Nature of bliss, a vedantic approach

Anandam – The Bliss

Bliss is our true self. Taittiriya Upanishad says – “AnandaDdhyava Khalbimani Bhutani Jayante, Anandena Yatani Jivanti, Anandang PrayantyaVisangbisyanti” – meaning, from bliss beings are born; by bliss, when born, they live; into bliss they enter at their death. A water droplet, if taken from ocean and moved to the top of Himalayas, still remains as an embodiment of ocean, how tiny it seems. It always struggle to return to its source, the ocean, and thus it is ever unrestful. It will only rest when it merges back to the source, the ocean. Jiva (a living being), deluded by his own ignorance and detached from his sublime blissful nature, always thrive to regain it. Restless, he strives to find happiness in family, money and other worldly possessions. All his good or bad activities are always guided by this sole purpose, to be happy. However, the endeavor to find happiness become futile as it is deluded by ignorance and not directed towards the right path. When the exertion to find happiness is guided towards the right path and become fruitful, Jiva become established in permanent bliss. His restless mind become permanently calm, satisfied and happy.

This is unanimous that everyone yearns for happiness, but a lucky few could actually attain the state of enduring absolute bliss. When we try to source our happiness from family, money, social affairs we get a vulnerable and fragile state of mental peace. This worldly happiness has many reasons to be shaken easily, and in no way comparable with the enduring absolute bliss we deserve. When a family member is sick, illiterate, dishonest, challenged or if a near one dies we become sad and unhappy. While earning money we accept hardship; become anxious and troubled while maintaining; become sad while losing. Same applies to real-estate. We engage ourselves in quarrel and controversies while grabbing them and finally end up in distress and dilemma. Our disease too makes us unhappy. There are never ending reasons to be unhappy in our day-to-day world.

Finally, the grief of death, no one can escape, be it rich or poor, young and old, king or common man. We become ill-fated and unhappy frequently in some way or the other. With the material attachment man gets some happiness but that is very fragile and transitory. Material attachments always comes entangled with new kind of trouble and anxiety. Happiness is not a property of a worldly thing, if that so it would be able to offer same happiness all the time. Same material doesn’t give same happiness to everyone. A material possession can make you happy but others unhappy. Cold breeze may give relief to someone but can also cause infection to weak and elderly person. Same applies to food, some may enjoy a food while other may through it away. Similarly, family members, wife and son can be a source of happiness for some and sorrow for other. A worldly thing is transitory and impermanent, it can’t be a source of permanent happiness. That which is undivided, integral, fundamental, primordial can only be a source of permanent bliss. Chandogya Upanishad tells – “Nalpe Sukhamasti, Yo Boi Bhuma Tat Sukham” - 7/23/1, meaning – happiness is not in transient and limited things, but in the massive (Bhuma) and permanent. That which is massive (Bhuma), is Brahman, is Atman. Mandukya Upanishad says “Ayam Atma Brahma”, meaning – this Atman is Brahman. Lord Sri Krishna says in Gita – “AhaMatma Gudhakesha SarvaBhutasayaSthita” SBG 10/20, meaning – O Arjuna, I am the Ultimate Consciousness situated within the heart of every living being. If you know of fire with the help of a candle, you can identify even the fire of a mass destruction with the earlier knowledge of fire. In the same way, if one experiences his own Atman then he can identify Brahman.

Being the bliss personified, Atman (the self) is the dearest to everyone. If Atman was miserable then it couldn’t be dear to Jiva. Sugar is sweet, wherever it is applied become sweet. It’s only Atman which makes our relationship with friends and family blissful and happy. In Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says – ‘Ye Maitrei! Wife do not love husband because of his happiness, but of her own’. Meaning, a wife find bliss in loving her husband, thus she loves him. If loving her husband didn’t give her bliss she would not love him.

Similarly, the love of parents for their son is not for the pleasure of the son but for the pleasure of their own self. In some rear cases of famine there are incidents when a mother is seen to leave or sell her child. Atman is most loved and dearest one to any being. Atman is the only source of bliss. The indivisible bliss of Atman reflects in the material world and returns back to us in a limited and biased way. A dog chews a dry bone and accidentally cut its own mouth. Then it thinks that the blood is coming out from the bone and chews it with more enthusiasm. Seeking happiness in the world is something similar to this, when one enjoys worldly object, he actually is enjoying his own bliss.

That which is more and more near to Atman is also more and more dear. Let us take following examples to make this clear. We find our wife and son (and close relatives) dearer than anybody outside or any material object. If son or wife become terminally ill we sell our properties to save their lives, as the family members are closer and dearer to Atman than the worldly properties. Now, we consider our body to be dearer than even family members (example of draught given earlier) as body is closer to Atman than family members. Life is dearer to us than even our body as our Prana is closer to Atman. If one was given a choice between his life or cut of a limb, he would select cut of a limb to save his life. Our mind is closer and dearer to Atman than even Prana. There are so many reported cases where one has given up his or her own life for a higher cause, just to be good with the mind. Soldiers and freedom fighters spare their life happily for our motherland. Our intellect (deterministic and one pointed intellect) is even more close and dear to Atman than mind.

Yogis practice to calm their mental agility, makes it deterministic and one pointed and witnesses a higher and greater form of bliss. The “Anandamaya Kosha” (The sheath made of bliss) is nearest to Atman than even intellect and thus when all other sheath stops (physical, pranic, mental, intellectual) then Jiva enjoys an immense joy and bliss into AnandaMaya kosha. Take the case of deep sleep or Samadhi (the super trans state), when Jiva resides solely on this Anandamaya Kosha and enjoys an unearthly bliss. When one has to come back from Samadhi or deep sleep he feels angry or depressed as he never wants to comeback from such a great joy to a limited and lower form of happiness of body, prana, mind and intellect. Jiva enjoys the maximum bliss when resides in Anandamaya Kosha, because it is the nearest to Atman than any other sheaths. But still, bliss is not the property of even Anandamaya Kosha and is still inferred. Bliss is the reflected Atman itself in all five sheaths (body, prana, mind, intellect and anandamaya). Atman is the embodiment of bliss, everything that reflects happiness is a reflection of Atman. This reflection of Atman in form of bliss in all the five sheaths are creating variety of blissful experiences.

Anandamaya Kosha is the closest and the first veil to Atman and thus reflection of bliss to this sheath is most intense and vibrant of all. The second veil is Vijnyanamaya or intellect, which reflects lesser amount of bliss but creates more engaging happiness than everything except the Anandamaya Kosha. As more and more veil covers the Atman the reflection become weaker and happiness become limited and less enjoying. To experience the real bliss of Atman (AtmaNandam) one ought to immerge into it by refraining from material enjoyment and anatomizing the futility of the five sheaths.

AtmaNanda (Bliss of Atman) and BrhamaNanda (Bliss of Brahman) are same. AtmaNanda can only be experienced through subtle intuition and can’t be expressed in words for it is beyond our mind and intellect to assimilate. AtmaNanda is not a material thing and can’t be experienced through any form of divine persuit (Sadhana) or Yoga. Atma is self-effulgent. Sadhana can only banish the worldly bonds and barriers so that Atman can reveal itself as pure bliss. Jiva experiences a small fraction of that bliss in various levels of distortion.

Now, let us see how Jiva experiences happiness. God or Atman, the embodiment of bliss, resides within the heart of every living being. Atman is reflected in intellect. Like the Sun’s reflection in dirty water, Atman is not reflected clearly in impure and agitated mind. In clear and calm surface of water the Sun reflects clearly, like that in calm and unagitated mind.

Like the Sun reflects clearly in untainted and placid water surface, Atman reveals itself clearly in pure and tranquil heart. If mind, stained by material desire, keeps being restless and dull, Atman the embodiment of bliss can’t reveal itself. Thus Sri Krishna tells in Bhagabat Gita 2.66 – “Asantasya Kutah Sukham”, for one destitute of peace where is happiness? By grabbing material objects we become happy, but for a while, that too is because our mind calms down for a while. Say our mind is restless because it is wanting some money, and if we get money our desire for money is ceased and the mind become calm. At that moment, when our mind become calm, Atman is reflected in mind and we feel happy. However, the mind can’t be completely calm even after a material desire is fulfilled. This calmness of mind is transient, volatile and impermanent in nature. Meeting of one desire leads the mind to desire more and be agitated in fear of losing what was earned.

Every happiness felt by material gain is of same type. Let us take an example of a movie or a theater, no doubt that we become happy by watching them. Let’s analyze where this happiness came from? Obviously the happiness is not coming out from the play and entering in you. Bliss is our innate nature, it do not leave us even for a moment. Only because of agility and restlessness of our mind we do not experience unceasing bliss. When we indulge into some movie or play our mental agitations are momentarily subsided, a glimpse of Atman thus reflected in that calm and peaceful mind and we experience happiness. On the contrary if any of your family member is seriously ill and you had to attain a play or movie, you can’t enjoy watching it anymore. The same movie or play will not be able to make you happy.

So, it is evident that Atman is the embodiment of bliss and it can only be experienced in a pure and calm mind. When we concentrate our mind in complete desolation, we surely can experience ineffable bliss and that too without depending on any material gain.

As you keep on withdrawing yourself from external affairs and establish firmly on Atman, experiencing of the divine bliss keeps on increasing. Finally, you will settle in an unbroken flow of absolute bliss by attaining BrahmaJnyana (knowledge of the supreme or Enlightenment). Sorrow is not your innate nature and thus you don’t want sorrow. Sorrow is incomer, imagined in a state of ignorance, and false; thus relief from sorrow is possible. If sorrow was true, then relief from it would not be possible. Ignorance of our true self (Atman) allows sorrow to enter our mind, and expelling of that ignorance by wisdom of “self” (AtmaJnyana) destroys the sorrow, finally permanent and unceasing bliss pervades. By studying, analyzing and contemplating (Vichaara) of the great scriptures (MahaVakya) one gains the direct knowledge of Self. That ‘vichaara’ can’t be fruitful without purity of mind. To purify mind, we need to grow certain qualities like dispassion, faith (sraddha), Yoga, devotion and avoidance of demonic nature. Lord Sri Krishna’s teachings in Bhagabat Gita is mainly targeted for the same. In the next several chapters we shall discuss more about the different paths for liberation like reasoning, Yoga (meditation) and Bhakti (devotion).