This article struck me as unique. I have added some points. You too can.
Happiness and bliss
Many times we conclude that we are in bliss. But do we know what bliss
is?
The dictionary meaning of bliss is ‘the joy
of extreme happiness’’ a condition of supreme well being and good spirit.
In these modern times, you ask a person
“what is the meaning of life?”, and getting happiness” is the prompt reply. Today
there is such a big emphasis on being happy. We have movies regarding the
subject and commercials are almost exclusively about happiness. Every commercial
tells you that you will be happy as soon as you buy their product. We even have
books on the subject of how to achieve the magnificent state that is happiness. Our
constant obsession with happiness is very much reflected from photographs. When
someone is to take a portrait of someone it’s important for us to smile and
look happy, in order for others to see how happy we are. Happiness has become
something prestigious.
What is happiness? The happiness
that is being preached by media is about being content. When you are happy you
are satisfied with your life, and how it has turned out. The happy man today is
shown as someone with a good career, having a pretty good income of money, have
a loving and faithful wife. Also you have 2 kids, one boy and one girl that you
live together with preferably on the countryside. Now, this man is according to
the myth happy, But The moment you declare your happiness, you have nothing to
strive for anymore. It is in man’s nature to struggle, to fight against one
self and to become a better man. We are not meant to be content, we are meant
to improve our selves. “Happiness” is a false virtue. In fact it’s a non-existent
virtue. It is not natural to feel a constant happiness as modern society’s
myths claim.
I do believe in short moments when one experience euphoria due
to things as seeing beautiful nature. It is not something that is long lasting,
something we are constantly told it should be. The only way we can be
constantly happy is by distributing happiness. And for that one needs to look
within and try to be better than what you are as a human being.
Many people don't realize , that money , wealth , fame , beauty
and fashion don't make you happy. "Money doesn't buy you happiness".
If it was so ,then Michael Jackson who was at the pinnacle of fame and having
altered his looks should not have become miserable and take the help of drugs!
Studies show that Lottery winners, once they have got over the initial rush of
apparent well-being and excitement, return to their prior level of happiness or
unhappiness within a reasonably short time.
Dalai Lama has said,’’I believe that the purpose of life
is to be happy’’. From the moment of birth, every human being wants happiness
and does not want suffering. Neither social conditioning nor education nor ideology
affects this. From the very core of our being, we simply desire contentment. I
don't know whether the universe, with its countless galaxies, stars and
planets, has a deeper meaning or not, but at the very least, it is clear that
we humans who live on this earth face the task of making a happy life for
ourselves. Therefore, it is important to discover what will bring about the
greatest degree of happiness.’’
Although in external matters we are highly developed and
continue to progress, at the same time it is equally important to develop and
progress in terms of inner development.
Man
constantly craves and thinks of bliss.’’ If I get her as my wife, I will be in
bliss’’. Think some. For most it is money, others success and still others
sexual fulfillment.
But the search never ends. If a person has
everything, still he wants some higher thing than what he usually has and so he
goes after drugs, alcohol etc. For some few, spirituality gives them bliss.
Here we are talking of spirituality and other mundane things like marriage in
one breath. How is it?
The
Nityananda episode made me ponder over the human mind which talked about
salvation and sex in the same breath.
Under the influence of drugs like Ecstasy
one gets the feeling of high, a feeling of light headedness and a sense of profound
connecting to others, the feeling that one’s heart is exploding with love. It
is akin to a spiritual experience. One transgresses the limit of our own being
and self-consciousness to feel a part of something much bigger. Chanting divine
mantra and kirtan gives the same experience. At base level all our emotional and
physiological feelings could be explained in terms of different biochemical
combination. Taking drugs alters our biochemistry and so our feelings .The ecstatic
state in spirituality is just as drug induced as taking Ecstasy. But in
chanting or kirtan the drug are our bodies own. This we realize only if we know
yoga where body, mind unite. The
experience of bliss is a part of our physiology. We are wired that way. The mind
translates biochemical changes into emotion. The endorphins and other receptors
like neuropeptides in the brain make us feel good. Therefore our own
biochemistry is the key to our happiness.
According to an ancient 'knowledge - known by its Sanskrit name as
'ayurveda' - there is a subtle biochemical substance known as OJAS that is
responsible for the experience of joy, exhilaration and happiness in the human
mind-body system.
That amazing meal you had at that
restaurant, which filled your senses with delight and exposed you to amazing new
flavors, can certainly be described as bringing you happiness because of
endorphins. The same goes to for any spiritual experience.
By
looking at American society today, one would think that there is a massive
epidemic of OJAS deficiency. Millions of Americans are complaining of
being unhappy and depressed—yet most doctors simply throw a pill at the
problem! They do not go to the underlying problem. Endorphin represents a
category of peptides. They produce bodie’s pain and pleasure feeling.
Acupuncture and massage can alleviate pain by the release of endorphins into
cerebrospinal fluid. Exercise, yoga and running stimulates endorphins production
and the resultant feeling of wellness. Pranayama and deep breathing have the
same effect.
When we do pranayama, chanting or kirtan ,
it causes the body to make it’s own drug and metabolize it’s own drugs which produce
heightened feeling of well being similar to the drug Ecstasy , although the health benefit of chanting, kirtan and pranayama
etc clearly outweigh those of taking ecstasy. The mind is fooled and doesn’t
differentiate between endogenous and exogenous drugs.
Our experience of bliss does not lessen
because they can be explained.
Sat-Chit-Ananda is a triple
consciousness. Sat is existence, Chit is consciousness and Ananda is bliss.
You can separate them if you want to and, at the same time, you can take them
as one. If one achieves Existence, then inside Existence he has Consciousness
itself. And if one has Consciousness, then Bliss is there.
‘’To reach Sat-Chit-Ananda is a most difficult thing.
Hardly twenty or thirty Masters have reached it and stayed at that plane, and
hardly one or two can embody it. Some Masters have reached that plane and
immediately came down because it was too high for them. It is much easier for
people to reach the illumined mind or the Supermind, but Sat-Chit-Ananda
is absolutely the highest. That consciousness is almost impossible to attain,
even for the spiritual Masters. When we go deep within we feel these three
together, and when we acquire the inner vision to perceive them all at once, we
live verily in the Man chases bliss like a lion chasing the deer and it eludes him ,not knowing that it is actually within him.I agree with the Dalai Lama .’’People in modern societies tend to depend more on machines and services rather than on fellow human beings. The consequence of all this is unhealthy competitions, envy, hatred, accounting for the problems, tensions and unhappiness in our societies today. This trend must be challenged and changed, by all of us, individually and collectively. As we all seek ways and means to find happiness and fulfillment in life, His Holiness calls us to reflect on the fact that there is someone else somewhere, very close to us, who needs our help in order to be happy too. Only when we succeed in making such a person happy do we become happy ourselves and find the fulfillment and satisfaction that we seek.’’
Happiness is short term, comes from outside .Bliss comes from inside and lasts long, it is the joy of being.
Happiness is something we crave for and get and bliss is nothing to crave for. Happiness is a tiny piece of bliss .Bliss fills you with the reality of supreme and depends only on him who dwells within us.
