Heart essence is a remarkable by-product. The body produces it when we love.
Our body’s chemistry changes as our moods change. The most beneficial effects arise when the mind is at its most positive. Just look at the radiance in the face of someone who loves. Something in the heart makes the countenance glow. Look at their eyes and see the sparkle. These are real bodily effects.
Love makes us younger
Love makes us younger; there’s no doubt about it. Love produces an elixir. Love increases the flow of qi (chi) in the body; it lowers blood pressure and increases our sense of well-being. The immune system becomes stronger because we are happier and so sickness occurs less often. Everything about the body works better when a person expresses love in its true sense.
Ojas
The natural radiance of a person who truly and deeply loves is very similar to that arising from ojas. According to the ancient health system of Ayurveda, ojas is said to be a very fine substance or secretion that arises through a combination of wholesome diet, wholesome activity and, most importantly, a wholesome state of consciousness. Certain factors can reduce this – tiredness, coarse speech, coarse thinking, excesses of any kind and anything that is unwholesome, for example. When ojas is present, it is said to give radiance to the complexion, a feeling of ease and sometimes the experience of bliss in the body.
Heart essence – the super-elixir
When we love, it is as though the heart centre exudes some special secretion – heart essence – which causes the body to function at its optimum. Gradually, we can develop the skill to produce this wonderful substance which arises not from any physical effort but from a very natural, if perhaps rather special, attitude to life. Whatever the biochemical constituents are is not important, nor does it matter for us whether there is one super-substance that is heart essence or the play of a combination of factors. We just need to know how to produce it.
From Awakening Heart: The Blissful Path to Self-Realisation
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