What is the correct way to use the word “Bliss”?.
When your mind and heart are truly open abundance will flow to you effortlessly and easily.
Question:
“I am offended by the decimation of the word ‘bliss’, or rather the way it has become used so loosely and commonly.
It is my understanding from Hindu and Buddhist culture that Bliss is a very high beingness, enlightenment but this doesn’t perhaps fully describe it.
In the last seven years I see this word being used in the place of contentment, of
happy, of determined, of hatred, of direction as in find your direction in life.
It is obscene and quite violent the way this culture is using this word now.
It speaks to the highest discrimination of Eastern culture and religion and bothers me personally.
I wondered if you noticed this, what you think of this and is there anything that can be done to stop it.”
Response:
I think you are using the word ‘bliss’ as a direct translation of the Sanskrit word ananda.
It is true that ananda implies a sublime experience of the unity, completeness and identity of the cosmos within one’s existence, and therefore something more than the common understanding of bliss.
However, I think it’s misplaced passion to fault those who use the term bliss in less than this exalted sense.
If the word ananda were being used so casually, you may have a legitimate point, but the English word bliss has been used casually for centuries, not just in the last seven years, to convey a wide range of emotions.
So instead of feeling bad about the broad and inclusive trends of language, take it as an opportunity to elucidate the particular value of bliss that is meaningful to you.
Love,
Deepak
