Discover The Bliss Beyond Bliss

Introduction: How to Let Go and Stop Striving in Meditation

Whatever state you experience, good or bad, you move beyond it when you allow it to be. This is the bliss beyond bliss and it is available to each of us, in every moment. In fact, it does not require you to be in a particular state at all. Rather, it is content with all states.

To further explain, years ago, I experienced the most intense bliss during meditation which left an impression on me. I was completely absorbed in my heart, and it is difficult to describe in words. In fact, when it happened I wanted to hold onto the feeling, but after a couple of hours, it passed.

Letting go of the Desire for Bliss

Feelings of bliss returned here and there, but never with the same intensity. Later, I spoke to my teacher and asked him what to do and he told me to let it go. I felt confused and resisted his advice because I really wanted to attain that state again, but he was right.

I realized that all states are transient, and it didn’t matter if they were good or bad. They all pass, and trying to hold onto any state—including peace and bliss—ultimately leads to suffering and disappointment.

Everything passes and everything needs to be let go. This is the bliss beyond bliss.

The “bliss beyond bliss” is not a state, it is the essence of who you are. Who you are, is immutable, boundless, ever-present, and cannot be described or perceived. You are beyond all physical, emotional, mental, and even spiritual states.

Regardless of whether you experience states of sadness, fear, joy, or peace, they are transient. Furthermore, you bear witness to everything that arises and passes, but nothing that comes and goes is you.

Identifying with what comes and goes invariably leads to more suffering, but you can be free because you are already free. Only the tendency to identify with what you are not, seemingly creates a sense of bondage. You may not be aware of this now, but each one of us is called to go beyond suffering.

You Witness all Things that Arise and Pass

The first indication that you exist is the feeling you have of the body. The second indication is the mind; emotions and thoughts. Although mind and body are both objects arising in your field of consciousness, they are always changing, and you witness this phenomenon.

The Sense of Duality and Non-Duality

On one hand, everything is perceived by you and evidently cannot be you. On the other hand, all that exists cannot be apart from you because it arises from you and to you. While this sounds paradoxical, the sense of separation that you feel exists only in the mind.

To further illustrate, the Indian sage, Ramana Maharshi describes this using the analogy of a cinema screen. Scenes appear on the screen, but the screen itself does not change. So, even if a fire appears, the screen is not burned by it.

“The spectator pays attention to them (scenes), not to the screen. They cannot exist apart from the screen, yet the screen is ignored…

All the same the world of pictures is not apart from the Self. Whether he is aware of the screen or unaware, the actions will continue.”

– Ramana Maharshi

Therefore, the scenes that play out before you; anxiety, depression, bliss, life situations, thoughts, etc., cannot exist without you nor can they “burn” you. They can only be perceived by you but they can never be you.

Becoming Still to Realize the Bliss Beyond Bliss

When you slow down enough to perceive your own attention, you are not perceiving it with your mind.

Just as you can perceive objects, you can even witness your attention jumping around and shifting from thought to the body, to your sense perceptions, and so forth. Therefore, even your attention is perceivable by you.

The attention itself is linked to the mind and by observing your own attention, the mind falls into quietude. Try it, and ask yourself “where will my attention go next?” Then, the subtle energies and expressions of consciousness, such as your own attention, are also realized as objects appearing in your field of awareness.

Likewise, everything is just coming and going. The breath is moving in and out. Thoughts and feelings come and go, and you bear witness to it all.

No mental, emotional, or physical sensation can reach you in this space, therefore, nothing can pull you into suffering. Ramana says, “let come what comes, let go what goes, see what remains.”

What you perceive, you go beyond, and what lies beyond is the bliss beyond bliss.

Letting go of the false belief that you are a separate entity

The ego, the false self, is the cause of the suffering and desolation one experiences, and it is sustained by the belief that one is a separate entity from the whole. Moreover, the course in miracles states, “nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.” Only the ego can feel threatened, hence the ego has no true reality and does not exist. All you need to do is recognize its unreality.

Who You Are is Not Who you Take Yourself to Be

You are untouched by all pain and suffering; you are imperceptible and immutable. More subtle than air or space, because both are perceivable by you.

No thoughts can trouble you, no emotions can be you, and death itself can only be witnessed by you, but you do not perish, only the body does.

You bear witness to all manifestations and yet, lose yourself in them by believing they are you. However, you are not what you take yourself to be.

This recognition is bliss without any bliss because it is okay with all things, including depression and anxiety, knowing that all states eventually pass.

Likewise, it does not strive to obtain peace or bliss, nor does it reject it. It is content with the present moment regardless of what it brings.

It needs nothing, is nothing, holds onto nothing, and at the same time is one with everything. Therefore, you are always free and everything is always okay.

Any sense of loss or fear, bliss or peace, is seen and let go. The very seeing of it and letting go of it, all happens within you. In truth, nothing is ever lost because nothing can exist apart from you and your existence is joy.

You cannot be taken away from freedom because you are the ever-free Supreme Self.

How can you be anything else when everything arises out of you and dissolves before you? When you know the truth of who you are, you will never again despair. This discovery of your true nature is the bliss beyond bliss.

With Endless Love,

Ravelle

If this article resonated with you, read related articles: An Introduction to Self-Inquiry or my short story The Friends in my Head to help clarify the ideas discussed in this post.

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