Is meditative bliss just as conditioned as worldly pleasure?

person

When I go on retreat or engage in rigorous practice I can generate internal states of happiness but once I reenter normal life that joy gets sucked away even if I keep up an hour or two of meditation at home. So it seems that internal peace and happiness that comes from meditation is also dependent on conditions (the condition of space and free time) as any other temporary kind of happiness. I'm feeling kind of negative right now and am pretty sure that I'm missing some aspect to this, so tell me why I'm wrong.

aMatt

Person,

Conditional happiness fades as we encounter displeasing circumstances. Consider adding some emptiness contemplation to your mindful routines. The events you say "suck away the joy" are nothing more than delusional projections. The differences between your parents yelling at each other and the wind blowing softly through the lotus blossoms are only in your head. Both are empty of any inherent qualites of pleasure or pain.

With warmth,

Matt

Cloud

The point is not to get caught up in meditative bliss. That's not the point of meditation, after all. If we're meditating just to feel good then we're still seeking temporary pleasures to make us happy rather than a complete elimination of suffering. Meditate to see reality clearly, to unbind the mind, not to bliss-out.

Jeffrey

States of mind are passing in my understanding. You are a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner right? What does bodhicitta mean to you? I have read that bodhicitta is the awakened heart right in whichever state you are in.

This mind of bodhicitta can flash even when the whole worlds are going up in smoke like our hopes and health and so forth.

DhammaDhatu

so tell me why I'm wrong

genuine meditative bliss has its foundation in letting go and dissolving of craving

it is not conditioned as worldly pleasure is because worldly pleasure covers up craving, in the same way painting over rust covers up rust

where as genuine meditative bliss gradually dissolves craving, just like proper workmanship cuts out & removes rust

kind regards

:om:

Jeffrey

"where as genuine meditative bliss gradually dissolves craving, just like proper workmanship cuts out & removes rust"

Yes this is strengthening the practice mandala and turning away from the eight worldly winds.

Mani

I think it is still a conditioned phenomena, as it is impermanent. Yes, many practitioners reach these points, but there is a reason that most texts and teachers will not spend too much time fussing over these states, because there is the danger of fixation on them and expectation from your practice, and it falls short of the goal. Teachers will say something like "that's nice, now keep practicing"...

seeker242

Do you meditate to get some special state or do you meditate to be released from dependance on changing things?


Equanimity towards one's own internal states -
that is indeed a link to Enlightenment.
Equanimity regarding external phenomena & conditions -
that is indeed also a link to Enlightenment.
Samyutta Nikāya V Bojjhanga-samyutta.

Equanimity (Upekkhā) is a moderating mental construction.
Equanimity is also a mood of neither gladness, nor sadness.
Equanimity is also a feeling of neither pain, nor pleasure.
Equanimity is also the neutral ability to be indifferent.
Equanimity is also the 4th infinitely divine dwelling.
Equanimity is also a quite high form of happiness.
Equanimity is also a refined mental purification.
Equanimity is therefore a Link to Enlightenment...

pegembara

When I go on retreat or engage in rigorous practice I can generate internal states of happiness but once I reenter normal life that joy gets sucked away even if I keep up an hour or two of meditation at home. So it seems that internal peace and happiness that comes from meditation is also dependent on conditions (the condition of space and free time) as any other temporary kind of happiness. I'm feeling kind of negative right now and am pretty sure that I'm missing some aspect to this, so tell me why I'm wrong.

It is not so much that the joy gets sucked away but rather you get sucked into the daily experience. As you can see it can become burdensome.

The practice is not to get sucked into any experience meditative or ordinary life.