Christ Is Within Us
Page 9
Can our nervous system handle the increase in cosmic energy?
If it cannot, then the Vagus Nerve will tell you through various “dysfunctions” which may show up in the physical body in ways such as:
Diabetes
Heart conditions
Thyroid problems
Stomach and digestive problems
Epilepsy
Fainting
Nervous system disorders
Multiple Sclerosis
Parkinson's
Anxiety/Stress
Food allergies/sensitivities
Mental clarity issues
Memory loss
Brain fog
Anti-social behavior
Depression
Fertility issues
Immune disorders
Blood sugar problems
Tinnitus
Kidney issues
Gallbladder problems
Ear or tongue problems
Cancer
Autism
In order to improve these conditions or to eliminate them entirely, the body needs to be able to function with the massive increase in cosmic energy coming onto the planet and into the body. To do this, the Vagus Nerve must be “increased in tone.” One with impaired Vagus capacity is said to have a “low vagustone” and one with a strong Vagus nerve has “high tonal capacity.” This is interesting to me because there are many things which strengthen the Vagus Nerve and one of them is Toning. Also, the sound of the Cosmos, in yoga, is thought to be the Omkar – the eternal OM. It is the creation capacity of the Universe. In the physical body, the OM manifests as the merging of masculine and feminine qualities and as the kundalini serpent rising to meet at the pineal gland in the brain. When the Vagus nerve is healthy and strong one will be optimally functioning and able to not only access more of the brain's capacity, but I believe “show-up” divinely in relationship as a balanced whole being.
Essentially, the Vagus Nerve reverses the flow of information — rather than orders flowing from your brain to your body, the nerve is instead taking some very strong suggestions from the body back to the brain. And, nine times out of ten, the brain listens. By lowering your breathing rate, your Vagus Nerve notes that things must be calm — you have no reason to be breathing hard and fast, and must therefore be able to relax. As it travels around your body and receives ‘relaxed’ messages from those organs over which you do have conscious control while meditating (your lungs, principally, but also your heart to a certain extent), it will infer that you are in no immediate danger, and have no need, therefore, to be stressed. It will convey this message to the brain, which (nine times out of ten) will then ease control over to the parasympathetic nervous system, allowing you to relax, rest, and digest.
When the parasympathetic nervous system has control, we are capable of deeper thought than we are when the sympathetic nervous system is in control (when our immediate survival is not at stake, the brain is more willing to afford time to deep thought). This perhaps explains why the deep breathing and physical relaxation aspects of meditation facilitate such excellent contemplation and self-exploration.
Kundalini explained
The opiate substance secreted from the pineal gland during Samadhi has been variously called Nectar of the Gods, ambrosia, amrita, and the Living Water. Gurus like Sai Baba claim to materialize amrita and can shaktipat others into generating their own nectar. It is said that to experience amrita is to be bestowed with immortality that is to be freed from the cycle of birth and death...hence liberated. The term Amrita is Sanskrit for "elixir of immortality," it literally means "deathlessness". This has obvious parallels to "ambrosia" the name of the classical Greek "food of the gods" which means "no death."
During shaktipat, inner-conjunction or through initiation in meditation this nectar is produced and drips down the back of the throat. Perhaps an associated phenomena to the generation of the nectar, is the intense light of a Thousand Suns that occurs sometimes during its "manufacture." This secretion gives one the experience of Timelessness, and being a divine God or Goddess. It is "sweet" in taste and in sensation--it is described as nectar, honey, gold dust, euphoric, ecstatic, and intoxicating and gives the feeling of being imbued with holiness.
The main function of the pineal gland is its role in mediating circadian rhythms of the animal through the production of the hormone melatonin, from its precursor amino acid tryptophan. The pineal gland is most active in early morning hours...hence meditation is often undergone at this time. The pineal gland is the only singular organ in the brain and is located near the upper end of the spinal cord, which ends or terminates in the oldest anatomical region in the brain. Taoists call the center of the brain between the pineal and the pituitary "the Crystal Palace." It's between the old brain at the back and the new brain at the front of the head, between the left and right hemispheres, sitting above the two wings of the mysterious ventricles. It rests between the two large cerebrums at the anterior end of the cerebellum. The cerebellum is one of the oldest features of the brain, involved in coordinating muscular activity in the body. It's said that when the pineal gland is activated it becomes illuminated like a thousand suns. The sense of white light flowing within and without may be when the pineal gland is highly activated producing DMT type chemistry during the height of the peak.
When the Crystal Palace lights up, a secretion from the area might be released into the back of the throat. "The White Drop" would be some intense opiate that acts to open the heart.
"In Tibetan Buddhism, this is the source of the "White Drop" that descends to the heart centre, where it mixes with the ascending "Red Drop" producing an enlightened body and mind. All this activity is seen as a cosmic sex act in the head. The phallic-shaped pineal gland releases a pure white liquid light that impregnates the nearby bi-lobed pituitary gland, which then releases hormones in the blood that inaugurate a Second (Spiritual) Puberty in the body." ~ www.alchemylab.com
The pituitary gland is located inside a round bony cavity that is separated from the sphenoid sinus by a thin bone that forms the roof of the sphenoid sinus. The sphenoid sinus is the most posterior sinus. The drainage from the sphenoid is almost directly down the throat from an ostium (hole) that opens into the posterosuperior part of the nasal cavity. The sphenoid sinus is adjacent to the main nerve that is responsible for vision, the optic nerve. The main artery that goes to the brain, the carotid artery, travels along the wall of this sinus.
Also nerve impulses from the eyes and ears pass through the colliculi with the pineal directly overhead separated by CSF. Thus secretions from the pineal would have a direct impact on the colliculi. The colliculus is part of the brain that sits below the thalamus and surrounds the pineal gland. It is involved in the generation of eye movements and hand-eye coordination. The colliculus receives visual, as well as auditory inputs, and its deeper layers are connected to many sensorimotor areas of the brain. The colliculus as a whole is thought to help orient the head and eyes toward something seen or heard.
During initiation of the Crystal Palace hormones including oxytocin and vasopressin are released from the pituitary into the blood stream to facilitate the metamorphic birth. The fact that the nerves and blood vessels that feed the eyes and middle ear pass through the cavernous sinus either side of the sphenoid sinus leads us to speculate on the mechanisms behind both Celestial Music that is heard when the Crystal Place is lit up, and changes in the eyes such as light emerging from them, changes of consciousness seen in the eyes and faculty of transcendental vision itself.
When the Crystal Chamber is lit transcendental vision occurs. Transcendental vision probably occurs due to increased kundalini flow raising dopamine and phenylethylamine etc. All kind of changes happen in the retinas and occipital lobes, including increased ATP production acting as a neurotransmitter and histamine increasing blood flow in the brain, and increase in nitric oxide metabolism. The end result being that one has an increase in visual acuity, inner visions, inner lights, s
eeing auras and vivid dreams. If you try the drug Ecstasy you are likely to see auras, and have transcendental vision so there must be some similarity in the chemical mechanism between Ecstasy and kundalini. (See also Superfluidity )
Here is a description of the release of amrita during sex while undergoing a kundalini awakening initiated by LSD: "During continued sexual activity, at the minutes just prior to orgasm, I became aware that there was a fluid being secreted from the upper, forward part of my throat/nasal cavity, roughly at the height of the nose (amrita). It seemed closely related to the extended sublimation of semen, which I had been practicing for some time." ~ Mahan Atma
I suspect that amrita is a mixture of endogenous cannaboids, enkephalins, glutamate, oxytocin and vasopressin and Ca2+ ions and polarized water that have been generated by glial and neurons, accumulated in the cerebrospinal fluid and collect in the ventricle underneath the pineal gland (possibly finding its way to the sphenoid sinus under the pituitary). At a point of maximum excitation, very much like an orgasm, this fluid is excreted out from the sinuses and into the back of the throat. In a similar fashion amrita is excreted out of the G-Spot area of women during sex. It would be interesting to compare the chemical constituents of these two forms of amrita.
In order to be extruded from the brain during what amounts to a brain orgasm, the likely properties of Amrita are: Small molecular size, lipid soluble, hydrogen bonding increasing the H+ positive charge, affinity for carrier mechanisms, produced in high concentration during maximum excitation.
The amrita is forced out of the brain at the peak of ecstatic charge, not for any purpose in itself perhaps, but because there is simply too high a hydraulic and ionic pressure within the Cerebrospinal Fluid (CFS) that it is forced out of the ventricles, and into the sphenoid sinus. In the joint Samadhi of tantric union however this secretion would act to bond the individuals in an indescribable union of mind, body and soul. (We need an anatomist to tell us whether in extremely altered conditions whether a transfer of CFS from the ventricles to the sphenoid sinus is possible.)
Factors of kundalini and tantric initiation that might influence the efflux of a potent secretion of CFS that has been altered through hyperactivation of the pineal and pituitary and other circumventricular organs include:
Increase in temperature, release of histamine which increases the pore space between cells in the vessel membranes and possibly increasing the permeability between the ventricles and sinuses.
A higher concentration of ions in the CSF increases the electrochemical gradient with the membrane of the opposite charge increasing diffusion.
Ionized water molecules with changes in the bonding angles.
Increased cerebral blood-flow, blood pressure and oxygen content of the blood, from HPA axis activation and increased breathing.
Increased production of CSF thus creating greater hydraulic pressure.
Facilitated diffusion through a change in the transporter molecule in the membrane by specific amino acid, peptide or opiate.
The negatively charged membrane surface may be triggered into absorptive-mediated transport by electrostatic interaction with positively charged substance (Ca 2+ or H+).
As far as the primary active ingredient of amrita goes besides the opiates which give a profound analgesic effect, the "wakefulness" chemical is probably a tryptamine or a phenethylamine. Research will probably find that many secretions from about five different organs including the pineal and pituitary may contribute to the mixture. That is the production of amrita may be a joint effort of the circumventricular organs secreting into the CFS. High levels of opiates, oxytocin, vasopressin, phenyethelamine and tryptamine would render the individual into an extreme heart expanding unitive experience, ie: Samadhi or Cosmic Consciousness. One becomes lucid within the dream of life and life is revealed to be a dream.
"I hypothesize that performing various breathing techniques, while concentrating on the third eye (pineal pseudo-location), will inevitably and imperceptibly stimulate the pineal to produce less melatonin and serotonin, which in turn brings about a change in consciousness, creating naturally the dynamic somatics of a truly religio-spiritual experience." ~ Russ McClay, The Pineal Gland, LSD and Serotonin
Our ancestral CSF is sea water. The Choroid Plexus makes the CSF fluid.
CSF comes from the Amniotic fluid whilst developing as a baby. The amniotic fluid is our primordial fluid.
Three Main Functions of CSF
Cerebrospinal fluid has three main functions:
CSF protects brain and spinal cord from trauma.
CSF supplies nutrients to nervous system tissue.
CSF removes waste products from cerebral metabolism.
The Ventricles and Cerebrospinal Fluid
There are four cavities in the brain, called ventricles. The ventricles are filled with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which provides the following functions:
Absorbs physical shocks to the brain
Distributes nutritive materials to and removes wastes from nervous tissue
Provides a chemically stable environment
There are four ventricles:
Each of two lateral ventricles (ventricles 1 and 2) occupies a cerebral hemisphere.
The third ventricle is connected by a passage (interventricular foramen) to each of the two lateral ventricles.
The fourth ventricle connects to the third ventricle (via the cerebral aqueduct) and to the central canal of the spinal cord (a narrow, central tube extending the length of the spinal cord). Additional openings in the fourth ventricle allow CSF to flow into the subarachnoid space.
A network of capillaries called the choroid plexus projects into each ventricle. Ependymal cells (a type of neuroglial cell) surround these capillaries. Blood plasma entering the ependymal cells from the capillaries is filtered as it passes into the ventricle, forming CSF. Any material passing from the capillaries to the ventricles of the brain must do so through the ependymal cells because tight junctions linking these cells prevent the passage of plasma between them. Thus, the ependymal cells maintain a blood‐CSF barrier, controlling the composition of the CSF.
The CSF circulates from the lateral ventricles (where most of the CSF is produced) to the third and then fourth ventricles. From the fourth ventricle, most of the CSF passes into the subarachnoid space, a space within the linings (meninges) of the brain, although some CSF also passes into the central canal of the spinal cord. The CSF returns to the blood through the arachnoid villi located in the dural sinuses of the meninges.
The pineal produces melatonin and serotonin. The amino acid precursor of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) is tryptophan. Adequate levels of vitamin B6 are necessary for the synthesis of serotonin. Within the pineal gland, serotonin is acetylated and then methylated to yield melatonin. The highest density of melatonin receptors are found in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus, the anterior pituitary and the retina. Melatonin is a hormone that communicates information about light and entrains biological rhythms including sleep-wake cycles and reproduction. The light-transducing ability of the pineal gland is why some call it the "third eye." Melatonin inhibits the secretion of the gonadotropic hormones luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone from the anterior pituitary. Much of this inhibitory effect seems due to inhibition of gonadotropin-releasing hormone from the hypothalamus.
As well as melatonin the pineal secretes other neuroactive peptides. Melatonin has the same indole structure as LSD but neither melatonin nor LSD is the psychoactive substance in amrita. More likely it is some form of tryptamine that the body produces, perhaps similar to 5-MeO/DMT. Or it could be a phenethylamine similar to Mescaline (3, 4, 5-trimethoxyphenethylamine). Mescaline made from the peyote cactus is one of the oldest psychedelics known to man and is used in spiritual ceremonies. Curiously it can produce a bright internal light.
Tryptamine is a naturally occurring compound found in both the animal and plant kingdoms. It is an endogenous component of the h
uman brain. The amino acid phenylalanine is the precursor for phenethylamine and the essential amino-acid tryptophan is the precursor for tryptamine, which is slightly psychedelic. Tryptophan when administered with methionine (another amino-acid known to methylate things) it produces methylated tryptamines, the two best studied being N-methyltryptamine (NMT) and N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT). Tryptamine and LSD have a common mode of action. Our bodies can convert the amino acid phenylalanine to tyrosine and phenylethylamine (PEA). Tyrosine is also a precursor to the excitatory neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine.
Endogenous Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), the naturally occurring chemical cousin of serotonin, is a widespread and essential brain neurotransmitter. Rick Strassman proposed that the pineal gland is responsible for manufacture of DMT. The pineal gland has the highest levels of serotonin, as serotonin is the precursor to melatonin. Melatonin is the primary pineal hormone, but Strassman thinks that the gland also creates DMT. "Because it possesses the highest levels of the necessary enzymes and precursors, the pineal gland is the most reasonable place for DMT formation to occur." P. 67 He says DMT may be released during dreams, near-death, death, birth, and during meditation and mystical experiences.
DMT increases all pituitary hormones and beta-endorphins, vasopressin, prolactin, Growth Hormone, and corticotrophrin (cortisol). It is proposed that DMT induced surge of beta-endorphins creates euphoria. Serotonin receptors are activated by DMT and Serotonin receptors regulate heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, pupil diameter. Apparently DMT is a small molecule not much larger than glucose and Strassman says that it is like brain food that is rapidly transported across the BBB.