Enlighten Yourself: The Illusion of Materialistic Bliss – Parts 1 & 2 by Wes Annac

Thank you Wes and all your Guides!
***  WE ARE ALL ONE

Written by Wes Annac, July 13, 2014 – http://cultureofawareness.com/2014/07/13/enlighten-yourself-the-illusion-of-materialistic-bliss-part-12/

When we reach a certain, higher state of consciousness, bliss will become an assured aspect of our existence. Most of us haven’t yet felt anywhere near the level of bliss we’ll feel when we’re back in the higher realms, and it goes without saying that we’ll be very surprised when we re-reach these realms.

We’ll be surprised at the constant nature of the bliss we’ll perceive, and the level of elation we’ll feel will go beyond anything we would’ve ever thought or expected. We have the potential to access a level of bliss so strong that it’ll completely transmute the pain and fear we’re ready to leave behind, and all that’s required to feel it is opening up to our divine nature.

I’d like to look at what some of our spiritual teachers have said about bliss, and I don’t know about any of you, but I’m excited to feel it in all of its purity. Intuition tells me that our level of bliss will grow with each new dimension we reach, and our fifth-dimensional evolution will introduce us to the bliss that we’ll feel in purer and purer measures each time we evolve.


We have a lot to learn about it before we can feel it, however, and plenty has been said about it and the greater state of consciousness and awareness it exists in.
According to the Upanishads, “Brahman (Source/the Self) … is pure bliss”. (1)

Knowing and feeling Source in a deeper way will introduce us to the bliss that’s been missing from our lower-dimensional experience, and as long as we make an effort, we’ll find the bliss we seek. We’ll be very glad we did, because we’ll see that nothing but pure love and joy exist all around us.
The Upanishads also ask the question, “Who could live, who could breathe, if that blissful Self dwelt not within the lotus of the heart?” (2)

According to the Buddha, the highest state of consciousness we can reach, which is that of undistorted communion with Source, will deliver the purest bliss we’ve ever felt.

“[The] Highest Reality is an exalted state of bliss.” (3)

Again, the fifth dimension will introduce us to a level of bliss we haven’t yet known, but it’s just the first step on a journey into increasingly ecstatic dimensions, which’ll introduce us to Source (and subsequently ourselves) in greater and deeper ways.
Ramana Maharishi tells us where bliss fits into the nature of awareness.

“The nature of Awareness is existence-consciousness-bliss.” (4)

When we realize that we’re perfectly capable of seeking Source the way we are, we cease striving to find a higher state of consciousness because we recognize that it exists within. In realizing that existence equals consciousness, we allow ourselves to exist in a relaxed state, therefore unlocking the bliss we would’ve otherwise strived to find.

Ramana Maharishi also tells us about the awareness that comes with understanding our true nature.

“When one’s true nature is known, then there is Being without beginning and end; It is unbroken Awareness-Bliss.” (5)

Da Free John tells us that our inherent awareness of our blissful nature can never be lost or tampered with.

“The primary awareness of reality, my own actual consciousness [can] not be modified or lost. It is … bliss, joy, freedom, consciousness and sublime knowledge!” (6)

We have to be willing to realize our blissful nature before we can reach a higher vibration, and if we strive too hard to find something that’s already naturally there, we’ll distort our efforts and make it harder to reach an elated state of mind and heart.

Enlightenment requires surrendering to what’s already there and letting everything else fall by the wayside instead of convincing ourselves there’s something we have to ‘do’ before we can find it, and simply embodying the awareness of our divine, eternal nature is enough to put ourselves on a cloud.
Shankara tells us that the true self is revealed when we transcend the constructed self.

“When all the five coverings are removed, the pure Atman (true or ‘divine’ self) is revealed. It is revealed as God dwelling within; as unending, unalloyed bliss; as the supreme and self-luminous Being.” (7)

The true self is beyond all labels, conceptions, or attributes, Shankara tells us.

“The Atman is the witness — beyond all attributes, beyond action. It can be directly realized as pure consciousness and infinite bliss.” (8)

Anything less than ‘pure consciousness and infinite bliss’ is a distortion masquerading as reality, and I don’t know about any of you, but it comforts me to know that our ultimate heaven will be so joyful and elated.

Spiritual awareness will have risen to seemingly impossible heights, and everyone will have merged with the understanding that we are and have always been one consciousness. It’ll be great to say the least, but we have a while to go before we can clearly and purely convene with Source.

We’ll enjoy our journey back up, of course, but it’s far from complete.

Footnotes:

1. Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Manchester, trans., The Upanishads. Breath of the Eternal. New York and Scarborough: New American Library, 1957; c1948, 52.
2. Ibid., 56.
3. Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist Bible. Boston: Beacon Press, 1966; c1938, 287.
4. Anon., Who Am I? The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. Sarasota, FL: Ramana Publications, 1990, 12.
5. Ibid., 24-5.
6. Da Free John,The Knee of Listening. Original Edition. Clearlake, CA; Dawn Horse Press, 1984; c1973, 136.
7. Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher lsherwood, Shankara’s Crest-Jewel of Discrimination. Hollywood: Vedanta Press, 1975; c1947, 56.
8. Ibid., 64.

Concluded in Part 2 tomorrow.
by Wes Annac

 http://goldenageofgaia.com/2014/07/14/enlighten-yourself-the-illusion-of-materialistic-bliss-part-12/
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Enlighten Yourself: The Illusion of Materialistic Bliss – Part 2/2

Written by Wes Annac, July 14, 2014 – http://cultureofawareness.com/2014/07/14/enlighten-yourself-the-illusion-of-materialistic-bliss-part-22/
Concluded from Part 1

According to Shankara, the true self never experiences pain – only bliss.

“Pleasure and pain are characteristics of the individual — not of the Atman, which is forever blissful.” (1)

When we’re sad, upset, or angry for any reason, we feed into a lower aspect of our consciousness instead of the higher aspect we’re ready to embody. Moments of pain and frustration signify that we still have something to learn before we can be in a place of absolute bliss, and here in the lower realms, temptation to stray away from bliss is everywhere.

In the face of all the temptation, the best thing to do is remain in our center and seek the love that constantly lives within. It might be difficult to feel blissful if the temptation to be angry is strong, but it isn’t impossible.


Shankara then tells us that bliss can be found in the open heart.

“[The Self] is realized within one’s own heart as existence, knowledge and bliss absolute. Realize this Atman within the shrine of your own heart.” (2)

Returning to Ramana Maharishi’s perspective, he tells us that the self can’t be realized with earthly intellect alone.

“I am that Brahman which is bliss, which is eternal, effulgent, all-pervasive, the substratum of names and forms, which is not cognized by the impure intellect, but is cognized by the pure intellect, stainless and boundless.” (3)

In a very simple statement, Ramana Maharishi tells us that “Your nature is Bliss.” (4)

Since bliss is our nature, striving to find it would be fruitless. It’d be like striving to have blue eyes when you already do! Striving is helpful and gets things done, but when it comes to something that’s already there, it just isn’t required.
Obtaining something we want offers temporary and illusory solitude in the Atman or Self, but this solitude fades when our object of desire ceases to satisfy, as Ramana Maharishi tells us.

“When the object of desire is obtained, the intellect becomes steady for a moment and turns inward. Then the bliss of the Self is reflected on it and this gives rise to a delusion that there was bliss in the object. But when other objects are desired the bliss vanishes.” (5)

The bliss we find from obtaining our desires is never in the obtainment itself, but in the latent, inner happiness we feel when we receive them. We can constantly indulge in this blissful happiness, and we certainly don’t need material things to find it.

Quite the opposite – material things inhibit our perception of our bliss by temporarily providing it when we satisfy our materialistic urges, thus making it more difficult to find without satisfying them.

In our final quote, Ramana Maharishi affirms that bliss isn’t to be found in the physical world.

“Bliss is experienced in the state of samadhi and deep sleep even without objects. Therefore there is no bliss in objects. The Self alone is bliss. It is because the bliss of the Self alone is experienced by all, that all are proclaimed by the Vedas to be of the form of bliss.” (6)

I highly recommend meditation to find a deep, blissful state of consciousness, and for me, meditation is little more than an attunement to the higher vibration we all have the ability to feel. I can’t recommend meditation enough given the amazing things it’s helped me perceive, and in perceiving these things, I’ve realized that I am them in another form.

We are the bliss we previously sought in material things, and realizing this is essential to transcending the idea that physical indulgence provides happiness. We’re all capable of finding a blissful perception – we simply need to realize we are and have faith in our divinely ordained abilities.

Throughout the centuries, waves of people have sought bliss in one form or another.

Our society currently seeks it in material things, but it doesn’t have to be this way. In breaking the chains that have kept us bound to lower-dimensionality, we’ll discover the bliss of the sacred self as we realize that it’s never been meant to be sought in physicality, despite how many people think or assume it is.

We’ve been given plenty of assistance with realizing this, and all we need to do is open up to this assistance to start acting on it and unlocking a greater level of loving bliss than we’ve ever felt.

by Wes Annac – Choosing the self over physicality.

Footnotes:

1. Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher lsherwood, Shankara’s Crest-Jewel of Discrimination. Hollywood: Vedanta Press, 1975; c1947, 48.
2. Ibid., 68.
3. Sri Ramana Maharshi, Jewel Garland of Enquiry (Vichara Mani Malai). Tiruvannamalai: Sri Ramanasramam, 1996; c1977, 7.
4. Munagala Venkatramiah, Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi. Downloaded from http://www.ramana-maharshi.org/books.htm, 31 August 2005, Question 197.
5. Sri Ramana Maharshi, Jewel Garland of Enquiry (Vichara Mani Malai). Tiruvannamalai: Sri Ramanasramam, 1996; c1977, 9.
6. Loc. cit.

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I’m a 21 year old awakening seeker and creator of The Culture of Awareness daily news site.
The Culture of Awareness features daily spiritual and alternative news, as well as articles I’ve written and more. Its purpose is to awaken and uplift by providing material that’s spiritually inspired and/or related to the fall of the planetary elite and our entrance into a positive future.
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