The Biological effects of Deeksha






















Gua Sha

Gua sha is an ancient East Asian healing technique taught by only a handful of Western practitioners. In China and Vietnam, gua sha is commonly used to relieve the aches and fever associated with the common cold. The Greeks used a similar technique in their daily massage regiments to invigorate the blood and relieve pain. In recent times, the technique has been passed over and considered a mere folk remedy just as massage and herbalism were just 15 years ago.

Gua sha can be used to address various sorts of conditions. Most commonly used to treat body pain, to boost the immune system and to relieve symptoms of the common cold, this modality can also be used to generally balance the flow of qi through the meridians, to resolve certain psychospiritual issues and to innervate areas of poor circulation such as adipose tissue which can have both a detoxifying and contouring effect.

Gua sha provides lasting relief for chronic pain. There are a variety of both western and eastern mechanisms that contribute to and explain the results.

As the practitioner strokes over muscle spasms that have become entrenched “knots”, the pain-spasm-pain cycle which keeps muscles tensed in a protective response is broken allowing the muscle to relax.

Stroking over an area brings blood carrying oxygen and nutrients to tissue that has been deprived. The blood then carries away built up toxins like lactic acid.

Frictioning the tissue warms the underlying support structure, fascia. Fascia crystallizes and individual strands begin to “glue” together for various reasons including misuse, repetitive trauma, overuse and deposits of toxins. Warming this tissue returns it to its natural gelatinous state and releases any adhesions that may have formed.

Once muscular tension and adhesions are released, the body is able to realize its original structure.

Eastern philosophies recognize that exogenous factors like wind, heat, cold, and damp become trapped in the exterior layer of the body causing pain by obstructing the flow of qi and blood in the channels. Gua sha techniques are the most effective way of releasing these pathogens from the exterior and encouraging the free flow of qi and blood.


Besides pain relief, Gua sha has many other benefits.

By removing meridian obstructions, gua sha promotes the free flow of qi and blood, balancing the body and addressing almost any presenting illness.

Blood stasis impedes the production of new blood. Once the stagnation is removed with gua sha, new blood will be created again. Blood is the material basis of our minds. When deficient of blood, the individual will have a hard time with self esteem issues, creating boundaries and emotional flexibility. Blood deficiency will present a variety of other problems including muscular pain and lack of flexibility, lack of energy, dizziness, etc… By engendering the production of new blood, gua sha will treat both the psychospiritual and the physical problems associated with blood deficiency.

Just like Rolfing or other modalities of deep bodywork, gua sha can instigate emotional release. If the muscles are “holding” emotions, as they relax, these emotions will be freed and should be accepted, experienced, and resolved. As this happens, old issues that have been trapped in the muscles of the body will be resolved.

Gua sha acts on fascia. Every organ, nerve, vein, artery, and muscle is sheathed in envelopes of fascia. By stroking the superficial fascia, deeper structures will be affected and their performance will be enhanced.

Lymph glands and vessels are located in the fascia. The lymphatic system is responsible for draining excess interstitial fluid from tissue, transporting dietary lipids from the gastrointestinal tract to the blood, and protecting against invasion through immune response. Gua sha will promote the circulation of lymph and free any restrictions within the lymphatic system.

Gua sha enhances circulation in general providing undernourished areas with blood to both feed tissue and remove waste products. As an area is innervated, it will be detoxified and toned by the deep massaging action of gua sha.


A session of gua sha will last from fifteen to forty five minutes depending on how many areas will be addressed. As with any sort of bodywork, the areas treated will include both the site of pain and also areas that contribute to the condition – primarily the back, legs, arms, and chest.

First, oil or lotion will be applied. Then, the practitioner will use a smooth edged tool to stroke over the area. Stroking will continue until the sha is released.

A red rash called petechiae will appear as the sha releases. Various qualities of the rash offer clues as to the nature and severity of the condition being addressed. It will take several days for the rash to fade. Stretching and light aerobic exercise like walking will hasten the rash’s healing.

Gua sha is not unlike a very deep massage. One moment might feel excruciatingly intense, the next overwhelmingly relaxing. The practitioner will respond to your level of sensitivity; however, as with the rest of our existence, there are often moments of discomfort that cannot be avoided in order to bring about growth and healing.

After a session, one should be sure to rest and relax. Also, drink a large amount of water to clear all the toxins released by the treatment. If not, the toxins will settle back into the tissue causing stiffness and soreness or even nausea and lightheadedness.

One should avoid alcohol, caffeine and strenuous exercise after a gua sha treatment.

Gua sha is an indispensable tool in the treatment of chronic pain. In fact, it is a relevant tool in treating almost any disorder given its ability to clear stagnation, to engender the creation of blood, to release the exterior and to innervate and detoxify tissue.











The Biological Effects of Deeksha
by German particle physicist, Christian Optiz

Deeksha and Brain Scans

During a recent stay at the Oneness University, I had the opportunity to measure the brains of several people at different stages of the diksha process, using a very sensitive electromagnetic sensor.  At first, I examined several participants of the 10 day deepening course who had already gone through the 21day course several months earlier.  All of them showed the brain patterns of enlightenment:  A greatly decreased level of activity in the parietal lobes and enhanced activity in the frontal lobes, with a dominance of the left frontal lobe.  This is particularly important, because the difference between genuine spirtual awakening and pathological mystical experiences that make a person more neurotic lies in the dominance of the frontal lobes:  Overactivity on the right side is problematic, whereas a healthy integration of spiritual awakening into human life always comes with left frontal lobe dominance.  These findings where also confirmed by Ralf Franziskowski, a medical doctor specialized in psychosomatic medicine, who scanned people with an AMSAT diagnostic device.  We purposefully used two very different technologies to cross-check our findings.

One very interesting aspect of these findings was that the brain hardware of these people was more reflective of permanent enlightenment than their current conscious experience.  It seems that diksha first installs the neurobiological hardware of enlightenment and the software in form of the experience slowly catches up.  This makes a lot of sense to me.  So often people have access to great awakenings, but do not have the prepared brain to sustain and integrate such awakenings.  All the problems of “ungrounded” spiritual awakening have to do with this discrepancy.  If the order is reversed, it dramatically increases the chances of enlightenment being complete and easy to integrate into human life……

Although this study does not address those that have received individual deeksha outside of the programs in India, my observation is that you are experiencing a profound neurological rewiring as well.  Both your direct individual experience as well as a quick reading of the book of Awakening makes this obvious to yourself as well as the casual observer.

Now, from a different perspective, Christian Opitz explains what happens on a biochemical level when you attend deeksha for some time:


Diksha and the Hormones of Joy

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 is 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 that 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, 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 was some kind of disease. Among those drug, 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 in terms of effects on our life experience of oxytocin 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 where 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.