Lots of space cowboys and the ‘spiritually positive’ out there like to make statements like “Life is Bliss”. When it’s not the experience, statements like that are just making a mood. Pretend. And pretend is illusion, it has nothing to do with rapturous bliss.
Yet Life IS Bliss, quite literally. That subtle energy some call prana or chi, is a vibration of the surface of being. As we cleanse and refine the physiology, subtler values of perception and experience are gradually unmasked.
Over on Bodies and Energies, we reviewed the energy bodies that surround our physicality. The 5th is Anandamaya. In this context Anandamaya is the purusha, body or sheath. Ananda means bliss, so this is our bliss body.
In other words, you literally live in a body of bliss at all times. I would not think of it as a “jacket” as the body fully infuses all others. Many describe it being like an ocean of bliss. This is when the body is connecting more deeply to unboundedness.
Anandamaya is a compound word. The second part, maya is typically thought of as illusion but it’s also the dreamer or creator of the dream. It is thus both the illusion and the means to overcome it.
When we wake from the illusion, what remains? Ananda. Sat Chit Ananda to be precise.
Davidya
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This post referencing Sat Chit Ananda gets to the crux of the matter for me Davidya!
This is the gauntlet I threw down. This is either real or it is not, and I intend to know it at whatever level of knowing is appropriate for the truth or not of its ever presentness.
Everything else is a side show or a nuance around it.
Sat Chit Ananda as you describe it is what I intuitively feel as the truth. Notice I write “intuitively feel”
By intuitive, I mean a more instinctual knowingness that comes with a deep feeling of formless heartfulness or knowing without “thinking knowing”. This is not an educational knowing, labeling or description process of knowing using words by the thinking processes. There is a dryness in that kind of knowing.
By feeling, I mean I can feel the aliveness of being or beingness in this space. It is a tingling if you will in the body and also beyond it in that it seems to extend endlessly outside what is seen and experienced as my physical form. Hence no outside or inside as the feeling of this “feels” beyond the boundaries of the body. The senses; however, cannot know how far.
To be with this, I do seemingly direct my feeling sense or feeling attention to see if it is there. Is this what you mean by the feeling sense feeling into the awakening? Staying with it, it reveals itself more and more so?
I find that my energy is much cleaner, clearer, and vibrant in this space. When I am living life in my head, thinking about past andor future, it drains me energetically and I have this kind of “trashy” or sluggish pull on the energy here. My head has a buzzing in it and a heaviness. There is an underlying quiet discontent in the heart as Thoreau in “Walden”
This is different in the sense there is no sense of concern for personal security or security issues.
I call it “the energy or aliveness here” as it seems that it is not localized in the body. My attention; however, does seem to be localized in the body and what the senses can perceive is in the immediate vicinity. The intuitive or instinctual knowingness seems to feel the endlessness beyond the body but cannot validate it through the senses (as near as I can tell) as to where it ends or not.
Feedback?
Bowing,
Ben
Hi Ben. Great description.
The attention localized in the body yet unbounded both. One can only validate it by being it. Just as a chart of the electromagnetic spectrum shows us how little our eyes see, our senses see only the smallest, most dense (focused) aspect of what is. In time, you’ll learn to trust what you “know” as well, but don’t be surprised if that is revised periodically.
Just be careful to not make what you experience like this a belief. It will be minds tendency to want to take the experience and understand it then turn that into “truth”. This is natural, jut try not to believe it too much. (laughs)
When you make absolute statements like “real or not” and “truth or not”, this is the mind. Duality. And a desire for control, for it to be a certain way. Real truth is neither and both, it encompasses all things, it is inclusive rather than exclusive. The “side show” is the truth just as much, however it is much easier to see the truth where it is simpler. Later it will be found in everything.
Some people will “see” their way, some people will “feel” their way along the path. Or some mixture. This is the way attention gets feedback as it steps deeper into itself. Yes, more and more so. It is the attention, then the surrender to what is arising that will take you deepest.
As Lorne observes, everything is a surrender to itself. Anything that does not feel like allowing or surrender is resistance. Awakening is one single moment of complete surrender.
BTW – don’t confuse purification with wrong. When you go deeper into clarity, it can sometimes cause clearing to take place which might throw up some dust or discomfort. A little rest may be good.
Also if you are pushing it a bit, some effort is there, it can cause strain. This may cause discomfort also. Again, it is a process of attention and allowing, not force.
But it’s also true that if you have a period of clarity, surface thinking can seem sluggish and dull. This will pass when the integration is deeper. Then even surface thinking is happening in the space.
Thank you!
Nice. Yes, my thoughts want to control the experience by wanting to describe it and placing it in a box of this or that, so that is helpful. That is really a strong inclination after so many years of seeking and ego investment in spirituality.
(Laughing) Yes, I am pushing more than a bit, and I am getting discomforting push back. I didn’t see that until I got walloped good last night with strong emotions and a bad tension headache when I abandoned thinking processes.
Also, I have experienced sluggishness in thinking and that was real threatening since I have been so in love with my insights and my work is analytical.
I am starting to see how unreliable my “thought based” self really is, and I will push the allowing and get the corresponding push back. I am experiencing the desire to describe and categorize and then seeing how that really doesn’t work… followed by a desire to force a readjustment back to allowing. Control is the issue.
I am getting feedback on all of it. It is like super sensitivity exists if I mess with the process at all.
Also, I am having difficulty in my interactions with family and loved ones. I feel distant and impersonal at times. Today is better.
I have to be real simple or on comes the tension and strong emotions.
It really helps to write about it and get feedback, because you bring clarity to what goes on that would take much longer to realize I sense.
This is like the Wack A Mole game at the fair, and I am the mole. (laughing)
Deep Bow of Gratitude!
Ben
Hi Ben
When we watch a magician doing a trick, we love the surprise and offer applause. But we don’t believe its real. The problem with the mind is that we believe it.
The reason the mind feels it needs to control is because it is afraid. When the sense of Self becomes strong enough, the mind begins to let go. It’s like a dog. A dog is a pack animal. If it doesn’t feel there is a leader, it will try to take charge, even though it doesn’t have a clue about urban behaviour. Show it some leadership and it settles down.
It’s natural to want to describe things. The issue is when we take it too seriously. We let mind tell us what is real.
Yes, you are seeing it. Control. When you see that it is an illusion enough, you will stop trying so much. But it is deeply ingrained, so it takes some time to peel off the layers of control.
Curiously, the attempt to control spiritual process is the exact opposite of what will bring spiritual progress.
The sense of being distant and impersonal could be fatigue. It could be an emotional detachment, and it may even be a bit of witness, stepping out of the drama a bit. It is very easy to conclude something is bad and push it away when it is the beginning of awakening. (laughs)
Yes, you are the mole, but you are also the whacker. We call that the ego. You are also the game, and the audience.
Take it easy. Have fun. Relax into it.