The way to profoundly improve our relationships is to find our bliss. The Bible says in Isaiah 26:3, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee." Buddha said, "Our true body and mind, which make up an individual life, and the external world surrounding it are far apart from both the conceptions of 'me' and 'mine'." Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, "The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings."
Spirituality, you might say, is our relationship with ourselves, with others, and with God as we understand God. It is individually writ in our personal stories. It is an unfolding path to understanding our place in Existence. It is not physical or material, costs nothing, costs dearly. You may think you grasp the meaning of, and feel yourself once again in the dark awhile later.
Some people seek deeper and more meaningful understanding of life. They may study Scripture, seek communion with others of like faith, or they may find what they are looking for in nature, art, poetry, philosophy, music. Others do not seem to seek more than what they have, yet are content with whatever they have, and contribute to the happiness of people whose paths cross theirs.
Bliss, to me, is different from a time of happiness or fun. It is an underlying feeling of well-being I have no matter what the day brings. I think it came about when I chose to love myself just as I am, unconditionally -- and to love others, asking for nothing in return, not love nor even appreciation. I chose to do this because I found the powerful presence of Unconditional Love when I was at my lowest point, completely bereft. Although I had always been a "seeker" of sorts, it was actually in coming to the end of myself that woke my soul.
Since following through on my decision to love unconditionally, myself and others, I have had no need to seek further: the God of my understanding is plain to me when I laugh, or when I am with someone, or I stub my toe in the dark, or am distressed over a friend's misfortune. All fear and doubt just seem gone, and I am able to be present in each moment with that underlying feeling of well-being.
In Alcoholics Anonymous, the Big Book, it says, "Either God is Everything, or He is nothing." Everything.
