Exploring Arham - A Science Student Perspective

Exploring Arham -

A Science Student Perspective

• Sonal Jain

“ARHAM” - what comes to your mind when you hear this word? I being a Jain is using this word in different shlokas from my childhood, I think the first time was “ॐ ऐं बड़ े बाबा अह नमः”. Incidentally ARHAMis also the name of one of my nephew. I always thought it is a synonym to ARIHANT. But when I experienced Arham Dhyan & Yoga for the first time, I discovered a calm and energized version of myself. The science student within me was getting a little restless, I needed to find the explanation of my experiences. I set out myself on a journey to find the answers. What I gathered in my process of exploration is the answer to the five Ws 1 H (what, how, why & where, and when & who) questions. First is and it will answer us at (Bhotik WHAT PHYSICAL or Body) level. In my initial research I found out that it is not just an important Jainism word but a UNIVERSALWORD. It is being used by different religion where it has slightly different yet similar meaning. ● JAINISM: It means the pure, liberated & enlightened souls. Who has attained nirvana (liberation).

● HINDUISM It means ”him who deserves” ● MUSLIM Arham is a direct Quranic name that means most merciful, most kind, most compassionate. ● BUDHISM It means” worthy of worship "(Arhat). So ARHAMmeans a Perfect, Pure Soul who has all the qualities, which we all aim to become. Second is To answer this, I stepped into a deeper HOW. level of how things work; stepped into METAPHYSICAL (MINDLEVEL) Being a student of Science and Alternative Therapy Healing has helped me to connect the Dots of How ARHAM works in both modern philosophy and ancient philosophy. To understand working of ARHAMat scientific (MODERN PHILOSOPHY) level let’s turn to Science of VibrationsQuantum Physics & Psychoacoustics. These may seem like very big words but let me explain them in layman terms. The facts are: Any form of sound in the universe is vibrational energy. Speech or words is a combination of sound waves each of which resonates at specific vibrational frequencies.

Thus, sounds are vibrations travelling at different frequencies. And we as humans can listen to limited frequency range, it’s the reason we cannot hear bat's cry as its frequency range is higher than ours. According to quantum physics, the whole universe was created through cosmic sound energy which was then followed by heat and light energy and eventually life formed. Thus, the whole universe is formed from different frequency waves including us HUMANS. These waves can penetrate into us, into each and every organ, every cell. Each and every part of our body functions at a specific rhythm and pulse and when all our systems are balanced and tuned with each other we experience perfect harmony and health. On the other hand, any imbalance in our body can lead to mental, physical or emotional disease. Sound therapy is a very effective way to heal and rejuvenate ourselves as every cell in our body is mainly composed of water which makes them excellent sound resonators! Thanks to the recent developments in the field of Psychoacoustics. These sound vibrations have a great impact upon the mind. Thus every word we say travel through the universe, and affect us in a positive or negative way. If an abusive word is hurled at an individual, he suddenly gets excited. Similarly, the use of gentle words can turn an enemy into a friend. Such incidents continually occur in a man's life. Sound vibrations thus have a direct impact upon a man’s mind and conduct.” Let’s see this under ANCIENTPHILOSOPHY To connect this all knowledge with “ARHAM” one key factor is that all the alphabet in Arham are BEEJ MANTRASor SEEDMANTRAS. In Vedic tradition, “Beej Mantras” are used as tools for the expansion and widening of one’s mind by utilizing the power of sound vibrations. “Mantra” is a Sanskrit word made up of two syllables: “man” (mind) and “tra” (liberate). Thus in its most literal translation the word “Mantra” means “to liberate one’s mind”.In Sanskrit a “seed” is called “Beej”. Aseed that is planted, in time becomes a tree. Similarly the word “Mantra” when fruity “creates transformation.” Thus to conclude it can be said that the seed letters when chanted generate great power, because special kinds of sound-waves are produced by the articulation (pronunciation) of these Special word. Letters and their powers: अ (a) unity of soul - eternal omnipresent, pure, enlightened, power

र (r) seed word of fire - fulfills work, producer of all main seeds, powerful, eternal ह (h) seed word of space- producer of peace, strength and good work, most useful for practice, helper of wealth, fulfills desire for children, pure, producer of all seeds, destroyer of karma. अं (am) seed word of space - independently have no power, chief destroyer of karma, messenger of black hole, sponsor of soft power, base of wealth seed, hypnotic influence on animals. "Arham": The vibrations emerging from rhythmic harmony are more powerful; they serve to awaken many centers of consciousness and kindle the life-force. It has the power to create great transformative growth and expansion in humans at the physical, emotional and spiritual levels. Third we have to understood we get WHY& WHERE effects of chanting ARHAM. Let's dig deep in SPIRITUAL (SOUL LEVEL). Till this point we understood that ARHAMrefers to pure souls and by pronunciation of this word strong sound waves (also known as energies) are produced which impact each and every cell of our system. We need to find out WHEREexactly is all this happening in the body. To answer this at is the only Physical level our Spinal Cord organ that connects other Organs (& cells) to the brain. It is the main form of communication between the brain and body. So ARHAMeffects through here. But at a deeper level what happens is going MetaPhysical to answer WHY part. ARHAM tunes the three most Important Nadis (meridians) out of 72000 present in body according to Ayurveda. Nadi is a channel through which energy travels through the body. These three nadis are: IDA is the left channel/Nadi. Ida is white, feminine, cold and represents the moon. Originating in Muladhara, Ida ends up in the left nostril. Breath from this nadi enhances the Water substance in body. PINGALA is the right channel/Nadi. Pingala is red, masculine, hot and represents the sun. Originating in Muladhara, Pingala ends up in the right nostril. Breath from this nadi enhances the Fire substance in body. The Ida and Pingala represent the basic duality in life. It is this duality which we traditionally live through - the logical and the intuitive aspect of a person. Balance between both yields a healthy body and mind. Ida is Yin(Night) while Pingala is , the opposite but Yang(Day)

Corresponding forces, without one the other cannot function. If unbalanced can cause havoc (minor like cold, sneezing and major like cancer, depression etc.) but when balanced can enhance one’s life. Bringing a balance between the Ida and Pingala will make you effective in the world, it will make you handle all aspects of life. Most people live and die trying to balance Ida and Pingala, as these are balancing force of materialistic world. It’s a relation between mind and body. And not the soul, but a first step to move toward the soul.

SUSHUMNA Also known as CENTRALChannel/ Nadi. Originating in Muladhara chakra and ending at Sahasrara chakra at the crown of the head. Sushumna is the central space, remains in active or in sleep mode. But Sushumna is the most significant aspect of human physiology. Only when energies enter into Sushumna, life really begins. Sushumna is no attributes, it has no quality of its own. It is like empty space. If there is empty space, you can create anything you want. Once energies enter into Sushumna, we say you move towards Vairagya (disconnect from the outside world, what matters is only your SOUL).

Let's understand this in simple terms: Ida and Pingala are reactive in nature. So if the energy flow is via these, it would make you react sharply to crazy situations, emotions - be it anger, joy, sadness, fear, disgust. You may control expression of the emotions due to societal limitations but those emotions would remain deep inside him and create negative pressure which may burst anytime. But when the energies enter into Sushumna, things differ and you attain a new kind of balance, an inner balance where whatever happens outside, there is a certain space within you which never gets disturbed, which is never in any kind of turmoil, which cannot be touched by the outside situations. Where there is nothing except PEACE. Only if you create this stable situation within yourself, you will dare to scale the peaks of consciousness and discover your true self. Now at a why all this is occurring is Spiritual Level because: The main purpose of Arham is to activate the Sushumna, which is the main nadi in the center of spine. Arham opens and clear the Sushumna & prepare the passage for the Kundalini to ascend (the journey from 0 to infinity). Coming to the end of the explanation, the last question left to answer is Here we complete the WHO& WHEN circle of life and incorporate all three levels together MIND, BODY& SOUL. Anyone who wants to truly connect to themselves can practice ARHAMat anytime. It is said and believed that “cleanliness is godliness”. Thus positive energy resides in clean area and vice versa. Arham not only reside where it is clean and pure but also further cleans our mental, physical & spiritual bodies. It also PURIFIES, PROTECTSand PERFECTSthe person WHOchant it. It will work on all three dimensions: BODY Balancing, Tuning and Purifying the physical body (Action organs-karmendriyas/Pingala). MIND Balancing, Tuning & Purifying the Meta physical body (sense organs -jnanendriyas/Ida) SOUL Balancing, Tuning & Purifying the thought process (what makes an individual who they are; there true self/sushumna) Thus Anyone can chant Arham or can take a step further and practice Arham Dhyan and Yoga at any time to ENERGISEand PURIFYoneself.