Think of the last meal you had. Ideally, you ate natural, unprocessed foods in a fully present state. If our physical AGNI is burning brightly, then it cooks, digests and metabolizes all the food we ingest. We then absorb all the nutrients contained therein – and ideally – if everything is working correctly – once we’ve absorbed all the nourishing elements of the meal, we let go of and release what no longer serves us. What’s left over from this meal is the most concentrated form of nourishment – and we call this divine essence Ojas.
Similar to the concept of bees making honey – it can take 20,000 bees per hive to harvest the nectar of a few thousand flowers and distill them into honey. This is a subtle process and we are talking about distilling large items into their most divine essence. If our physical AGNI is not burning brightly, but rather sputtering, like wet leaves on a bonfire, then what’s left behind is not Ojas, but Ama or toxic residue.
The same is true for our emotional AGNI. Think of the last interaction you had with someone – a conversation, an exchange of energy, or a transaction. If your emotional AGNI is burning brightly, then we pay attention to the other person’s words and emotions, we communicate consciously, listen attentively, don’t interrupt, and show up fully present. We maintain eye contact, absorb the sentiment compassionately; don’t think about our next words, patiently let the person finish their sentences, show up defenselessly, don’t check our device, stay established in a heart connection and intellectually distill the big and little pictures.
Then, once all the information has been ingested, absorbed and digested – ideally – IF our emotional AGNI is burning brightly, we close the loop and let go of what emotionally no longer serves us. What’s left behind is emotional Ojas – sweet vital emotional nectar.
Enjoy!