Bliss, Ecstasy and Ultimate Happiness

Having touched on Deeper Level of Connection, Primary Relationship (Heart), The Free State (Levenson), etc., let us dive into the subject of Bliss, Ecstasy and Ultimate Happiness (Nirvana).  My conviction is that these experiences have a common foundation and that it is easily accessed if we are more attentive to at least some of the characteristics I mentioned already.  The terms may sound foreign, but if patiently examined, reflecting one's own experiences, many if not all people may find the connection to what appears to me as miracle or wonder of LIFE.  (After all, all of us are from there to start with.)

In order for us to familiarize with such experience, let us first revisit Levenson, who said there are five elements that characterizes the free state.  They are: 1) imperturbability, 2) desirelessness, 3) effortlessness, 4) actionlessness, and 5) witnessing.  Some may already relate to such a description.  (Imperturbability and witnessing seem to correspond to what I call, "mirror mind.")

Next, let us review "indicative signs of being connected to Heart" I characterized from my experience in the post, Deeper Level of Connection;

-  Sense of being in present, here and now, choiceless observation, witnessing

-  Vivid sense of inner body sensation, aliveness, liveliness 

(cells jumping around as if very happily)

-  Calm, clear and quiet mind; beginner's mind, no mind, mirror mind

-  Soft eyes...see without seeing - very intuitive, third eye as if opening up a new channel

-  Body/muscle is totally relaxed; There is a sense of effortlessness; no strains felt

-  no ego/self; desirelessness, actionlessness

-  It is as if a new channel opens up by itself from deep within (a new sense of connection)
-  Feeling of all answers are already there (there is no doubt or question any more)

-  Mind and body are felt as one; no boundaries; I am you; I am one with the universe

-  Sense of serenity, peace, arriving/being at home, nothing is missing

-  Wisdom and compassion come naturally; delusions/sufferings/errors are nowhere to find

-  Sense of living truthfully (connection to the Law, the Way); sense of being absolute, imperturbability

-  Sense of Ki (Life energy) manifesting; Blissful sensation spreading over

-  Sense of connection to unconscious/infinite potential (connection of external and internal)

-  Sense of oneness; non-duality

-  Sense of mind and body being 'healthy' and 'genuine'
-  Sense of everything seen as vivid and alive (inside and outside)

-  Sense of love, bliss, and intimacy to all 

-  Sense of time distortion (as if time lost its meaning)

It is also felt as a totally natural state, since it happens on its own.  Yet, as mentioned before, "If you seek for it, you will not find it" (Yuima sutra, or Vimalakirti sutra), which connects to Levenson's desirelessness, effortlessness, and actionlessness. And because of that, when we have it, there is a sense of deep appreciation of arriving at home.  That is ultimate happiness, as Levenson calls it.  Note however, it does not sound like a short temporary state for him.


BTW, this term, "ultimate happiness" points to true, absolute happiness, but "not" the happiness that is transient.  Again, as paradoxical as it may seem, if we seek for it, ultimate happiness will not be found.  Daisetz Suzuki says, "It is Happiness that does not depend on anything." That is Levenson's "Free State."  

Meditating Miroku Bosatsu (Bodhisattva Maitreya) of Koryu-ji Temple, Nara, Japan

(World famous for his gentle compassionate "smile")

Reflecting on his spiritual experience, Eckhart Tolle said since then, there was 80 % reduction in his mind activities since then.  I see it points a long lasting "calm and quiet mind."  Or, this is what Krishnamurti called, "choice-less observation."  Then, the exhibit above indicates the state of body and muscles totally relaxed and mind very calm such that there is a genuine smile emanating from within.  If you remember the "state of centering" in Aikido (the list of ten items), you should see a definite connection there as well.

Then, here are the characteristics of Saintliness summarized in "The Varieties of Religious Experiences" by William Games (p.216):

1) A feeling of being in a wider life..; and a conviction ...of the existence of an Ideal Power

2) A sense of the friendly continuity of the ideal power with our own life, and a willing self-surrender to its control

3) An immense elation and freedom, as the outlines of the confining selfhood meltdown

4) A shifting of the emotional center toward loving and harmonious affections, toward 'yes,yes' and away from 'no,' where the claims of the non-ego are concerned

Finally, here is Maslow's findings from Wikipedia.  Beyond the routine of needs fulfillment, Maslow envisioned moments of extraordinary experience, known as Peak Experiences, which are profound moments of love, understanding, happiness, or rapture, during which a person feels more whole, alive, self-sufficient and yet a part of the world, more aware of truth, justice, harmony, goodness, and so on.

 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

(When self-actualized, however, my view is like that of Suzuki, the state of bliss, ecstasy and ultimate happiness may not depend on the condition we are in*)

According to Maslow, self-actualising people share the following qualities:

- Truth: honest, reality, beauty, pure, clean and unadulterated completeness

- Goodness: rightness, desirability, uprightness, benevolence, honesty

- Beauty: rightness, form, aliveness, simplicity, richness, wholeness, perfection, completion,

- Wholeness: unity, integration, tendency to oneness, interconnectedness, simplicity, organization, structure, order, not dissociated, synergy

- Dichotomy-transcendence: acceptance, resolution, integration, polarities, opposites, contradictions

- Aliveness: process, not-deadness, spontaneity, self-regulation, full-functioning

- Unique: idiosyncrasy, individuality, non comparability, novelty

- Perfection: nothing superfluous, nothing lacking, everything in its right place, just-rightness, suitability, justice

- Necessity: inevitability: it must be just that way, not changed in any slightest way

- Completion: ending, justice, fulfillment

- Justice: fairness, suitability, disinterestedness, non partiality,

- Order: lawfulness, rightness, perfectly arranged

- Simplicity: nakedness, abstract, essential skeletal, bluntness

- Richness: differentiation, complexity, intricacy, totality

- Effortlessness: ease; lack of strain, striving, or difficulty

- Playfulness: fun, joy, amusement

- Self-sufficiency: autonomy, independence, self-determining.

Personally, I can relate to most of these characterizations... As in Tolle's case, my spiritual experience seems to have contributed to heightened sense of such state.  And, I am further drawn into it as if these are confirmation of me moving on the right path, I call here the new hero's journey - following that bliss.

--

Note: Related to my comment to the exhibit on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, here is a Zen koan (puzzle):

Monk: I am new to this temple. Please give me any proper advice.

Joshu (Master): Have you finished your meal?

Monk: Yes, I have.

Joshu: OK, wash the dishes well.

(Hint: If you live by following the law, that is all you need to practice - practice this in all situations)

Meaning of Spiritual Experiences: Eckhart Tolle vs Mine

Just recently, I found the video re: Spiritual experience and teaching of Eckhart Tolle (2004). I have read his books, and saw various videos before.  Yet this 7-part video was very informative especially tied to my similar experience that happened in 2000 and my journey that followed since then.  FYI, here are excerpts of the interview on his experiences with my comments:





Part 1:  His awakening experience - 29 yrs old (video length: 10 min.)

-  It was his 29 yrs old when the major shift happened - He was in state of fear till then
-  "I cannot live myself any longer" - "I" and "myself": is there two or one?  (like Zen Koan)
-  There was no answer in intellectual level - This triggered inner shift
-  I was drawn into voltex of energy
-  "Resist nothing" (I heard the inner voice) - so I gave up.. and I went into nothingness
-  Next morning, everything looked as if seeing them the first time
-  There was "aliveness and peace" - but did not know why

* Like Tolle, I had a similar experience and the journey that followed since the event in 2000.  At the time, I was suffering in worst physical pain (on the 8th day of my 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat).  In the middle of pain, I questioned to myself; "Is this so because I am trying to escape the pain?"  Similar to Tolle's noticing two identities, "I" looked at "myself" having a pain.  As Tolle said, "I" and "myself": is there two or one?, was the last thought, it was the last thought.  Then, I also experienced the massive voltex of energy.  I was a twirl of billions of blight light particles.  I was like plasma myself.  In the report I wrote about this experience, I also said it was like having sex with the universe.  After the experience which lasted perhaps 7~8 min up to 20 min, I felt my body was lifted from the burden I carried in life, and noticed a genuine smile on my face.

As Tolle did in the following years, I also studied the meaning of this experience through various scriptures, and sayings of spiritual teachers very carefully.  The whole intensive investigation is posted in my homepage ( in English till ~2003 and  in Japanese  from 2003)  Out of many findings and confirmation I went through, here is one finding that points to my experience of me and the universe become one as if having sex.  As Tolle mentioned, it was that aliveness that I connected since then.  (Borrowing Tolle's term, the experience I had was to see "me" (ego) trying to resist the pain as having no reality.)

Part 2
-  There was inner peace as background to all experiences, sense perceptions,
even background to my thinking, that they never left me again (This is similar to my feeling of what I call, "Mirror mind" (see the file under the same title in my Japanese Home Page - sorry, written in Japanese)!  Different from Tolle, however, such state went away every now and then although I can get back to that state at moment notice.

-  It took long time to understand and put it into words; started to check with
spiritual teachings, e.g., Buddhism, Christianity ,etc.
-  I could see the truth hiding behind cultural.. interepretations etc. They shed light to what happened to me
(I did the same - taking about 8-10 years to totally convinced.  Yet this is a journey still.)
- For example. "Peace not related to external world"
- "Zen is not about thinking"
- I had peace as I was not thinking much any more
- Useless continuous noise, or thinking, came to an end
(In my case, there are noises/delusions popping up every now and then, but I can see the end/resolution of it fairly soon, e.g., minute to hours, usually)
-  I could still use thinking when I need it
(In my book Results from the Heart, I wrote; "Use the brain,listen to the heart, live with the mission.")
-  Long stretch of no thought was wonderful inner peace
-  Realized that inner peace was there before but was covered up (3.16)
-  Then this became the spiritual teaching
-  People have within themselves what they are looking for outside
(This corresponds to :"If you seek for it, you will not find it." - Yuima sutra)
(Or, as my experience proves it, I can say this way, "If you try to avoid it (e.g., in this case suffering, not enlightenment/realization), you cannot.")
-  [The answer] comes only when there is inner alignment with now, or LIFE itself (6.15)
(This is the primary I mentioned before, i.e., the connection to the heart)


Here are my brief summary: On my spiritual experience:
-  Past Karma may not dissapear easily (It took years to accumulate)
-  Being in present will expose problems and staying there will bring insight (e.g., eliminate delusion/suffering)
-  Illusionary nature of self/ego cannot be recognized by thinking.  (It is to be recognized by, say, the third eye, or awakened mind's eye)
-  Continuous practice of this will eradicate many problems in life
-  There are infinite ways to move on with our life (thus, be liberated)
-  From the beginning to the end, the nature (the law, or God if you like) will always take care of itself

How may we proceed in life? (Again, my summary):
-  We need to have (psychological) "condition" for the breakthrough to take place.
-  Pain/suffering (physical or mental) is a good teacher (so far as we can see through it - by observing what is really happening)
-  Being in presence, we live in this dualistic world - with mirror mind (This is to transcend the paradox of me and ME)
-  We can appreciate life, this existence because of the fact that we are human who can transcend the suffering.
-  Be conscious of unconscious.  (Yes, we can.  Why?  Because we came from there and we are there when awakened.  Fortunate or unfortunate, this paradox is to be transcended.  Intellect alone cannot do the job.)

Note: It was told that Tolle reduced mental activity by 80% after that experience.  In my case, the answer is, it depends...  I think when it is needed especially in writing but I am often in the state of non-thinking/trans-like.  Yet, sad memories and desire pops up and I go through cleaning these taking seconds, to hours sometimes, perhaps.  Bottom line, I cannot say:  Useless continuous noise, or thinking, came to an end as he did.  But I am not unhappy about it as "I" know the way out - by practicing silent observation of what is going on with the calm and quiet mind - I call it mirror mind.

50 Cm Problem (Brain and Heart)

The term, "Primary relationship" was used in previous posts to point to the connection to the heart, true self, unconscious, or whatever it may be called.  Here, I would like to give an example of a company and its people who grasped this idea in managing their company.

UBISA is a Spanish company in Burgos producing steel wire products, which won a coveted European Quality Award some 20 years ago.  I consulted this company over decades, sharing the journey aimed at excellence.  Time flies and many people have left the firm by now, but many wonderful memories are with me.  There are less than a handful of companies that I felt so connected at such level and this company (i.e., people) is certainly one of them.  My heart is with "you" and this one slide below signifies the message.

Courtesy: UBISA

Here, they call it a "50 cm problem," signifying the distance between brain and heart.  The Spanish words above translate: "Our purpose is to share our experience to help solve "half meter problem""

They used this slide in a seminar in Madrid where I talked about overall idea and UBISA people joined me to give their story tied to my message.  In my book, "Results from the heart," I wrote;  "They emphasized that it is the heart that is the core... and made their presentation on that theme.... I was quite moved that we identified with something that is very essential in running the mini- company (and company as a whole)."  Further, I wrote, "We all have such connecting moments...  In such moments, we may not directly share feelings verbally, but there is that sparkling light in the eyes and sense of spirit in the air that us beyond expression." (p.185)

I wonder if this experience in Madrid is also connected to the results from the Heart - literally speaking.  Was there our heart and the meaning connected to that, which we shared in our journey at that moment?

Instead of pondering any further, let me just share some quotes:
"Concept without intuition is meaningless.  Intuition without concept is blindness." -  Kant
"Science without religion is meaningless.  Religion without science is lame." - Einstein

After quoting these, my resolution is in the book; [whatever the subject matter is..e.g.,].. science, philosophy or management, mastery is tied to finding the channel to connect brain and heart, thus eliciting an integral or balanced solution. (p.12)

*  Or, this corresponds to what Eckhart Tolle may say, "the alignment to the present moment."