The pursuit of happiness is a universal goal for all of humankind. While happiness may mean different things to different people what complicates matters is the fact that its effects are so temporary and transient. The realisation that there is something that is many notches higher — which is bliss — will equip people better to sail through life.
Following your bliss is not about going on a pleasure trip or going after the material or sensual. It is about finding your purpose and charting your path by doing that which all the good things follow.
In Hindu philosophy ananda or bliss is what one gets at the end of the cycle of rebirth. By surrendering to the divine will, not hankering after the fruits of one’s actions one can get closer to ananda.
According to the Taittiriya Upanishad, the self is swathed in five sheaths or koshas — the annamaya kosha, the pranamaya kosha, the manomaya kosha, the vijnanamaya kosha and the anandamaya kosha. The annamaya kosha refers to the physical body which is sustained by food or anna, the pranamaya kosha reminds us that everything is prana or energy, the manomaya kosha refers to the mind and the games it plays, the vijnanamaya kosha refers to intellect and knowledge and the anandamaya kosha is really the bliss sheath. By caring for the body, facilitating the flow of prana, training the mind and acquiring the right knowledge we get closer to the self. But even so we are one layer short of true bliss, the core, the self, which is part of the Absolute. And this journey of getting to the core is what promises eternal joy, peace and lasting happiness and is really the goal of life.
Staying on course despite obstacles and tribulations is also important as one seeks bliss. Joseph Campbell mythologist once said, “If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that’s been there all the while waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss and they open the doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be. If you follow your bliss doors will open for you that wouldn’t have opened for anyone else.”
However so mired are we in the web of life at the very mundane level that we fail to realise that it is sheer bliss just to be alive and be aware of all that is around us and each and everything that happens to us, leave alone ultimate bliss.
Finally drawing a distinction between the two pursuits Swami Kriyananda says, “Happiness is ephemeral, bliss is eternal.”
The writer is a Reiki channel, yoga practitioner and a spiritual seeker.
