The Experience of Bliss
Humboldt, 1970
Question: I've never had a meditation that I could consider
blissful. So when does bliss become a real experience?
MAHARISHI: Real experience of bliss - in UC, where everything is in
terms of infinity. All values of life rise to the infinite value. And
then it is just bliss.
Question: Doesn't anything come before this?
MAHARISHI: Yes. On the subjective level of Being, bliss is available
in TC. Once the mind transcends - pure awareness is called bliss
consciousness. Even if it is momentary, we call it bliss.
It is our experience in meditation, whether we completely transcend
or not. What happens is, all that is dear to us in life - very dear,
so beautiful, everything so nice, most attractive thing which clings
to our heart and mind all the time - even that is forgotten the
moment we begin to investigate into the finer regions of the mantra.
In the transcendent is bliss consciousness. But on the way to it also
the absorption of the mind is so intense, mind gets so intensely and
so intimately absorbed in the perception of even the finer state of
the mantra, that this charm here at this level makes mind forget all
that has been so dear and so charming and so beautiful and so
fascinating. All that gets forgotten.
From this even we can infer - inference is a very valid means of
gaining knowledge. So from this, that we even forget the dearest
things, we infer that the level of experience in the finer state of
the mantra must be charming enough to make us forget all charm of the
gross experience. All charm of the gross experience is put off and
this charm holds the mind.
And then further subtler stage and then further subtler stage - the
charm in all these experiences is of increasing value. And in that
pure awareness it is profound. That alone is there, pure awareness....
When you feel that you have not had any experience of bliss and you
are meditating for maybe two years or something, that means in every
meditation the mind is getting to the finer state and some deep
rooted stress starts to unstress. And this activity on the physical
body does not allow the mind to settle down. And that may be the
reason that you didn't have the contact with Being, which makes life
blissful.
But the very fact that you are meditating shows that the stresses are
being released and released and now after such a long time, any time
you could dive. The path is being cleared every time and any time you
just could be....
