We are Creatures of Bliss
No two people meditate exactly alike, since the byways of every mind are different. But if taught a natural, correct technique, everyone, I believe, would experience inner glory. The human nervous system is innately capable of seeing directly into the life of things, so long as the brain is not clouded by disease or toxic substances. In time, mediation makes the nervous system extremely sensitive, so that it registers every subtle impression vividly and without prejudice; then the world itself changes.The change might prove to be much more far-reaching than anyone supposes. To modern ears, the seers of the ancient Vedic scriptures sound almost otherworldly because they took it for granted that human life is essentially perfect.The true yogi stands apart from ordinary experience by seeing that suffering is a completely false state. As we really are, we are creatures of bliss, but this reality is totally dependent upon experiencing it. All bliss vanishes when the mind takes on suffering; all suffering vanishes when the mind takes on bliss. The reason this must be so is that our inner mirror, unlike one made of glass, actually becomes the image it reflects.What the yogi proposes is that each of us should locate the level of pure joy that is behind the mirror. It cannot be expressed in words, because language is another image in the minds mirror. Once the experience of bliss is achieved, it may spill over into words. The crucial point is that bliss is not our goal but our starting point. Unless it is present, one has no foundation for climbing to any of the higher spiritual states.Adapted from Unconditional Life: Discovering the Power to Fulfill Your Dreams, by Deepak Chopra (A Bantam Book, 1991).
