Imagine a rain-fed marsh in the woods on a bright sunny day. The water is thick with silt and debris. Without an outlet, the water stands still and the bright disk of the sun is barely reflected in the dense water. Now think of rapids. In this water the sun is reflected, but its image in the water is choppy and unclear. Next, imagine a mountain lake where the water is calm, still, and serene. The sun is reflected flawlessly, its image in the water indistinguishable from the one in the sky. The sun represents bliss, our true nature. The rain-fed, silty lake represents the state of tamas or inertia, where bliss is completely obscured. The choppy water of the rapids is symbolic of rajas, the state of activity and hyperactivity where bliss is sometimes known and sometimes not, depending on the current. The still mountain lake represents sattva, the state in which bliss can be known directly. With this direct knowledge, suffering comes to an end and healing begins to occur at the primordial and cellular levels.
Figure 3: Outside In. In the Bliss Rx we work in an outside-in fashion on the gross, subtle, and causal bodies that obscure the bliss of our true nature. Each aspect of this prescription works on one or more of the three bodies.
Figure 4: Inside Out. The result of following the Bliss Rx is the radiation of the bliss of our true nature outward into the world via the three bodies, which are transformed into health and well-being (gross body) and a radical change in perspective (subtle body) from loss of identification as the body-mind (causal body).
In this program, we work in an outside-in fashion to work the three bodies that obscure bliss, bringing every aspect of your life back into balance (see figure 3). Balance enables us to return to sattva, like the calm mountain lake where the sun’s reflection can be unbroken and untainted. When bliss begins to permeate our senses, our minds, our hearts, and our actions, health is restored in an inside-out fashion (figure 4). When we begin to live our lives as bliss, we change the structure of the cosmos. Yes, each of us is that significant and that powerful.
Every choice, every thought, and every action that occurs daily takes us one step toward or away from bliss and, by default, health. Nothing can be excluded in our pursuit of bliss—the way we brush our teeth, greet our spouse, look in the mirror, talk to the barista, drive our car, relate to others (our children, colleagues, customers or parents), prepare our food, eat our meals, exercise our body, and nurture our mind. Everything counts. It is not just what we do but how we do it that makes a world of difference in whether we are moving closer to sattva or to tamas.
A Word About Timelines
This program is not a quick fix. In my live programs, many people show up for the first session enthusiastic and ready to “get rid of” their pain, stress, blood pressure, or heart disease. When I teach them to meditate, they begin the practice with the mindset of “getting there.” When a few find that they are not “getting there” over the next week, they stop the practice.
Think of how long it took you to form the neurohormonal superhighways that drive your daily life. Heart disease is the perfect example of habits acquired over a lifetime culminating in disease. Atherosclerosis begins in childhood and continues to develop and fester over many decades, fostered by ongoing ama and agni imbalance. Heart disease is proof of being on the wheel of our conditioned ways and habits for decades. Undoing those habits takes time. If only we could get off the wheel with one session of meditation! The journey to sattva is highly individual and never ends. Even after we discover bliss to be our true nature, the purification of our bodies and minds continues endlessly. How long does it take to discover bliss? The answer is this: as long as it takes. The journey is the goal. It is critically important to get out of the instant gratification mindset when we come to this, the most significant journey of our lives.
In this program we begin with the end in mind, which is to discover the inherent bliss of our true nature. If followed through, we will find halfway through that the end has magically disappeared. We will find that there is nowhere to get to because we were already always right here, standing as bliss.
The Bliss Rx is for a systematic undoing of our habitual ways of thinking and doing and for recharting our neurohormonal superhighways. It is a steady progression from tamas to rajas to sattva. The basic requirement for this progression is absolute honesty with ourselves. In this program there is nobody to answer to other than ourselves. If we are not completely honest, we run the risk of not making progress and remaining in the states of confusion and inertia.
The entire premise of this prescription is to step out of the grooves of conditioning and habit that keep us from discovering bliss. We do this by replacing nonserving grooves of conditioning (tamasic and rajasic) with wholesome and nurturing ones (sattvic). The process is more about undoing and unlearning than acquiring new skills. Even though you will learn new skills, it is important to know that bliss is what you are already. You will not gain bliss from any skill, program, or teacher. Programs, practices, and teachers can only point you to the truth of your own being.
It can be tempting to tackle the whole program at once. In this case, it can be overwhelming and cause you to give up entirely. It is best to take it one step at a time, moving on to the next as and when you feel comfortable. This is called self-pacing. On the other hand, you will not make much progress if you remain at one step for too long. In general, an adequate period to get adjusted to each step is about three to twelve weeks. It takes twenty-one days of consistent practice to create a new neurohormonal superhighway, whether it is giving up salt or taking up meditation. The key word here is consistent. If you practice one day a week and go about your old ways the rest of the time, the effects are unpredictable and it is much less likely to become a new habit.
Every step is nurturing and nourishing, with an emphasis on favoring one choice over another without undue force. For this, you must want bliss and peace. You must want it more than the choice that presents itself on a moment-to-moment basis. For instance, when you are faced with the choice of waking up early to sit quietly in meditation or stealing a few more minutes of sleep, what you really want will make the choice for you. Mere lip service of wanting to end our suffering will not suffice if we are committed to carrying on with our old ways. Through the course of this program, you will discover, often surprisingly, that your conditioning and habits are so powerful that they often overshadow the desire for bliss, particularly in the beginning. When this happens, you can simply acknowledge their power. Becoming aware of this force is enough to dissolve it. The only thing that gives a habit its power is being completely unaware of it. As soon as we become aware of it as merely a neurohormonal phenomenon, we take away the power we have unconsciously assigned to it.
Our journey to bliss is marked by a few common, distinctive phases. It helps to know of them beforehand so that you are not surprised when you are faced with the characteristic issues of a particular phase.
Common Phases of Evolution
While the phases of progression along the Bliss Rx are laid out as if they are discrete and removed from each other, this is often not the case. You may never experience all the stages, or you may have the insights and symptoms of more than one. There is no particular timeline for each of these stages. Each can last weeks, months, or years, depending upon your unique body-mind makeup. Further, there may be other stages that are not described here and are the result of you exploring uncharted territory! Whatever the case, the following is meant to be a very general guideline and is not set in stone.
Trepidation
In this phase you are not quite sure if you are ready to commit to this program. You may be afflicted with doubt, confusion, or even a sense of dread about what is to come. Some (or all) of what you have read thus far may contradict your beliefs and past learning, causing considerable inner conflict. In the end you eventually decide to give it a try. Even when you begin with the program, you may not be sure if this is for you. As you start seeing some results, no matter how minor, you start to get more comfortable with the program and your commitment strengthens.
Harmony
Once you commit to the program and begin to practice sincerely, the immediate changes in your life are filled with harmony. In this phase your mind begins to settle into quiet and peace. Many people in this stage state that they are experiencing this extent of peace for the first time in their lives. You may feel calmer, sleep better, and experience less anxiety or anger. Your blood pressure may fall, and symptoms such as palpitations or chronic pain may seem less intense. Your commitment continues to strengthen in this phase, when the initial effects very rapidly highlight the difference between stress and peace. The changes are noticeable because they are occurring in your conscious mind.
Stagnation
Since the changes in the previous phase occurred so rapidly, the next phase of stagnation will seem like a drag. Even though you continue with the practices of the program, you may feel that you are not making much progress. You may feel that you are still at peace but there are no additional benefits. In this phase the stillness and peace cultivated through practices are seeping into the subconscious mind and deeper into your body. The changes are occurring more quietly, and, like a storm gathering force, continued practice will result in the next phase of obvious changes.
Turmoil
The purpose of this program is to heal from the inside out. A Band-Aid approach of masking underlying issues does not serve the greater purpose of healing. As the practices take hold, their transformative power begins to stir the subconscious mind, and deep, forgotten hurts from the past surface into conscious awareness. This phase of turmoil can be quite uncomfortable if you happen to go through it but don’t understand what is going on. I often call this the “washing machine” phase, where our deep-rooted issues are wrung out of us through the powerful practices of the program. Remember the purpose of the program and know that if you begin to experience irritation, anxiety, sleeplessness, or even physical symptoms like palpitations, you can cut back on practices like meditation and breathing exercises. I will explain this in detail in the related chapters. It is important to continue with the program at this point. If you give up now, you might get stuck in your old, nonserving patterns and feel helpless to make the necessary changes that lead a happier, more fulfilled life.
Stability
The phase of turmoil begins to pass as you continue with the practices and remain steadfast in your path. Often it is only in retrospect that we know the turmoil has passed. It is like suddenly realizing that the nagging headache you’ve had for the last week is no longer there. Unlike the previous plateau phase of stagnation, this phase of stability gives you a sense of confidence that all is well and that you are making progress. You begin to see that the issues of the past and anxieties of the future have no power over your well-being without your permission. These issues may continue to arise, but you now have honed the tools you’ve been given and know how to deal with them effectively. You’ve stuck with the program and are rewarded with the uncovering of your inner fountain of knowledge, joy, and sweetness.
Bliss
As you continue on the program, you will realize that the greatest enemies and wars you can ever face are in your own mind. As this knowledge from the previous phases flowers in you as a living, dynamic reality, you will begin to access the bliss of your true nature. Through the practice of self-inquiry you will come to see that you are not your thoughts, senses, perception, states of consciousness, or body. What you are is beyond description, but if you were to define it, it would be eternal, blissful awareness. As you learn to release the false identification with the body and mind, becoming more established in the bliss of your nature, you will come to realize that everything in your experience is also of the same blissful nature of awareness. You will begin to wake up to oneness with all of existence.
Dealing with the Phases
At any point in the program and at any phase, we can regroup and recommit to changing our destinies when we fall off the course. At all times we remain true to the compass within, which becomes functional as we kindle our agni by following a disciplined routine and dietary guidelines outlined in Kindle the Fire and Eat for Bliss. We can get back to our inner work through the regular and committed practices of meditation, breath regulation (as in Cultivate Inner Silence and Open to Bliss), and our outer lives (through the decluttering practice in chapter Declutter Your Life). We can practice becoming gently vigilant of our inner lives through the self-inquiry practices of Cultivate Clarity
of Perception. As our agni comes into balance and we become more sattvic, we come to experience our bodies in magical ways, facilitated by the exercises in Find Bliss in the Body. The natural result of this process is the overflowing of bliss to all around us.
The first step in returning to balance in our body-mind is to kindle the fire of digestion, which we will explore in the next chapter.
Summary
- For this program it is critically important to get out of the instant gratification mindset.
- The Bliss Rx is for a systematic undoing of our habitual ways of thinking and doing, and for recharting our neurohormonal superhighways.
- Every step of the program is nurturing and nourishing, with an emphasis on favoring one choice over another without undue force.
- Trepidation, harmony, stagnation, turmoil, stability, and bliss are the common phases of this journey. At any point in the program and at any phase, we can regroup and recommit to changing our destinies when we fall off the course.