3 Simple Steps to Supreme Bliss | Podcast
Hello, Jason Cain here and welcome to the Ancient wisdom modern mind podcast and today I’m going to talk about the Bliss Experience and the 3 Simple Steps that if followed will eventually lead to the state of Bliss.
Achieving Bliss which is the first of the enlightenment stages is easily achieved if you follow this simple process and your success will only depend on how often you apply yourself to the process. In the beginning Bliss will come in flashes of realization, which will slowly transition into longer states of heightened perception, until finally you will realize your bliss.
This is self-realization where both the mind and the body begin to fall into agreement with your intent of achieving the goal of bliss, and this is also a gateway state that steps into enlightenment.
The greatest difficulty or the biggest block to experiencing Bliss is that both the mind and the body have no knowledge of the Bliss state, and consequently have no interest in supporting what is subconsciously perceived as an unachievable fantasy.
This is why it’s often said that we are our own worst enemy and to know yourself is the beginning of the enlightenment journey.
Step 1: Breathing
Conscious breathing or pranayama as it's known in the yogic traditions is one of the most “mindful” things we can do. There is simply nothing more present or in the moment than our breath.
Prana means life force or breath sustaining the body; Ayama translates as "to extend or draw out." Together the two mean breath extension or control.
Traditionally, the practitioner does pranayama while sitting on the ground, with the spine long and erect. But if you aren't accustomed to extended sitting in such a position you will often find yourself aching and fidgeting after only a short while; this interferes with your concentration and the efficacy of the breathing practice. If this is the case for you, sit in a chair or, better still, try lying on your back on the floor.
When you're comfortably set up, begin watching your everyday breath for a few minutes, fixing it in the foreground of your awareness. Then, for another minute or so, mentally count the length of both your inhalations and exhalations; but slow down the pace of the inhale and exhale a little, for example counting slowly, thinking “One pink elephant, two pink elephants”, and so on (or if you prefer count 1, 2, 3 as you breathe in and 1, 2, 3 as you breathe out"). Don't be surprised if your exhalations are slightly longer than your inhalations; that's quite common. Once you've settled into your breath, you're ready to try this introductory breathing exercise.
Ok so now I want you to Close your eyes, and take slow deep breaths in through your nose and pause at the top of the inhalation for a moment. Then, exhale completely through your nose. Repeat for 5 minutes. “While focusing your attention on the sound of your breath and mentally relax your jaw, your teeth, tongue, and lips as you exhale.
This breathing exercise is a simple and effective way of calming the mind and redirecting awareness inward.
See also Zazen Meditation Introduction and How To Do Zazen Meditation | Posture and Breathing
Step 2: Self-realization
Self-realization or what yogis call Samadhi is sometimes confused with personal identification, personal identification is more of a process where you learn to accept yourself, and also accepting where you are now at this very moment by practicing tolerance, patience and other positive attributes that go into making you a better and more self-actualized individual.
Personal identification is all about you, about your beliefs and your reactions to the external world, and its core ideal says that if you don’t respect who you are at a deep level, then you will never find mental balance or harmony.
So in a nutshell, personal identification is more about moving the mind to a place of self-acceptance of the external world, and in a strange way personal identification becomes an internal loop, that laughs at its own short comings while freeing you to become a more authentic version of yourself.
Self-realization on the other hand is more like the Ancient Greek aphorism "know thyself” which is about awakening the soul within, and it’s about bring this soul out into the awakened state.
So Self-realizations is an <strong>astute observation of awareness</strong> whereas self-development is a personal identification with self-improvement, which is why self-improvement courses, daily quotes, feel good tips and pep talks, are not spiritual advancements. Self-improvement may teach you about how to be your authentic self and how to bring yourself to a state of intellectual-actualization, but it teaches you nothing about awareness, nothing about the nature of consciousness.
Socrates said that "The unexamined life is not worth living." the broad nature of the saying suggests that the objective of a worthy life is through self-reflection and at first glance this could be misconstrued as to mean that we examine our personal feelings and our emotional reactions, but we also know that Socrates also emphasized logic and rational thought.
So I believe we can fairly safely conclude from this that the emotional feel good aspects of self-examination can be put into the personal identification category, and we can move on to the examination of awareness.
So how do we examine awareness? Luckily for us this process has been studied and refined for thousands of years and distilled down into what is now called mindfulness, it’s that simple. We apply the practice of mindfulness to our daily life.
See also How to Become Self-Realized in a World Full of Phonies and How to Practice Mindfulness Every Day
Step 3: Meditation
It only makes sense that we should meditate as the final process to achieving Bliss, and mediation is more than just laying down with your eyes closed and contemplating relaxation. Which is why meditation has ritualized seating postures such as Lotus Pose or Easy Pose, or the Zen walking meditations. The mind needs structure to overcome its chaotic nature.
Meditation is a means of transforming the mind by using techniques that encourages and develops concentration, clarity, and silence. By engaging with a particular meditation practice you learn the patterns and habits of your mind, and the practice of quieting ones internal talk offers a means to cultivate Bliss.
With regular work and patience, these nourishing focused states of mind can deepen into profoundly peaceful and energized states of awareness that can accumulate in a state of Supreme Bliss
Meditation refines the ego/mind through the application of three main process, “silencing the internal talk”, “weakening emotional attachment” and most importantly it breaks the conscious/subconscious loop and allows the ego/mind to becoming exactly what it really is “AN EMPTY CUP”. This is the true nature of the ego/mind, an empty thing, a yapping loop of nothing.
So that’s How we can Experience Supreme Bliss, and if you'd like to subscribe to this channel go ahead and subscribe, and if you would like to podcast version follow the links below.
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Related posts:
Seven Popular Meditations | Understanding the Over-Evolved Ego | How to Practice Mindfulness Every Day | Suffering and Spirituality is a False Idea | How To Do Zazen Meditation: Posture and Breathing | Spiritual Enlightenment: Truths, Distortions, Fakes | How to Become Self-Realized in a World Full of Phonies | Learn how to Practice Mindfulness Meditation and the Different Approaches | Zazen Meditation Introduction
References
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