Finding Your Bliss

35 years ago, mythologist and writer Joseph Campbell told the world that in order to find happiness and fulfillment in life you must “follow your bliss.”

When explaining his philosophy of life to journalist Bill Moyers in 1985, he referenced the Vedic concept of sat-chit-ānanda, or “being-consciousness-bliss”, which is an attempt to describe the experience of Brahman, the all-pervading, unchanging consciousness that is said to be the foundation of reality. Campbell said, “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.”

Unfortunately, by misinterpreting the word ānanda Campbell got off on the wrong foot.

The word “bliss” is misleading because in modern vernacular it has come to mean an experience of great pleasure, which is what Campbell meant when he said “follow your bliss.” He was telling us that if we looked for the things that bring us joy or pleasure, they would lead us on the path toward a happy and fulfilling life. While I believe this to be generally sound advice, without proper discernment or wisdom it can lead us on a path of seeking only what is pleasurable, which usually leads us right back to feeling discontented and unsatisfied.

The Real Meaning Of Bliss

The word “bliss” is a pretty good translation of the Sanskrit word ānanda, but only if we look at its original meaning. Bliss comes from the Old English word blithe, which describes a quality of indifference or dispassion. To be in a state of bliss is to be without a care in the world, because you’re unaffected by the ups and downs of mundane existence. You’re “above it all.” This is what the rishis were describing with the word ānanda, not the experience of rapture that Campbell was referring to. They were saying that our true nature is consciousness that is unchanging and dispassionate, one that exists beyond the constraints of time and the polarities of pain and pleasure, likes and dislikes, self and other.

There’s a section in Rumi’s poem “A Great Wagon” that captures this idea beautifully:

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other”
doesn’t make any sense.
(Translation by Coleman Barks)

So, what the Indian sages were trying to point out is that bliss isn’t something you follow, it’s what you are at your very core, and they provided both a map and the vehicle so that you can find it for yourself.

The Journey Through The Self To The Self

In the Taittiriya Upanishad the rishis lay out a model of the human being, which they say consists of five layers that cover the true self.

The outermost and densest layer is the physical body. Within that, and more subtle, is the energetic body. Within that, and even more subtle, is the mental body. Within that is the wisdom body. And within that is the bliss body, the field in which the soul abides.

Unlike some other spiritual traditions which focus on disassociating from the parts of our being that are temporary and always undergoing a process of change like everything else in the material world (“I am not the body, I am not the mind”), Yoga is a path of engaging with these aspects of our self, to know them intimately and work with them to find harmony and balance between inner and outer, seen and unseen, effort and surrender, desire and contentment etc.

If Yoga is a journey (as the Bhagavad Gita says) “of the Self, through the self, to the Self”, then the practices of Hatha Yoga are the vehicle that takes us there.

The movements and posture practices are a way to explore the physical body, and satisfy its need to move and stretch.

The breathing practices allow us to engage with the energetic body, and satisfy its need to be balanced and flowing.

The meditation practices allow us to understand the mind, and satisfy its need to think by giving it objects to focus on.

As we engage in these practices, we’re awakening the wisdom body, the part of us that’s able to discern between right and wrong, true and false. We realize what really makes our body feel good, how our breath and lifestyle affect our energy level, how our mind is always grasping for something to do and how our thoughts and beliefs create our reality. We learn what’s good for us, and what’s not good for us. Without awakening the wisdom body — the wise woman or man within each of us — we’re liable to become caught in an endless cycle of pleasure-seeking, jumping from one temporary dopamine hit to the next, never finding the lasting peace and satisfaction we truly crave.

Moreover, the practices of Hatha Yoga teach us how to skillfully navigate the terrain of our life path. The intimate knowledge of body, breath, mind and soul that you cultivate in the practice of Hatha Yoga empowers you with the ability to respond more skillfully to the ups and downs of life because you know who you really are, what you really need and want, what’s within your power to change, and what you need to let go of. And I think it’s this deep inner wisdom that Joseph Campbell was actually referring to when he talked about following your bliss.

Walking The Path With Wisdom

With wisdom acquired through discernment we can better fulfill the desires of our body, mind and soul. What brings joy to your life without sacrificing your health and wellbeing? What brings you deep and lasting pleasure? What fills your heart too full to even talk about?

It’s only when all of the healthy and natural desires of the self are satisfied that the soul is ready to lay down and take rest in Rumi’s field, out beyond ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing, free of all needs or desires, where there is nothing to do, nothing to seek, and nothing to follow. Because in the end, there is only being-consciousness-bliss. And when you realize that, you can start to relax into your life. From that place everything becomes clear.

It’s up to each of us to find our own way and follow our inner guide, but Rumi offers some good advice that points us in the right direction: “Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”

So, do what you love, do what brings more beauty into the world, do everything in service to life and you will find yourself on the path to real happiness and fulfillment.

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