Sometimes you discover yourself finding happiness where you’d least expect it. It feels funny to talk about following or finding bliss as if it is a little orb of tinkerbell light, flitting about for you to chase. This seems to be the mental image of bliss, though — ellusive and hard to attain.
The gurus of self realization would tell you that bliss and happiness are everywhere (and nowhere!). It is not on some mountaintop or in some yoga class. It is not found in a career change or the birth of a new child. It is in the average, mundane events of everyday living.
This can be a double edged sword, right? It feels kind of good to think it is accessible to you now, in this very moment (like how reading this blog makes you feel blissful?). On the other hand, it is sort of disappointing. You are swimming in monotony and are not realizing bliss at every turn. You begin to wonder if you would even recognize bliss if it whacked you across the face.
Bliss is an internal state, often arrived at when the mind ceases its barrage of thoughts. This meditative state can often be achieved when doing routine tasks, like washing dishes, driving, or simply sitting still. It is like things quiet down enough for you to see your true nature. You see that inside you are the miracle of Christmas morning mixed with an infant’s first cry mixed with your first love. The feeling you feel when you think of these things, or any of the most powerful experiences of your life, is the essence of your true nature. It feels so good, it is almost unbearable. The unbearable lightness of being.
This is what life is meant to be. The negativity and fear and hate is all fabricated and taught to us throughout life. As a new person, an infant, you were undifferentiated–you thought the whole world was you and you were the whole world. This is what the gurus say enlightenment is like. I look at my baby and realize she is already what I seek to be.
She experiences bliss without any concept of needing to find it first. You can see the look on her face and the euphoria is palpable. So let’s go out into the world (or stay right where we are), and look inside for our bliss. Or maybe we will stop looking and just allow it to spring forth naturally. Perhaps without all of this effort it will just come freely. Bliss does have a history of bubbling up when you are least expecting it.
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