Majoring on Bliss

Peace and bliss; are they rendered the same? They certainly come from the same class at the School of Choice Living. Bliss is more positive, but peace — founded out of a wistfully resilient joy — is safety in any situation. Both are superb condiments for life.

These two play dynamic roles generating an alluring thing:

Majoring on bliss is a choice made to think a certain enjoyable way. Then all it requires is the skills of focus and self-discipline.

A Salient Illustration

Bicycling to and from work has been a pastime of mine for years, yet it’s something I don’t so much enjoy as see the benefit in efficiency of finding opportunity to exercise for health that doesn’t cost me inordinate time. Although it’s physical work involving pain, I’ve often decided to enjoy these rides... before, during and after.

Particularly those things we don’t enjoy we can major on bliss.

In this situation, it’s done beforehand by recognising the value of exercise. It’s conducted during the activity by flushing the mind with bliss-filled thoughts, whilst keeping a tidy bearing on the hazards about (cars, trucks etc). By the time the showers are reached the endorphins create their own bliss — home is intrinsic joy.

Mind Control

It will go against the grain for some, but the steady fact is we can control what we think. Bliss can be achieved just as easy as banality.

Controlling what we think is an adult concept; the mature mind is able to fix on a thought and continue to come back to it when the focus is lost. This principle of grown thought is made possible with effort on virtue.

Mind control is one remitting factor in the blessedness of the virtuous life.

Two Forms of Bliss

Bliss is active via focus on thoughts creating a heady joy as well as passive by way of the deep peace felt when the mind is at ease.

Majoring on bliss is about starting our way there and then simply allowing the mind continuity to exist — flowing in and out of bliss and peace — in our thinking.

Using the bike riding example previously, majoring on bliss is simply part active focus on deliberate blissful thinking and part passive allowance for the dreamy peace to have its way between thoughts. Less physical pain is felt as a result, and this pain is rendered meaningless as the mind anesthetises the mind.

© 2011 S. J. Wickham.