Follow your bliss Take I

Joseph Campbell is famous for his quote “Follow your bliss,” as well as his many books on mythology. He is perhaps best known because of the Bill Moyer ‘s interview, “The Power of Myth” on PBS.

Campbell wrote the following about bliss.

The divine manifestation is ubiquitous,
Only our eyes are not open to it.
Awe is what moves us forward.

Live from your own center.
The divine lives within you.
The separateness apparent in the world is secondary.
Beyond the world of opposites is an unseen,
but experienced, unity and identity in us all.

Today the planet is the only proper “in group.”
Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world.
We cannot cure the world of sorrows,
but we can choose to live in joy.

You must return with the bliss and integrate it.
The return is seeing the radiance is everywhere.
The world is a match for us.
We are a match for the world.
The spirit is the bouquet of nature.

Sanctify the place you are in.
Follow your bliss. . . .

This is a puzzling concept in some ways. How do you know if you found your bliss? How do you go about finding it if you don’t think you have it? Is it relevant at all stages of life, particularly if you are sick, struggling to help a sick spouse or overwhelmed with how to make ends meet? Is bliss an interchangeable term for happiness?

After having discussions on this topic with several friends, as well as reading different articles on this topic, I finally concluded that maybe the best way to think of bliss is something that Ekart Tolle wrote about. There are three ways in which consciousness can flow into what you do and thus through you into this world...The modalities of awakened doing are acceptance, enjoyment, and enthusiasm...If you are not in the state of either acceptance, enjoyment, or enthusiasm, look closely and you will find that you are creating suffering for yourself and others...Whatever you cannot enjoy doing, you can at least accept that this is what you have to do...Performing an action in the state of acceptance means you are at peace while you do it... The peace that comes with surrendered action turns to a sense of aliveness when you actually enjoy what you are doing...Joy is the dynamic aspect of Being... Joy does not come from what you do, it flows into what you do and thus into this world from deep within you...You will enjoy any activity in which you are fully present...The joy of Being is the joy of being conscious... Enthusiasm means there is deep enjoyment in what you do plus the added element of a goal or vision that you work towards...This is why Ralph Waldo Emerson said that, "Nothing great has ever been achieved without enthusiasm..."

For the moment, I think it’s important to be aware of whether one is accepting, joyful or enthusiastic. My thought is that if we focus on these three states of being, our purpose and bliss will naturally follow. So yes, bliss is relevant in all phases of our life.