This is another 101 topic I have written about before and thought I would briefly revisit.
We can be addicted to bliss, especially during a certain phase of the spiritual path.
Here is what often happens:
We get a taste of bliss.
We want it again.
We try different strategies to get it again.
We try strategies to get it to stay.
And eventually, we discover that we seek a transitory state and an experience, and that’s ultimately futile.
As far as I can tell, this bliss-seeking compulsion has a few different functions.
It’s a carrot on the path. It keeps us going so our seeking and practices become more established and more of a stable habit. Especially as it tends to happen early on the intentional path.
It can bring a certain healing. It can make us feel loved. It can help us trust life more.
It’s a lesson in the difference between states and what we are. It helps us differentiate the two.
It’s an invitation to explore what in us drives the compulsion and find healing for it.
As experiences come and go, we will eventually notice that what we are is what experiences happen within and as. And that that’s what it really is about, at least as we mature a bit. Seeking and losing and refinding and relosing bliss is a strong invitation to notice this.
And what drives this compulsion to find bliss, or really any compulsion? It’s often a sense of lack, a sense of not being good enough, and wanting to escape uncomfortable identifications and feelings.
So there is nothing wrong in seeking bliss. It’s natural. It’s quite common. It has several functions. And it leads us to a slightly more mature phase of the path.
Note: What strategies do we use to seek and maintain bliss? Most often, it’s a combination of meditation practices, prayer, and yogic or energetic practices. And for some, it’s psychoactive drugs.
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Initial notes…..
- bliss addiction
- can be addicted to bliss, during a certain phase of the spiritual path
- quite common, during a certain phase of the spiritual path
- get a taste of it, want it again, try to get it again, try to get it to stay etc.
- seeking a state
- as usual
- can inquire into beliefs around it
- inquire into how the mind creates the different elements of it + behind it
- identities, sense of lack, state of bliss etc.
- meet the parts of us we are trying to escape from through bliss
- sense of lack, something missing, pain etc.
- notice that any content of experience comes and goes, including bliss, and that’s not really what it’s about, it’s about noticing what it’s happening within and as, and what we are as that
- benefits of it
- can be healing in itself, a relief, feel nourished / loved etc.
- also, a lesson in states vs what we are
- …..
- can be addicted to bliss, during a certain phase of the spiritual path
…..
- functions
- carrot on the path
- healing, feeling loved etc.
- a lesson about states vs. what we are
- invitation to find what drives the compulsion, explore, find healing for etc.
- ….
…..
It tends to happen relatively early on the more intentional path, after we have a taste of bliss, and it’s quite common.
…..
This is another 101 topic I have written about before, and thought I would briefly revisit.
We can be addicted to bliss, especially during a certain phase of the spiritual path.
We get a taste of bliss.
We want it again.
We try different strategies to get it again.
We try strategies to get it to stay.
This tends to happen relatively early on the path, often relatively early in life, and it’s quite common. And, in short, we seek a transitory state and an experience, and that’s ultimately futile.
As far as I can tell, a compulsion to find bliss has a few different functions.
……
This is another 101 topic I have written about before and thought I would briefly revisit.
We can be addicted to bliss, especially during a certain phase of the spiritual path.
It tends to happen relatively early on the path, often relatively early in life, and it’s quite common.
We get a taste of bliss.
We want it again.
We try different strategies to get it again.
We try strategies to get it to stay.
And eventually, we discover that we seek a transitory state and an experience, and that’s ultimately futile.
As far as I can tell, this bliss-seeking compulsion has a few different functions.
It’s a carrot on the path. It keeps us going so our seeking and practices become more established and more of a stable habit. Especially as it tends to happen early on the intentional path.
It can bring a certain healing. It can make us feel loved. It can help us trust life more.
It’s a lesson in the difference between states and what we are. It helps us differentiate the two.
It’s an invitation to explore what in us drives the compulsion, and find healing for it.
As experiences come and go, we will eventually notice that what we are is what experiences happen within and as. And that that’s what it really is about, at least as we mature a bit. Seeking and losing and refinding and relosing bliss is a strong invitation to notice this.
And what drives this compulsion to find bliss, or really any compulsion? It’s often a sense of lack, a sense of not being good enough, and wanting to escape uncomfortable identifications and feelings.
So there is nothing wrong in seeking bliss. It’s natural. It’s quite common in a certain phase. It has several functions. And it leads us to a slightly more mature phase of the path.
Note: How do we seek bliss? What strategies do we use?