Section
A – Article
#31
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Diksha and the Hormones of Joy -
Article by Christian Opitz
Until
now, I mostly emphasized the effect of diksha on various brain
centers in my writings. An equally important aspect of the process of
awakening the brain is the change in hormone and neurotransmitter
production. I would like to give an overview of some of the
significant changes in regards to hormones and neurotransmitters that I
have found in people who have been receiving diksha for a while.
First, let's take a look at some of the important neurochemicals and
their effect on our experience of life:
Dopamine:
Produced in the substantia nigra in the mid-brain, this important
neurotransmitter is almost always out of balance in modern people. We
need sufficient dopamine to feel alive, vibrant, to be able to
concentrate and have good discernment. Lack of dopamine leads to
boredom, depression, brain fog, one merely exists but is not truly
alive. This in turn leads to cravings for dopamine stimulation, mostly
through destructive means. Intense but short-lived dopamine
stimulants are, for example, cocaine, amphetamines, junk food,
aggressive behaviors and conflicts with other people. Those suffering
from ADD are restless and often have hyperaggressive tendencies because
they are desperately trying to stimulate some dopamine production.
Too much dopamine at once leads to a dulling of the dopamine receptors
and that in turn has undesirable consequences. Delusions, including
hallucinations that are mistaken for genuine mystical experiences,
often go together with prolonged overproduction of dopamine. People
addicted to computer games have similar dopamine imbalances, which
shows an interesting correlation between the addictions to virtual
realities, whether on a computer screen or on the screen of one's own
mind. In some people, excessive dopamine can lead to stuttering.
People who stutter usually have twice as much dopamine in their system
than average people.
It is easy to see that for a balanced spiritual awakening, we want a
consistent level of dopamine without the detrimental effects of extreme
highs and lows. A consistent dopamine production goes hand in hand
with awakened frontal lobes, which Bhagavan associates with
God-Realization. Given the fact that dopamine is essential to feel
truly alive, it makes sense that we need it to also feel the Source of
all life.
Oxytocin:
Oxytocin is the hormone of love, open-heartedness and gratitude.
Happily married people produce more oxytocin, but relationship stress
severely decreases it. Oxytocin is the neurochemical foundation for
compassion, for truly caring for others. When we care for others, we
ourselves are rewarded many times over, because oxytocin regenerates
the body and induces a very deep sense of well-being. Love is great
health insurance because of oxytocin. Indifference and cruelty are
accompanied by very low levels of this hormone. I assume that these
biochemical facts are one of the reasons behind Bhagavan's emphasis
on setting right relationships.
The production of oxytocin is severely hindered in most people today
and this often starts at birth. In the late 1940s, medicine began to
use drugs at birth as if it were some kind of disease. Among those
drugs, petocin (synthetic oxytocin) is used to induce contractions and
thus birth, on the hospital's schedule instead of following the
natural interaction between baby and mother. Whenever we receive a
huge dose of a synthetic version of a hormone, our receptors are
overwhelmed and the body's own production can be compromised. If
this happens at birth, there can be permanent damage and a life-long
pattern of producing too little oxytocin.
It does not help much that the most important bonding phase between
mother and child right after birth has become a medical procedure of
taking blood, measuring the baby, cutting the umbilical cord too early
and not allowing the baby a direct bonding with the mother and thus a
gentle entrance into this world. The combination of petocin and the
lack of empathy for the newborn baby in medicalized birth procedures is
almost certain to severely compromise oxytocin production.
It is interesting to note that heavy drug use at birth, from petocin to
pain killers to even some psychedelic substances that are no longer
used, was introduced after WWII. When the first generation of babies
who came into this world on drugs had arrived at young adulthood in the
1960s, they where the first generation to seek a deeper meaning of life
through drugs. I believe the lack of natural oxytocin caused by drug
use at the entrance into life can set up a strong recapitulation
pattern of seeking life through drugs.
Cortisol:
The opposite of oxytocin, in terms of effects on our life experience,
is cortisol, the stress and death hormone. We need cortisol in
life-threatening situations, but, as Dr. Hans Selye discovered, we
tend to overproduce it much of the time when there is no threat to
survival in sight. On cortisol, all of life takes on the quality of
struggle, including relationships and even the spiritual search.
Cortisol activates the parietal lobes, which are supposed to give us a
sense of our physical boundaries. When overactive, this sense of
physical separateness is extended to our general experience of
ourselves and we then feel existentially separate.
This is at least part of the reason why Bhagavan emphasizes the
deactivation of the parietal lobes. Cortisol makes us walk around with
chronically overactivated parietal lobes. In that state, we are not
able to feel our feelings fully, to embrace ourselves as we are. Being
in the here and now, being in the flow, requires abundant oxytocin,
sufficient dopamine and low levels of cortisol.
The Effects of Diksha:
Although it is very difficult to measure hormones and neurotransmitters
in the brain directly, electromagnetic signature testing allows for
some conclusions about the effects of diksha in this regard. One of
the main effects I have found with people who have been receiving
diksha for a year or longer is a regeneration of receptors for both
dopamine and oxytocin. This automatically leads to greater efficiency
of these neurochemicals and a decrease in cortisol production. Diksha
can also regenerate the substantia nigra, where dopamine is produced,
and this directly shows up in changed electromagnetic brain patterns.
Many times I have observed a natural release of addictive patterns
through diksha that were clearly related to low dopamine levels.
Another interesting parameter is the electromagnetic communication
between the brain and the heart. This seems to progressively get
stronger in people through diksha and is one of the most important
energetic correlation's of the flowering of the heart and true
compassion. In some of the Dasas and in Ron Roth, this connection was
off the charts when I measured them. Oxytocin is the biochemical
bridge between the brain and heart.
>From the data I have gathered so far, diksha seems to be effective in
strongly enhancing oxytocin in the vast majority of people. I also
believe that this is one of the aspects of birth trauma that can be
healed through diksha and that this effect makes diksha so worthwhile
for children. Even though children are not supposed to enter into an
enlightenment process, growing up with lots of oxytocin will give them
a much more beautiful life experience.
Finally, the neurochemical effects of diksha are one reason why other
methods people utilize for inner transformation can become so much more
effective when people receive diksha. If someone does not need
meditation anymore to lower cortisol, meditation can go to much deeper
levels right away. If emotional or physical healing work is done on a
person who already has high levels of oxytocin, the receptivity to
receive healing is enhanced.
The synergy of diksha with specific methods of inner transformation is
a fascinating subject for more exploration and the role of
neurochemicals is essential for the effects such synergies produce.
* * *
Christian Opitz is a neurophysicist, biochemist, herbalist and author.
He has developed a new paradigm of healing called Radiant Life that
combines whole brain functioning, raw food nutrition, exercise and
nature awareness. Christian has taught in Europe
and the United States
for the past 15 year
11886 Paddock Lane,
Grass Valley, CA 95949
Please
call:
530-852-7836
for an appointment for distance or personal healing.
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