Bliss

[chessie]

Saw this quote on Whiskey River the other day and thought of y'all:


"Bliss - a-second-by-second joy and gratitude at the gift of being alive, conscious - lies on the other side of crushing, crushing boredom. Pay close attention to the most tedious thing you can find (Tax Returns, Televised Golf) and, in waves, a boredom like you've never known will wash over you and just about kill you. Ride these out, and it's like stepping from black and white into color. Like water after days in the desert. Instant bliss in every atom."
- David Foster Wallace


Ann

[Taigu]

Re: Bliss

Thank you so much Ann, a gold nugget.

Appreciation of this life, this moment is at anytime an open treasure, the other side is the teenage attitude: I know it all, can't be bothered!. Paying attention and staying with boredom are two keys to the kingdom. This is the core of sitting samadhi.

gassho


Taigu

[Manatee]

Re: Bliss

My daughter kept saying all day, "I'm so bored!", she was quite angry about it. First I felt cruel when I said, "Good."

Then after she had calmed down a bit, and we were working on a little craft project together, I said, "It's good to be bored, becuase that's how you come up with something really great to do. Something you never would have thought up before you were bored. Sometimes, I try to stay bored as long as possible. Then I'm never bored."

It was a nice time to sit together.