The experience of real happiness (ananda-bliss) ~ Atman Nityananda

The experience of real happiness (ananda-bliss)

Bliss lies always within our heart, it is an attribute of Consciousness, but we do not experience it because our mind is always agitated and extroverted and we are always in a state of emotional turmoil.
We can experience happiness only when the mind is tranquil and rests in our heart. Desires, fears, anger etc. keep the mind always agitated and the prana (vital energy) contracted. This condition is experienced as suffering. 

When a desire is fulfilled the mind becomes for a while calm, concentrated and introverted. In this mental state the mind reflects naturally the happiness of our inner Self or Consciousness. But we do not recognize it because the ego puts a veil in this process. We think that we experience happiness because we got the desired object.

Due to fulfillment of desires we can experience a little happiness but due to desire, attachment and greed we experience a lot of psychological suffering, bondage and separation. We cannot have desires and pleasures without experiencing suffering because all psychological disorders and defects (fear, anger, depression,  jealousy, avarice, pride,etc.) are only modifications of desire. The impulse or the energy of desire has a heavy vibration which is experienced as suffering. More over desires are insatiable and there is no way to be free from the painful impulses of desire if we try always to fulfill them. 

The spiritual way to happiness

On the other hand there is a way to experience the happiness of our true Self within, without to suffer painful consequences. This is the spiritual way. By purification, self-control, discernment, non-attachment, meditation and self-enquiry we can consciously abide always in our heart and experience the bliss of our own existence.

Freedom, peace and bliss is what we really are but the ego and desires cloud our intelligence and we fail to realize it.  

 

Ego is our true enemy and not the objects by themselves. If by intense spiritual practices we eliminate from our psych this psychological virus of ego and desires we can experience always unalloyed bliss, peace and freedom.This is our destiny and our eternal abode.

May God bless you realize your true nature in this very life and be Free for ever! 

Read also:

Peace is the realm of infinite Bliss - Swami Sivananda

THE ULTIMATE REALITY - THE LIGHT OF CONSCIOUSNESS ~ Nisargadatta / I AM THAT

THE ULTIMATE REALITY - THE LIGHT OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Questioner: What is the source of consciousness?

Nisargadatta : Consciousness itself is the source of everything.

Questioner: Can there be life without consciousness?

Nisargadatta : No, nor consciousness without life. They are both one. But in reality only the Ultimate is. The rest is a matter of name and form. And as long as you cling to the idea that only what has name and shape exists, the Supreme will appear to you nonexisting.

When you understand that names and shapes are hollow shells without any content whatsoever, and what is real is nameless and formless, pure energy of life and light of consciousness, you will be at peace -- immersed in the deep silence of reality.

extract from the book "I Am That.pdf " ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj Chapter 13. The Supreme, the Mind and the Body

Beyond Mind there is no Suffering ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

Beyond Mind there is no Suffering 

Extract from the book I am That  ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

Questioner: The universe does not seem a happy place to live in. Why is there so much suffering?

Maharaj: Pain is physical; suffering is mental. Beyond the mind there is no suffering. Pain is merely a signal that the body is in danger and requires attention. Similarly, suffering warns us that the structure of memories and habits, which we call the person (vyakti), is threatened by loss or

change. Pain is essential for the survival of the body, but none compels you to suffer. Suffering is due entirely to clinging or resisting; it is a sign of our unwillingness to move on, to flow with life.

As a sane life is free of pain, so is a saintly life free from suffering.

Q: Nobody has suffered more than saints.

M: Did they tell you, or do you say so on your own? The essence of saintliness is total acceptance of the present moment, harmony with things as they happen. A saint does not want things to be different from what they are; he knows that, considering all factors, they are unavoidable. He is friendly with the inevitable and,. therefore, does not suffer. Pain he may know, but it does not shatter him. If he can, he does the needful to restore the lost balance -- or he lets things take their course.

Q: He may die.

M: So what? What does he gain by living on and what does he lose by dying? What was born, must die; what was never born cannot die. It all depends on what he takes himself to be.

Q: Imagine you fall mortally ill. Would you not regret and resent?

M: But I am dead already, or, rather, neither alive nor dead. You see my body behaving the habitual way and draw your own conclusions. You will not admit that your conclusions bind nobody but you. Do see that the image you have of me may be altogether wrong. Your image of yourself is wrong too, but that is your problem. But you need not create problems for me and then ask me to solve them. I am neither creating problems nor solving them.