Finding Inner Bliss
by Jane Katra, Ph.D.
&
Russell Targ
When they asked us what we
wanted to be when we grew up, they really meant, "What do you want to
do?" Whatever we might have chosen, it was not the same as choosing what or
how to be. "Let the beauty of what you love be what you do,"
the Sufi mystic Rumi said in the thirteenth century. Be beauty, as artists
painting the canvas of their lives. Be love.
But how? In today's world, most
people understandably look to their jobs to define themselves. Having found no
meaningful spirituality, they assume their work will adequately fill the
traditional role of religion, as an aid in answering the questions, "Who am
I?" and "Why am I here?"
We all want to lead happy,
fulfilled, and meaningful lives. These goals are universal, even though very
different things bring different people happiness. For some, fulfillment is
attained through raising a family, earning money, or playing sports; for others,
it may appear in writing, cooking, or artistic expression. And we all want to be
loved.
Eastern wisdom traditions teach
that because our thoughts, feelings, and desires are constantly changing, we
will never achieve enduring happiness or peace of mind through objects,
relationships, or anything outside ourselves. Things wear out, get lost, fall
out of fashion, or break. The person in our perfect relationship turned out not
to be who we thought they were. And then we turn out not to be who we thought we
were. Each of us is an ever-changing series of events, interpreted through our,
and other people's, hopelessly subjective perspectives. We simply won't find the
ultimate meaning of life in another ever-changing person.
Our minds are always wandering,
reacting to other people's behaviors and words, and taken over by the thoughts
and memories streaming through our awareness. So it is also fruitless to seek
lasting happiness through thought, or even through sensual pleasures. What
attracts us today fails to satisfy tomorrow. Yet we continue to think that
serenity comes from something we do or have, rather than the way we are.
Really, we are all seeking a
relatively satisfied and stable state of mind, free of cravings or fears.
Eastern philosophies call the inner feeling of enduring calm and causeless joy
resulting from union with God "bliss". They distinguish inner bliss
from Western societies' concepts of pleasure or happiness -- fleeting feelings
that focus on temporary bodily sensations, acquiring things, or changing
circumstances to satisfy our desires.
According to Eastern thought,
the reason we feel good after buying a new car, or eating a delicious chocolate,
or having great sex, is that our cravings and graspings are temporarily
silenced. We mistake this momentary pleasure for freedom and peace of mind, and
so we hunt for more objects, experiences, or accomplishments to fix our inner
craving for wholeness. We search for security, position, pleasure, and comfort
when we should be searching for truth.
This inner, instinctual search
-- a search for God -- is inborn in all people. Eastern philosophy teaches we
will never be satisfied until we become still -- until we stop moving, doing,
thinking, remodeling, and attending to outer sensations, and start listening
within. A divine plan is unfolding, and when our soul is ready, we'll
participate.
For centuries, the Bible has
presented its message that religion is an experience in consciousness.
Unfortunately, people memorize its prayers and promises instead of seeking that
experience. In this lifetime, we have the opportunity to consciously create a
receptive state within our mind to commune with infinite consciousness.
Belonging or not belonging to a church or religion, and performing or not
performing spiritual rituals has little to do with a person's relationship with
God, or spiritual consciousness. Although the human mind creates desire and then
fulfills it, wisdom traditions tell us our deep longing for truth and freedom is
our soul's yearning to experience its boundless depths. The stream of
consciousness we each call "my life" is the universal journey of
infinite consciousness or God awakening to itself. It is this consciousness that
informs and animates each of us.
Consciousness discovering
itself, by way of you and me -- what could that possibly mean? Spiritual master
Yogananda said that because the ultimate motive for people's actions is the
attainment of spiritual happiness or bliss, our very existence is bound up with
this innate goal. This fundamental and universal motive may be seen as our true
religion, or "that which binds us", which is the original meaning of
the word religion, from the Latin religare. It follows that whatever actions we
take to satisfy our yearning for inner happiness and peace may be called
"religious" whether or not they have anything to do with organized
religions' creeds or systems of belief. Whatever you do to experience inner
peace, connectedness, and meaning is your religion.
You may or may not presently
feel bound by religious beliefs. You may have already ascertained that truth
based on one individual's direct experience will have difficulty surviving in
any religious organization. Organizations are headed by people, and people with
inherently different experience and beliefs will have conflicting ideas about
the truth of other people's revelations.
Each of us must discover our
religion for ourselves. The transcendent experience that is available to all of
us -- the experience spiritual masters throughout history have tried to describe
-- transforms a person's perceptions of life so profoundly that organized
religions devise sets of rules they think will bring others to the same
experience. If you have read this far, you are probably a seeker who suspects
that spiritual transformation is possible, but who may be repelled by the
dogma and rituals you encounter in religious services.
You can have a spiritual life,
without having to go anywhere, or believe anything. You do, however, have to
"show up for God," and pay attention, just as you do when you want to
build a relationship with another person. It's simple, but it takes practice,
and patience.
 This
article was excerpted from the book:
The
Heart of The Mind: How to experience God without belief
by Jane Katra, Ph.D., and Russell Targ.
©1999. Reprinted with permission of New World Library, Novato, CA, USA 94949. www.newworldlibrary.com
Info/Order
book.
About The
Authors
JANE
KATRA, Ph.D. has been a
practicing spiritual healer for twenty-five years. She holds a doctorate
in health education and has taught nutrition and health classes at the
University of Oregon. Dr. Katra currently works part-time as an
"immune-system coach", while writing and participating in
consciousness research. She is the author, with Russell Targ, of Miracles
of Mind: Exploring Nonlocal Consciousness and Spiritual Healing.
RUSSELL TARG was
a pioneer in the development of the laser and cofounder of the Stanford
Research Institute's investigation into psychic ability in the 1970s and
1980s. His books include Mind Reach: Scientists Look at Psychic
Abilities and The Mind Race: Understanding and Using Psychic
Abilities. A retired senior staff scientist for Lockheed Missile and
Space, he now pursues ESP research at Interval Research Corporation, in
Palo Alto, California. Visit the authors' website at www.espresearch.com.
| Comments () >> |
 |
 |
