Welcome to 2014!

Formulas. Does life have formulas? I’ve written previously on the subject of life’s formulas; but those were my thoughts back then. I don’t think my views on that has evolved that much. I still see constants in life (there will always be uncertainties, and there will always be changes in life). And I still see variables, (the best color, the best talent, etc.; these vary, depending on who you ask). Then I can still see that the constants of life interact with her variables, as well as with people and so on. Furthermore, there are still fairly predictable outcomes from these interactions. So, maybe life does have formulas.

In any case, in the course of my recently renewed inward journey to discover, capture , experience, and enjoy my own bliss, I have noted the following distinct steps that are working marvellously for me.

First of all is the realization that the ultimate goal of living is bliss — a state of extreme happiness

You may prefer to go with the words ‘enjoyment’, ‘pleasure’, or any other synonym of happiness. For me, the bible breaks it down into three experiences: righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. When I merge those three in my consciousness, I actually come up with one thought: bliss. And I see this as the ultimate goal of living.

I think that this is what Jesus Christ referred to as the ‘Kingdom of God’: an inner state of being, and not a place. I refer to it as personal success.

Think about this: Why does the philanthropist give away his hard-earned money to the poor? It makes him feel like he’s doing the right thing; it makes him feel good about himself; it makes him happy. Why does the religious adventurer (missionary) risk her life to take the gospel to dangerous parts of the world? It satisfies her desire to please God. And why does she want to please God? Because, then God will smile at her here and hereafter. And why does she want God to smile at her here and hereafter? Because it will make her really mad and sad? I’m sure you got my point…

Secondly, I asked myself, what state of being thrills you the most; is most blissful for you — extremely so?

My pleasures are in my mind: My mind is constantly churning up ideas, concepts, possibilities, theories, hypothesis, questions… When I can indulge these ‘pops’, ‘strangeness’, and ‘curiosities’ without any constraints or fears, it’s the height of bliss for me.

The absence of mental constraints — the freedom to think my own thoughts, reach my own conclusions, discard those conclusions, not hold any conclusions, cherish and nurture the contradictions — constitutes ‘paradise’ for me. It’s an indescribably blissful inner state of being for me.

Then I identified the various things that create pain and frustration in my life; the things that hinder my peace and joy?

Here they are:

• Judging others.
• Trying to control others and get them to see, agree with, or submit to my perspectives and preferences.
• Trying to influence others.
• Having expectations from others. (I’ve finally learnt that no expectations from anyone, no disappointments by anyone; no disappointments by anyone, no pain from relationship expectations. What a blissful realization!)
• Making rules to regulate other peoples behavior.
• Involving non-resonant souls in my inner circle of fellowship.

I resolved to avoid the things that we’re creating pain in my life.

I found out that when I avoid the things that create inner pain for me, I experience tremendous bliss as a direct consequence of that avoidance.

(Here are my notes on how I avoid judging others in order to experience an extremely blissful life.)

Then I marked the main activity that created the greatest joy, pleasure, bliss, and happiness for me:

In addition to the bliss that comes from the avoidance of pain, I also figured out that certain activities directly created the experience of inner bliss. For me it was learning new things, and sharing my discoveries with others.

Finally, I figured out how to indulge in my bliss-creating activity, while continuing to avoid the pain-creators.

1. I decided to continue to ‘express’ my thoughts, but in a manner that is devoid of any attempt to persuade or convince anyone. I actually discovered that I don’t quite like the products of persuading and convincing. My preference is for what I refer to as resonant souls. When people are persuaded to change their views as a result of the force of my argument, I see such change as some sort of premature evolution that results in what I refer to as a ‘pseudo resonant soul.’ And, from my experience, fellowship with a pseudo resonant soul can be as painful as (if not more painful than) the one with a non-resonant soul.
2. I adopted the discussion style of communication with small groups of people (in addition to my regular blogging), rather than the event style of mass rallies. Here again, all I did was to acknowledge and embrace my preference for small groups. In practical terms, this is less expensive, requires only a one-man team (just me) to pull it off, frees me from the complexities of running a normal outreach rally, and so on. Notice how this style allows me to engage in my bliss-creating activity, while avoiding the pain-creating ones. The most important feature of these discussions is that I start by letting those in attendance know that they don’t have to accept or agree with my thoughts, that I don’t care whether or not they accept or reject my thoughts, that I’m just grateful to them for attending and thus giving me a golden opportunity to share my discoveries with them, as well as discover new things from them. (And by the way, I might be in your area soon. Contact me if you want to set up a discussion with me in your area.)
3. You can also imagine that in order to pursue my bliss in this way, I would as a matter of fact have abundant financial resources. Thus, I resolved to be diligent in my personal business enterprises, in order to create the level of financial wealth that would allow me to continue to express my thoughts freely and cheerfully around the world.

I would be interested to read about how you are creating your personal bliss. Share your thoughts here, if you can; or write me here. I’ll be glad to read from you.