Bliss, that serene inner contentedness, that feeling of stability and being at peace with everything, is not to be found on the relative, storyline level of life.  When we are identified only with the storyline level of our lives, then our state of mind, our happiness is forever at the whim of circumstance, of happenings outside of ourselves.  We may feel a wave of happiness when we achieve a certain goal, or gain a particular experience, or feel that things are "going our way", but each of these waves is, sometimes disturbingly so, only ever temporary. When things go well, we're happy, for a period of time before the mind starts seeking the next high, or trying to repeat, or hold onto, that experience in order to have it again.  Then come the troughs - where our expectations are called to change, we don't get the outcome we were so set on, things aren't "going our way".  It's a fleeting, unstable way to live that breeds fear and the need to control things to try to “get” happiness. Constantly trying to fix, change and control the storyline of our lives in order to attain happiness and fulfilment, will be both exhausting and never ending, because this is not the place where fulfilment is to be found.

Bliss, a sustained experience of fulfilment that is independent of all circumstances, is available to us in any moment.  It resides in that deep layer of consciousness within us that is far more subtle than the relative, action-laden level of our lives.  We experience this every time we meditate. But we can experience it with the eyes open too, all of the time.  How do we do that?

If you’ve been meditating regularly, then you have the ability to detect this layer of your own consciousness anytime you choose. If you’re not yet meditating and having that experience regularly, then it may be more difficult to detect, or to detect when triggered. Start by closing the eyes and see to what extent you can sense a deep, inner silence. That same feeling of unbounded awareness, the place from which all thought emerges, which you experience every time you meditate. Now, try this again with the eyes open. You will see that it’s there, it’s subtle, we must go beyond the senses and the mind and reach into our subtle, sensory perception to detect that layer of bliss. It’s your innate birthright to experience that bliss, the fulfilment layer and to enliven it in your awareness.

We know that regular practise of meditation works to stabilise this experience in our awareness even with the eyes open. See to what extent you can place your awareness there during your day, to sense how readily available that layer of your own awareness is. This is the truth of your nature, pure consciousness, pure Being. If you feel any lack of bliss, any suffering, start the practice of favouring that layer of your awareness, in the Vedic tradition we call it “favouring the unbounded”. It’s a good practice to get into, whenever you remember, as it is an exercise for consciousness, it stretches your awareness and a broad state of awareness, an all-inclusive state, is the hallmark of higher consciousness.

It’s one of the most simple, yet powerful actions you can take, all within your own consciousness, to place your awareness on your deeper truth in a moment where perhaps circumstances have you caught in a suffering mindset. Suffering is optional, the circumstances may not change, but you have the option to favour the unbounded at the same time. The relative world, the sensations of the body and ruminations of the mind can be so utterly convincing that we may need to regularly remind ourselves of this deeper truth, and make that choice to reach for, and favour it. This layer of your consciousness is beyond all anxiety, all fear, all emotions, all pain, all body sensations. The mind may be resistant to this practice in the moment, which is an indication that the intellect is in fact enjoying suffering and getting some payoff from that. It’s good to bring awareness to this and make the higher choice when we can, of favouring the unbounded. Doing so brings a broader perspective, peace, increased adaptability and stability and the ability to let go of attachment.

We want to favour the experience of unboundedness, and when we do that it enlivens it in our experience. Where attention goes, energy flows - this can be directed toward favouring the deep, unbounded blissfulness of Being, or on the set of sensations or thoughts which have you locked in suffering. Water the flowers or the weeds, whichever you choose will grow. The more you do it, the more readily available it will be. This is the single best practise any meditator can make use of in the eyes open state, until that experience of unboundedness becomes so fully stabilised in our awareness we very rarely need to favour it.