Bliss – In Gita Verse 3.17 But for one who takes pleasure in the Self, whose human life is one of self-realisation, and who is satisfied in the Self only, fully satiated – for him there is no duty.
Krishna says only when you become self-conscious then only bliss is possible.
Bliss is possible only when the mind is put aside, when the mind is no more interfering, when the mind is no more playing its games, when you have seen the strategies of the mind, its tricks, through and through, when you have become aware of how the mind has been deceiving you for so long. And don’t fight with the mind, because if you fight with the mind… That is its last strategy; if you fight with the mind you have to remain entangled with it. If you have to fight with the mind you have to use the same tactics as the mind.
So the whole art is seeing through and through, and then without any fight simply putting it aside; just slipping out of it as a snake slips out of its old skin, without any fight. And the moment it happens, for the first time you feel that you are infinite. It was the mind that was giving you a definition, a limitation. It was the mind that was framing you, otherwise you are the unframed sky.
And the moment limitations disappear bliss arises. Bliss is freedom, freedom from all limitations. The body is a limitation, but it is easy to know that ‘I am not the body.’ You can feel it very easily, that you are not the body. When you are feeling hungry you know that hunger is in the body and you are a watcher. When you feel thirsty you know that the thirst is in the body and you are the watcher. When you drink water and the thirst is quenched you know that the body is satisfied and you are the watcher.
It is more difficult with the mind because it is very close. Somebody insults you and you become angry; to watch in that moment seems very difficult. You are so enraged that you forget all about watchfulness. And those are the moments in which to be aware. When anger possesses you, greed possesses you, lust possesses you, be watchful. Go on reminding yourself ‘I am not this.’ Keep your – coolness. And you will be surprised that if you can keep your – coolness even for a few seconds, the anger disappears like a cloud that has come and gone. And a great peace arises, the peace that is always there when the storm goes, the silence that follows the storm.
When lust takes possession of you, watch and see, soon it will be gone. Nothing remains forever, in the mind everything is continuously changing. Just wait and watch, and when it is gone you will feel so strengthened, so full of vigour, so full of energy that you will be surprised. And this is the energy that could have been lost in lust, in anger, in greed.
And when you go on becoming more and more full of energy. When you start overflowing with energy great delight arises. Energy, overflowing energy, is a delight. It is bliss. And when you have come to know the inexhaustible source of energy within you that is no-mind, you have discovered god. It is not somewhere in the skies, it is within you. It is your very being.
Consciousness can do two things: it can create ego – when you are self-unconscious, it can create egolessness – when you are self-conscious. If it creates ego you live in hell, if it creates egolessness you are in paradise. The whole world is in paradise without knowing it. When man enters paradise he will be entering with full – knowing. That is the grandeur, the beauty of man – and that is the danger also, because out of thousands of people only once in a while does a person enter; others simply go on falling into the trap of the ego. Be egoless, self-conscious and all the grace of God is yours. Bliss is by the grace of god.
Krishna is saying to Arjuna once you are self-conscious then only with the grace of God you will be blissful, satisfied. Then you will experience yourself as a whole. Once you experience yourself as whole then you will not act for duty but as your responsibility.
Tags: Bliss
