Bliss - The 4 Characteristics

So, bliss is hard to find a picture of. Thus, the picture of the sky. 

I heard Krista Tippet's interview with Rabbi Lawrence Kushner. Rabbi Kushner listed the 4 characteristics of bliss, although I don't remember who he was quoting. It might have been Gershom Scholem. Here are the 4 characteristics that he listed:


1. Bliss is transient. 

I can attest to this. It can come up and "grab" you, hold onto you and infuse you with connection to the universe to oneness. You can't predict when, or if ever, it will come. You can't tell how long it will last. It comes. It goes. You may have it once in your life and never again. Or not at all. 

2. It has you. You don't have it. 

It decides when it's going to come into your life. You can't call it. You can't entice it into your life. It decides when, and if, to show up. Once it's here, in my limited experience, you can't shake it off. It decides how long to last. You can only ask it to let you be safe and navigate your way to wherever you're going. I was driving from the Chicago area to central Illinois when it showed up one time. It hung on and all I could do was do my best to pay attention to the traffic. Thank goodness it decided to leave. It can sometimes stop you in the middle of doing something or walking across a room.


3. It is noetic. In other words, it has intelligence. It can come to impart knowledge. It can have much to tell you, or it can simply be there to show you that you are so connected that the energy of the universe runs through you. It can show you the knowledge that, it's all okay even though it may not seem to be okay to you at a particular moment. It can show up to say that wisdom and love exist. It's intelligence knows when, and if, you need it. It's intelligence knows when you need to see the connection and the oneness.

4. It is ephemeral. 

You can't really put the experience into words. Language is made to describe things that are solid, tangible or describe human created concepts. Bliss is outside of us, yet can reside in us for a short while. How do you describe the feeling of something that is joy, connectedness and so fast moving? We can try, but, well.... 




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I found all the photographs on unsplash.com. They were taken by (in order) Kira Laktionov, Jeremy Thomas, Jan Hanek, and J. Jerin.

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