We all know bliss. It is all we seek

Some of my attempts to follow my bliss have resulted in introspection, a sort of “poor man’s bliss”. Introspection can sometimes feel like a way of manufacturing transcendence or coaxing it back to life, like those paddles used in A&E to re-start someone’s heart. But for me, introspection is nearly always a cul-de-sac of self-absorption, a place where we consume ourselves, and get drunk on our own lies and hopes and self-talk.

I doubt any human has transcended being human, untouched by anxiety and fear and loneliness, except possibly Buddha, Jesus, Mohamed and the rest of that special crew. But I imagine if you say out loud you want to follow your bliss, to make transcendence a goal in your life, you would rapidly lose your friends and maybe even your livelihood. Most of us prefer to keep our mouths, our minds and our hearts shut about a deep longing to find peace, to somehow matter. It is easier to let the detritus, the nonsense, the lies and the constructs of who and what we are underpin our thoughts and actions.

And yet bliss persists – the idea of being able to rise above self-absorption may seem at once utterly real and utterly meaningless, as if transcendence is a shadow in the peripheral vision, there and not there, but we are imprinted with bliss. Like water, we fall towards it as inevitably as a drop of water falls towards the ocean.

I love how this guy, Sean Meshorer, describes bliss: http://seanmeshorer.com/what-is-bliss/

As part of his explanation is this:

Bliss is where happiness, meaning, and truth converge. everything—and I do mean everything—boils down to our (sometimes subconscious) pursuit of bliss. We pursue money or relationships because we think they’ll make us happy. We pursue our vocation, our hobbies, and our life’s passions because we feel they are deeply meaningful to us. We explore science, religion, and philosophical inquiry because we want to know the truth of our existence. Bliss is the universal place that these intersect, where all questions are answered, where every fulfillment is attained.

The phrase 'follow your bliss' is said to have been coined by Joseph Campbell who derived it from the Upanishads. Their complete works can be read here: http://hinduebooks.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/108-upanishads-with-sanskrit-commentary.html

They say that when you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you. Wherever you are—if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that joy within you, all the time.

Sounds pretty darn good to me!