1-12Where-Is-Bliss

By Periyava

Translation from Tamil: V. Krishnaraj

ஆனந்தம் எங்கே? : தெய்வத்தின் குரல் (முதல் பகுதி) 1-12

Where is Bliss? Deivathin Kural1-12

We entertain innumerable desires. It is a universal certainty that we and our desires part ways. Before the departure, if we outright dismiss the desires on our own accord, to that extent, we remain happy. There are as many bonds as there are desires and we tie ourselves invariably to sorrow. As we attenuate our desires one by one, the cause of sorrow diminishes. Before this life ends, and we relinquish all desires, we need not suffer any distress; we can merge with Paramātma and attain endless Bliss.

We are proud thinking we possess special qualities, unfound in animals. What special things has a person done, not done by animals? Dog, fox, cockroach… eat, procreate, and die. Generally, man does nothing more than what animals do. What is there in his special wisdom to make him proud? It is finding a wisdom greater than everything else and discovering the paths for everlasting Bliss. Does man receive everlasting  Bliss?

Cogitating about it, what appears as the supreme aim is Jñāṉam, Āṉantham (bliss), and Nām (We) are one.  When we realize the dawn of Spiritual Wisdom, we discover we are Jñāṉa-maya Bliss (ஞான மயமான ஆனந்தம்). Jñāṉa-mayam = Plenitude of Wisdom.

We do not obtain Bliss from external objects. Bliss comes from inside us. Our true form is Bliss, which we hide with  a-jñāna (Nescience). Even under those conditions When we have the feeling of belonging, ‘mine’, we get Bliss from it. If there is no relationship with ‘I’, Bliss leaves us. Let me present an example. A person has farm lands. He is getting more and more produce year after year. Since he feels he owns the land, he feels happy every time the yield is greater. He is in bliss. Later, the yield gets smaller. He sells the land and registers a sale and a transfer. Next year, there is a greater yield. The seller feels heartburns, thinking the buyer had good luck taking sides with him. That bygone relationship (with the land) brought happiness. The same higher yield in the hands of the buyer causing Bliss (in the buyer) causes heartburn in the erstwhile seller.

Another example.  Parents bring children to me, say they have insanity and request me to find relief or cure. A father took the opposite stance. He married second time. His second wife did not get along with the son of the first wife. A great fight ensued and resulted in breakup of the family. The father stood by his second wife. He abandoned his son born to his first wife. The father came to me and said, “My first son cast a curse, ‘Pilly Sūṉyam (= பில்லி சூன்யம் = witchcraft)’ on my second wife. It is our good fortune that it blew back on him.”  All fathers are distraught when faced with citta-p-piramai (stupefaction, insanity) in their children. This father was happy in his son’s condition. Why? He lost his sense of mine (filialness) with his son. He had a sense of mine regarding his second wife. Since she suffered no injury from the curse, the father felt happy.

There is so much bliss in Māyā-bound ‘I.’  Just guess how much bliss the free ‘I’ with complete Jñāṉam must have?  We taste the sweetness of jaggery when added to the bitter gourd. The bitter gourd in relation with the jaggery tastes sweet. It is because of the jaggery, that the bitter gourd tasted sweet. Just think of the sweetness of the jaggery alone. In this world of bitterness and misery, the ‘I’s association with the Māyic rays of light gives us the sweet bliss. If ‘I’ by itself stands alone, must it not be much of a sweet Bliss? When a holey pot covers a light, the slender rays of light emerge from the small holes.  The Ātmā Light covered by the Māyā radiates its bliss light, faint as they are, through the Indriyas’ holes. Indriyas = organs. If we break the Māyā-Pot, we can become the plenitudinous Bliss-Light. The intensity of the emerging light depends on the size of the holes in the pot. The Light inside the pot is One Luminous Light. If we break the Māyā-pot, all phenomenal differences in the world disappear and all appear as Bliss Supreme.

 

Related image

Figure 1Momordica charantia: Bitter gourd. பாகற்காய்

How do we break the Māyai?  Simply by curbing our desires. Mind is the source and propagator of desires. Therefore, we must curb the mind. We should not think curbing the mind is death and absence of Sakthi. On the contrary, it is the basis of all Sakthi. Those who are handicapped in one part of the body have compensatory higher ability in another organ (example: intellect. Stephen William Hawking). When you block one channel, the other channel gets more water flow.  Ātmā Sakthi undergoes dissipation through the Indriyas (organs). If you control or block those organs, all sakthis join in Bliss and bring goodness to the world.

Ṛṣis with the Sakthi of Ātmā Jñāṉam are the examples. They were travelers to the multiple worlds, and could amass knowledge and wisdom. They heard sounds in the sky, not apprehended by us, and gave us the Mantras. How do we curb our desires? How do we bring the mind to a standstill? How do we attain everlasting Bliss? Just do what the Vedas tell us. At the end, we will attain Supreme Bliss. Let Paramēṣvara do us the favor.