Bliss

"The universe as we know it is a joint product of the observer and the observed." - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

                Most of us wouldn’t recognize bliss if it came up and kicked us in the shins. And sometimes that is exactly what happens. We think that we want to be happy, but when we think about what it would like to be ‘happy’, we don’t really know what that would look like. It’s difficult to strive for something if we don’t know what it is. What if you woke up one morning and suddenly were, well, …blissful?

                Sometimes, as we start to develop our spiritual path, we experience little moments of sudden bliss. Often they slip by almost unnoticed because we don’t really recognize what they are. The happiness feels foreign, not familiar and because the brain has not been trained to hold happiness as a ‘normal’ pathway, the experience is disregarded. As the bliss slips away we might think, oh, I think I felt good there for a while. But then the habitual patterns take over, the ‘fixing’ mind or the drive towards production, self-improvement, getting more somehow. These strivings are all good and often honourable, but when they become out of balance and start to dominate our time and lives, then they become harmful. It’s fine to get up in the morning and start to plan how work will go that day-things you have to do, people to call or text. But , if that is all that you are thinking about, your life will slip away in a haze of action, production, and the illusion of getting-more and before you know it, death will face you and your time will be up. Will you be happy that so much of your time went to this work production aspect?

                We develop many rationales protect this aspect-that it is for our security, our children or others, that the preponderance of the working life is necessary.  Probably when you really examine your intentions in the midst of the great busyness of life, you will  find these altruistic intentions are not really true. It is probably mostly habit, ancestral influences, and the insanity of our current human culture that is driving this addiction to production, busyness, work.

                World Metaphoric Transformation develops the discipline to become a container that holds happiness. How do we pull out minds away from the monkey mind fascination with the lower chakras of survival, control and security into the higher charkas of bliss? One of the simplest and most direct is through World Metaphoric Transformation. In an instant, you, can pull yourself out of habitual depression, anger, and fear into the joyful experience of the NOW. But this is a discipline- and needs practice and commitment. World Metaphoric Transformation is simple and does not require any lengthy study of any particular dogmas or memorization or understanding of any ponderous and complex system of thought. World Metaphoric Transforming is simply the development of noticing and then learning to take what is noticed back to the soul.

Simple. Profound. Immediate. You don’t need any equipment, books, fitness practices, it can always be practiced in the moment, and the next one and this one too…

Try This!

1.       Choose a time every morning and plan to be blissful, even if its’ only for five minutes. You are planning a time not to plan, not to fix, not to do, produce, tidy, arrange…This will feel a little awkward at first, after all, you already have too much to do every day. However, this practice will bring you more benefit than a hundred hours of more doing. This is a time not to read, think or anything else, although if sipping some tea helps bring you back to the moment-then OK.

2.       Don’t write or think about how you will record this time. Just BE. Choose a natural place, turn off all technology and put it far away from you. Try to be undisturbed by others.

3.       Now look out into the world without words, just notice. E.g. Ah- so many stars in the heavens this morning.

4.       When the five minutes of bliss is over, think about one aspect of the world that you noticed. Now bring your attention to the wisdom that you noticed, be specific, what was your inner experience as you noticed? E.g. Stars are really far away and as I gaze up at them I feel both small and incredibly awed that I live in such a vast universe.

5.       Now bring what was noticed back into the soul wisdom that it reflected. E.g. I’ve been feeling insignificant lately and not recognized. But when I looked up into the heavens, I feel a natural sense of connection with vaster aspects that are both mysterious and profound. Although right now I am struggling with being recognized, there are probably greater forces at work in my life which I can tap into.

6.       Next develop the all-important commitment. Take the soul wisdom and bring it into your everyday life. Why did you notice that one thing above all other things? Create a small action commitment and one relationship commitment for your soul catching. E.g. Action Today I’m going to be patient with myself because my goals are far away , like the stars, but I can work towards them a little bit day by day. Relationship I’m going to phone a friend of mine who is interested in the same things I am and ask him over for supper with his girlfriend. This will help me stay focused on my goals when I get discouraged and impatient.