Wise men said that enjoyment is merely a state of mind. Five senses which derive pleasures from the outer world, convert them to nerve impulses which bring the mind to a particular state we call enjoyment. Mind, however, can also be trained to come to that state without the help of sense organs.
Human mind is capable of three types of enjoyments, namely, physical, intellectual and spiritual. The first one is the most primitive of the three, short-lived and detrimental to both mind and body. This is the only enjoyment that animals can experience. Intellectual enjoyment which is more lasting is related with creativity like art, poetry, scientific discovery etc.
Spiritual enjoyment is the most advanced state of brain in which mind retracts inwards and is said to give the seeker constant eternal bliss. One who has experienced spiritual enjoyment desires nothing more. Development of spiritual mind is therefore the ultimate goal of human birth. Spirituality not only keeps a seeker in constant bliss but keeps the body intelligence in perfect balance.
THE INTELLIGENT CELL
Intelligence does not reside solely in the brain but each cell of the body has its own thinking and communication ability. True, brain controls functioning of all body organs through a network of nerves but each and every cell is not connected with a nerve and there are cells which flow freely in the blood. They are intelligent enough to take their own decisions.
There are animals like Amoeba made of single cell, with no brain and they perform all functions like other animals. Yogic philosophy teaches us that the physical body is made up of “Little lives” with mind of their own. Our body can be termed a colony of many kinds of cells which group together to form different organs to perform a variety of functions. Cells communicate with each other and with the brain through chemical signals called neurotransmitters. Each cell of our body is practically a complete individual and must maintain its own level of intelligence. It is the failed intelligence of cells that causes diseases in the body, for example even if one cell forgets to stop multiplying and goes on dividing indefinitely, a cancerous growth will be produced.
THE WISDOM OFÂ IMMUNE SYSTEM
When Peter Medawar discovered the mechanism of immunity in 1940, a complex mechanism of defense intelligently performed by a group of cells called leucocytes was revealed. When bacteria or viruses invade our body, the dying cells raise an alarm in the chemical language.
These biochemical danger signals attract large number of phagocytes, which are specialized cells functioning like well-trained soldiers in the body immune system and traveling freely in the blood on surveillance duty. These little policemen not only kill and devour the invaders but also send specific chemical messages in the form of interferon to all neighboring cells, giving details of the identity of the invader. Upon receiving this information, the healthy cells scan the information coded in their DNA library and synthesize chemicals which stop viruses from entering the cells.
There are occasions when these leucocytes are outnumbered by viruses. The strategy that they plan to kill these invaders reveals high level of wisdom that these cells possess. These wandering macrophages kill some viruses and present them to the killer T -lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes for identification and further action. These cells then become sensitized and identify weaknesses of the invading pathogens.
Then they look for information in their DNA for chemical weapons which need to be manufactured. DNA seems to be the cell mind, the super-genius molecule and a storehouse of all information that our bodies have absorbed through millions of years of evolution. The knowledge is almost infinite. From this exhaustive library the T -cells manage to find out about the enzymes which if synthesized will kill the invading virus and the B-cells extract information about the antibodies that should be manufactured immediately. Armed with this information the killer T -lymphocytes multiply and produce an army of thousands of progeny which attack and kill the viruses with the specific enzyme that they have learned to produce.
The B-lymphocytes also multiply producing large number of plasma cells which make antibodies that cover the invader from all sides and seal it. Not only that, the leucocytes demonstrate providence by simultaneously producing certain memory cells which will remain in the blood and remember the details of the entire episode so that if sometime in future the virus enters the body again they would know in advance how to fight and kill it at once. This is called immunity to the disease which can also be achieved by vaccination, a process in which dead or inactivated pathogens are injecting into the body so that memory cells are produced in the blood, ready to fight if the real ones ever enter the body.
If the defense cells are so intelligent as to identify and kill the invading viruses and bacteria then why do we get infected so frequently? Bacteria and viruses are so ubiquitous that they keep entering our body all the time but are quickly killed. When they succeed it is because of the failed intelligence of the leucocytes patrolling our blood and tissues, Sometimes they fail to identify the invaders as enemy and therefore take no action against them. But many a time it is the virus which fools the lymphocytes by changing. In such cases the killer T -lymphocytes end up developing wrong strategy and wrong chemicals against the invader. In the meantime the virus multiplying unabated, causes the disease. Therefore, keeping the intelligence of the immune system in perfect order is essential for sound health.
A study of the phenomenon of Apoptosis described by Boise and Thomson in Oct. 1996 issue Science reveals amazing foresight of our immune cells. Once the disease is controlled by the lymphocytes, they become jobless and since continued presence of excess lymphocytes can cause lymphoid malignancies, they must be eliminated from the body. This is accomplished by the leucocytes themselves by committing suicide for the welfare of the body. These defense cells again go back to their DNA, select out a strategy for their own destruction and by a set of complex processes, programme their own death. How intelligently and with dedication these cells carry out their work for the sake of a healthy body is simply amazing.