Have you ever heard someone say that a newborn infant looks so angelic, or so blissful? We think of bliss as a magnified emotional state of joy and happiness, where nothing else is needed or desired.
Who wouldn’t want to be blissful? And how do we attain that state? Happiness is great, but it is subject to fluctuation, whereas the state of being blissful has been defined as a constant, undisturbed by outward gain or loss. You might feel a touch of blissfulness for a few moments, such as when you are in a place of stunning natural beauty, or when a combination of exhaustion and accomplishment lift you to a state you’ve never felt before. But, again, these are mere moments in our lifetimes. If we want more, how can we experience true bliss?
Read how Sadhguru answers a person’s burning question for insight regarding true bliss: “You say that when a person is blissful, he becomes more malleable, freer, less burdened by individuality. What exactly is this bliss? Can you describe true bliss, Sadhguru?”
Sadhguru: How can I tell you? This question may actually spring from a certain misunderstanding about the nature of bliss. Today even psychedelic drugs are being named “Bliss.” If you say “bliss” in the West, they will think you are talking about a particular tablet, a drug.
There is no such thing as “true bliss” and “false bliss.” When you are in truth, you will be in bliss. When you are really in touch with truth, you will naturally be in bliss. Being blissful and not being blissful is like a litmus test for you to see whether you are in truth or not in truth. This question is probably coming from a certain mindset: “If I am just watching the sunset, if I become blissful, is that true bliss? Or when I am saying my prayers, if I become blissful, is that true bliss? Or when I am meditating and become blissful, is that true bliss?”
Most people misunderstand pleasure as bliss. You can never sustain pleasure. But blissfulness means a state that is not dependent upon anything. Pleasure is always dependent upon something or somebody. Blissfulness is not dependent upon anything. It is of your own nature; once you are in touch with it, you are in it, that’s all.
Blissfulness is not something that you earn from outside; it is something that you dig deep into yourself and find. It is like digging a well. If you open your mouth and wait for the raindrops to fall into your mouth when it rains, a few of them may get inside. But still it is quite frustrating to quench your thirst by opening your mouth to the rain. Besides, the rain is not going to last forever. An hour or two, and then it is over.
That is the reason why you dig your own well ‒ so that you have water throughout the year. Whatever you are referring to as “true bliss” is just this: you have dug your own well into yourself and you have found water that sustains you all the time. It is not something that you open your mouth to when it rains. No, all the time you have water with you. That is bliss.
If you observe, take some effort to pay attention to this piece of life – YOUR OWN life – something happens. A human being has endless possibilities, and each is meant to bloom in his or her own unique way. Is it not a fantastic thing to wake up in the morning and find that you and your loved ones are all alive and well? Is there not overwhelming beauty in a tree, or for that matter in a ceiling…in everything. When you find the bliss within yourself…through yoga…then everything becomes beautiful. If you stop your mental muddle, life is bliss.
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