Evolution of Consciousness(32)-Happiness, Joy & Bliss

Gurdjieff's Evolution Of Consciousness - Happiness, Joy and Bliss

In the last post we dealt with pleasure and its negativity,

Now, we will see Happiness, which has no negativity in its structure.

To understand happiness, one can recollect an incident and look into its features.

One can easily figure out that one is not aware that he is happy throughout the episode.

In other words,

One is conscious of happiness but not conscious that one is happy.

Only after the event one can reflect and say ‘I was happy’.

Unlike pleasure, the episode of happiness is consummated or ended but not terminated

with residue of guilt or any negativity.

And also Happiness can not be sought like pleasure with well defined means and objects.

One might choose certain activities (Theater, Sports, and Celebration etc) to be happy.

But, it is only the state of mind that will bring it about.

Because,

 If the mind is gloomy, disturbed or down, the same activities that brought Happiness

earlier can not create it in the present.

So, it is more to do with the state of mind or consciousness than the activities alone.

More generally,

It is not external state of the world but the internal state of mind that bring about Happiness or joy.

we will have to see what state of mind makes it possible.

We already know,

one is not aware that he is happy during the episode but later on, can say He was Happy.

Now, let us consider a closer situation,

One is happy and he reflects during the episode of happiness itself (not afterwards)

And says ‘I am happy now’.

Now, we will have to find out the features of the ‘I’ which says ‘I am happy now’.

In the earlier posts we have said, ego-self is repository of multiple ‘I’s or Personalities.

By ‘Self-Remembering’ CORRECTLY one can find out which ‘I’ in the Ego-Self says

‘I am happy now’.

(We have already discussed what is ‘Self-Remembering’ and what is not).

One can see that the happy ‘I’ is not any of the ‘Personalities’ present in the ‘Ego-Self’.

And moreover,

The state of happiness is not yet recognized and named as such by the ‘Me’, that is there

is no appeal of any kind made to ‘Me’ to qualify the present.

In fact, if done correctly reflection only reveals the laughter or joyful faces or mood of

the situation, the ‘Me’ or Ego-Self or The Past is not found anywhere in the reflection.

That is reflection is only within the current activity and nothing beyond or behind.

This is the major difference in the structure of Happiness and Pleasure.

In Happiness, there is no goal or aim beyond the act or activity (No Becoming).

In Pleasure, there is a goal or aim beyond the act or activity (Becoming).

That is the reason for activity of Happiness is consummated or ended, where as activity of

Pleasure is terminated and repeated.

Since the happy 'I' is not associated with any 'I' or Personality in the Ego-Self, 

One can infer that happy ‘I’ is totally independent or free from the ‘Me’.

In other words,

The ‘Me’ or the Past stands isolated like an ancient relic or monument without any potential to

Influence the present.

So, we can say

The state of mind that is present during the episode of happiness is such that,

It is totally relieved from the Past with absolute presence in the present without any

sort of appeal to the ‘Me’ or “Ego-Self’ or The Past.

This is evident among children; they are happy and joyful irrespective of the ‘Past’ and

The Environment (Rich or Poor) because their Ego-Self is least developed.

But, grown ups can not become children.

Also our objective is not only ‘innocent’ unconditioned mind but also intelligence and

total awareness.

We can also find,

Similar state of mind prevails in Joy, Fascination, Wonder and Delight etc.

But, in these cases, we don’t prepare anything; they come uninvited dislodging the ‘Me’.

This state of mind is also behind Intuition, Creativity etc.

In short,

Happiness or Joy or Creativity is when the Me or Ego-Self is not.

One must be very clear about one point here,

Though Ego or Ego-Self is absent in the episode of Happiness, 

still essence of Happiness is related to the particular ego centric elements.

It is relative to the individual Ego-Self, what is happiness to one may not be so for another.

Now, we will move from relative to the absolute,

 If Ego-Self is negated in the relative EPISODIC Happiness or Joy in our day to day life,

for absolute ETERNAL Bliss, Ego-Self has to be purged.

So,

Happiness belongs to the Ego-Self and Bliss belongs to the True-Self.

One has to transcend the Ego-Self to move from Happiness to Bliss.

For the believers of Grace, one has to be in a position to receive it.

To drink water, even if offered, one has to be thirsty.