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| Follow Your Bliss Like Joseph Campbell | | |
|  mollybrogan | Mar 16, 11:53am | Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us. 'Tis good to give a stranger a meal, or a night's lodging. 'Tis better to be hospitable to his good meaning and thought, and give courage to a companion." But just what is it that he suggests we scatter around? What role does joy play in our lives and what does it mean to you?
Hasidism emphasizes joy as a precondition to elevated spiritual awareness, and teaches the avoidance of melancholy at all costs. The consciousness of a loving, ever-present Creator should lead to a feeling of profound joy. Therefore the appropriate mood for worship is one of good cheer; whereas suffering impedes a proper relationship with God.
Joseph Campbell, contemporary theologian and best known for his study of mythology, tells his students, "Follow your bliss. Find where it is, and don't be afraid to follow it. Now, I came to this idea of bliss because in Sanskrit, which is the great spiritual language of the world, there are three terms that represent the brink, the jumping-off place to the ocean of transcendence: sat-chit-ananda. The word `Sat' means being. `Chi' means consciousness `Ananda' means bliss or rapture. I thought, "I don't know whether my consciousness is proper consciousness or not; I don't know whether what I know of my being is my proper being or not; but I do know where my rapture is. So let me hang on to rapture, and that will bring me both my consciousness and my being." I think it worked."
Bliss, joy and rapture seem to be interchangeable when they are associated with higher consciousness. The change in state of consciousness in Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam is reported to be quite similar. The pursuit of yoga and the Buddhist Jhanas involve feelings of oneness with the world that give rise to a state of rapture. Christians also look at creation another way from the standpoint of Christ consciousness, rather than considering creation and life from a material perspective. Experiencing God through Christ enables the unit mind to arrive gracefully at the source of thought, the pure consciousness of God where everything is united and one.
What do YOU think? |
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Sponsor |  seekerpat | Mar 30, 8:49pm | All of this sounds like a wonderful state to be in. But its kinda hard to do if you're cowering in a refugee tent wondering when the Janjaweed will come. Or in the throes of your final malaria attack. Or standing in line on a raw March night for a bunk in a shelter and maybe coffe and a sandwich to go with it.
Are you familar with Maslow's Hierachy of needs? Here's a link for more info: deepermind.com/20maslow.htm [deepermind.com/20maslow.htm] Basically he said: In order to attain self-actualization or fulfillment a criteria of needs must be met: physical safety, food, shelter, relationships and on up the ladder. Each levels builds on the foundation of the previous. The kicker is the process gets more complex and internally challenging as an individual progresses...but the rewards and benefits are greater and more profound.
And I personally feel one cannot achieve the highest level without helping others in their struggles to move up ladder. If for no other reason than it produces joy. Read this book for a more in depth exploration of the benefits of helping others. |
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| | missmatty | Mar 31, 3:14pm | | This is so interesting |
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|  Daxinjo | Apr 1, 3:47am | | Also pain and sorrow are a way to attain enlightenment. There are testimonies of people who were in great dispare (also in concentration camps) who in the mids of incredible suffering experienced a deep peace within themselves. Sometimes embracing the reality as it is, even if it looks terrible on the outwards can bring a realisation of what is or to say - connection with higher consciousness. This offocurse are isolated cases. On the other hand somebody with "good" circumstances can't achieve this state after many years of searching. I guess it is more about being than doing. But offcourse this is only my point of view and I respect all oppinions. |
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| Follow Your Bliss Like Joseph Campbell | | |
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