The Bliss Body: The Ocean of Bliss

Our highest level of being or kosha is the bliss body. I begin the discussion with a story.

I am an avid audio book listener and just finished listening to Stephen King's latest. When I finished that book, another book began to play right away. This usually doesn't happen until I manually cue up the book. I do not recall downloading this book or even recall its existence. It was just there mysteriously on my phone. Anyway, I thought that I'd just listen for a few minutes and then probably discard it. The voice was not something I could get used to right away, but the content of what he discussed kept my rapt attention. It was a book by Robert Thurman, an American scholar of Tibetan Buddhism and father of the actress Uma. This book helps to solidify a lot of my personal beliefs, not of any religion, but in my own philosophy and spirituality. And so, a new world opened to me and I found this quote by Thurman that spoke to me.

This quote got me thinking about how it applies to yoga nidra. It so happens that I found this quote when starting to write my final article about the koshas.

The final sheath; the bliss body is called the anandamaya-kosha in Sanskrit. The description of bliss as an ocean, particularly touches me. It is similar to what we aspire to when practicing yoga nidra or any type of meditation. What Thurman refers to here is allowing all those other layers of consciousness not to distract you from your bliss. Bliss is the bounty from a boundless ocean.

What is meant by an ocean of bliss in yoga nidra? First we enter each of the stages of yoga nidra. As we pass through these layers of our conscious mind, we begin to let go of the physical body, the energetic body, the thinking and wisdom layers. We let things just be. We abandon all that can hold us back: the body, mind and spirit. By surrendering that which holds us back, we make the space in ourselves to experience our own bliss.

During the stage of yoga nidra where we visualize images and perhaps envision a journey, we may then become ready to abandon that which holds us back. It is here that we recall the seed of our sankalpa (intention) that we composed in the beginning of the practice. Now that we are near our bliss, the seed of the sankalpa can take hold and begin to make roots within our being. Because we have traveled through each kosha to get to the bliss body (anandamaya kosha), our souls are more malleable to the truth of what our hearts desire.

Yoga Nidra Tonight!

Monday Yoga Nidra continues online at 7:30 pm tonight. Register here for a joyful hour of rest, relaxation and revitalization. No yoga experience required. Bring your stress and a blanket and we will soften into letting it all go. I continue to run the $10 special throughout the rest of the month. Remember that if you can't get on the internet, you can always dial-in for just the audio. A special phone number should be provided to you during registration.

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