Something to be understood about bliss

[Lunitik]

Many on these forums have spoken against happiness and its peak which is bliss, they will use Buddha's words to justify this or some other master who has said all of this is maya - it is perfectly true, it is an illusion, but this I want to talk about.

I have also said that ultimately you are the witness of the bliss, bliss does not happen to you, it is only watched by you. Why will you not want the scenery of your experience to be as beautiful as possible though? If sadness or anger or something else arises instead, do not fight it, I would even say go as deeply into them as possible, be total in both because eventually in the depths of sadness you find laughter and happiness, in the depths of anger you will find compassion as well, but all of this is witnessed. Eventually you see these are all degrading your experience, you realize they have no value or benefit at all, and in not wasting your energy in these directions, it is naturally used for something more enjoyable.

When you no longer give attention to what is arising, when you no longer attach to them, happiness is the natural arising, you simply feel more healthy, more alive. These are there in the mind and body, and it is a very pleasant view to look at. You will want everyone you encounter to exhaust all their emotional baggage so that they can experience the freshness of this moment too, you will sense their tension and try to find out where the tension is - it is like a massaging of the psyche. Now this person is part of your beautiful scenery too, where before they were taking some beauty away.

Like this, you will create a beautiful surrounding for yourself, yet none of it touches you. You are not the body, but it is pleasant that the body feels good. You are not the mind, but it is pleasant that the mind is at peace. You are not these people you encounter, but it is pleasant to see they are enjoying life freely. You are not the community you live in, but picking up some trash or taking care of it every so often is pleasant because things are more serene. It is simply foolish to leave things ugly when you can create beauty in them, you are here to make this place a little more beautiful, and ultimately it is all part of you. Like this, you are bringing the same perfection into the outer world which is your natural inner state.

Maya is the projections you put on things you encounter, the most intimate maya is the projections you put on yourself. You do not have to drop anything, you only have to understand your position in the whole.

 

[radarmark]

"Happiness" is usually used to connote an emotion and "bliss" an emotional state. They vaguely indicate the beyond. However, you are totally correct in your description--except there is no "you" to witness the bliss (meaning, as you indicted, the beyond). That beyond is nothing but the beyond... the experience with (as usually expressed within Buddhism) no one there, no one watching, just the "unity" or "beyond" or "bliss" or "absolute" or "G!d" or whatever word one uses to point to it.

 

[Lunitik]

"Happiness" is usually used to connote an emotion and "bliss" an emotional state. They vaguely indicate the beyond. However, you are totally correct in your description--except there is no "you" to witness the bliss (meaning, as you indicted, the beyond). That beyond is nothing but the beyond... the experience with (as usually expressed within Buddhism) no one there, no one watching, just the "unity" or "beyond" or "bliss" or "absolute" or "G!d" or whatever word one uses to point to it.

The beyond is Samadhi, I am talking about the day to day experience of enlightenment only. Certainly I agree with your correction if this thread was about Samadhi, I am only trying to address peoples problems with what they perceive as selfishness though...

Avoiding existences rewards is a very strange insistence for me.