During our meditation practice, bliss is the basis of silence. Bliss is a state of supreme inner contentedness that silences the thinking process.
The following will explain why.
Any time we are conscious, thinking happens constantly. It is the nature of the mind, via thought, to move in the direction of greater happiness, whenever choice can be detected.
In meditation, occasionally we find that it is time to return to the mantra even though we cannot identify any thought having taken us away from the mantra. Clearly, the mantra was not there, since we are returning to that; but if the mantra was not there, and no other thought was there either, then what was there?
There are two possibilities: either "I was asleep (unconscious)", or "I was awake (conscious)". If we were asleep, then that explains why we cannot recall any thought having taken us away from the mantra. But if we are quite certain that we were not asleep—if, for example, the head did not drop suddenly—then we were awake—but apparently without thought. "Awake without thought" is the definition of pure consciousness, also described as "Being". So why do we say it is "bliss"?
Conscious silence must be bliss, since it is the mind's nature never to stop thinking until it arrives at bliss, the mind's ultimate goal. An unconscious sleeping mind, naturally, does not think. But one could not claim that thought-free unconsciousness is bliss, since no experiencer is present when we are unconscious.
However, if the mind is conscious—that is, if, due to being conscious, the mind is capable of detecting charm (greater happiness); and if, due to its being conscious, the mind is capable of producing thoughts—yet it is not producing thoughts, then why did thinking not occur in consciousness, even if thinking ceased only for a few seconds?
From simultaneity of consciousness with no thought we can infer that the mind must have had an experience of satiety so great that the mind's search was fulfilled. This is what we mean by bliss.
The experience of bliss in meditation causes the mind to fall silent.
When we come out of meditation, we begin to integrate this state of bliss in the eyes-open state, when we are active, and this leads to being more fearless.
Fearlessness is the diagnostic symptom of pure consciousness having integrated itself into the waking state. When we have established ourselves in Being enough that bliss can sustain itself in the eyes-open state – when the mind is able to be active and not have to be silent in response to bliss, then the eyes-open waking state version of this is fearlessness.
The experience of bliss outside of meditation, during activity, causes fearlessness.
Fearlessness is the pinnacle of human experience.
One of the signs of being fearless is that we are able to deal with the demands of life without much fuss.
Our twice daily contact with bliss through meditation makes us more fearless in our daily lives.
With love,
Limor
