’ part, but also on the ‘kitta’ part, or the useless portion. It tries to use these sara and kitta potions to energize the sense organs.

According to Acharya Charak, the indriyas become capable to receive information of the objects only due to energy of shakti. This shakti to the cortices of the brain is provided by further conversion of faecal matter into higher energies using bhootagni. Bhootagni is generally somewhat opposite of jatharagni as it works differently. Jatharagni tries to remove as much of ‘sara’ portion as possible so as to nourish the body, whereas bhootagni tries to convert it to energy for nourishment of these brain cortices.

The types of bhootagni are categorized according to 2 parameters:

According to the time of action:

1. Pre-digestive entrainment: Here, the word “pre-digestive” is taken because it works before the digestion by the dhatvagni starts . It uses up a portion of ahara rasa and converts it into the 5 types of bio-energies that stimulate all the cortices of the brain.

2. Post-digestive entrainment: Here, the word “post-digestive” is used because it works on the faecal matter.

This type of bhootagni is only an extension of the previous one and very difficult to activate and requires lots of sadhana to activate and control.

According to the Indriya it activates:

1. The first one is the grossest one which activates the ghranendriya and or the cortex for olfaction. (pruthwi mahabhoota, earth element)
2. The second one is a bit more subtle and activates the rasanendriya or the cortex for taste. (Jala mahabhoota, liquid element)
3. The third one being subtler, activates the roopa or the visual cortex. (Agni mahabhoota, fire element)
4. The fourth one activates the sparshanendriya or the cortex responsible for tactile sensation. (Vayu mahabhoota, air element)
5. The fifth one is even subtler and activates the shrotrendriya which is responsible for hearing.(Akash mahabhoota, space)

Thus, the bhootagni activates and supplies nourishment to each of our indriyas so that perceptibility can maintained and increased.

This is a very tricky concept to present and I have tried to explain it in a very simplistic manner. In my next blog, I will try and explain the manipulation of bhootagni and its usage in spiritual sciences like yoga, tantra etc. and its practical use.