The soul is mistaking the peace as bliss after deep sleep

[dattaswami]

The soul is mistaking the peace as bliss after deep sleep

197. Shantyaanandabhraantih jaagratsvapnaduhkhaabhaavasushuptiparam satyaabhaavaat.

 

Translation: The soul is mistaking the peace as bliss after deep sleep due to the absence of the loss of awareness as in the waking and dream. This is due to the relative experience of disturbance and peace and also due to the lack of tasting true bliss even once.

 

Explanation: The withdrawal from the non-eternal world and fixation of yourself in the eternal primordial energy, which in limited form is the self itself, also does not give infinite bliss. The withdrawal from the non-eternal world will certainly remove all the miseries. The removal of misery is peace but not bliss. The removal of minus is zero but not plus. The resistance of loss is not real profit. Relatively, the absence of misery may appear as bliss in comparison to misery but it is not bliss in the absolute sense. Suppose all people have lost their investments in a business and you have not lost anything from your investment. It only means an absence of loss and not the presence of any trace of profit. The Advaitins say that such self is attained in deep sleep. This is correct because it is stated by Shankara (Sushuptyekasiddhah…). But, in deep sleep, you are not having any disturbance or expenditure of nervous energy or awareness. Either in the waking state or in the state of dream, there is a lot of disturbance due to the expenditure of awareness or over work caused by the association with worldly affairs. But in deep sleep, the awareness or the work of nervous system, or the expenditure of inert energy functioning in the nervous system, is arrested. This gives a conservation of energy and it is only the prevention of loss. After deep sleep, you are enjoying this peace created by the storage of your own energy without any loss. Such enjoyment is termed as bliss, since you are not aware of the real bliss that is granted by God. You are thinking the enjoyment of peace as bliss due to the comparison with the experienced disturbance and due to lack of even a single time experience of real divine bliss. Hence, the peace is felt as absolute bliss and under such circumstances, it is also justified.