If one imagines bliss to be the satisfaction of day-to-day lusts, and pursues a life of self-centered actions, eventually one will discover that such trivial goals do not bring any lasting sense of true satisfaction. The self-centered path is hollow, unfulfilling and fails to bring any lasting peace. The transient delights are not bliss. Bliss is not a transient place, and bliss is not a self-centered place. True bliss is beyond all such petty, selfish pursuits.
The pursuit of bliss is not at all about being self-centered. There is no bliss in the little self. The real pursuit of bliss is exactly the opposite... it is the setting aside of the little self, a rising above the little self, an awakening to the Divine.
The key to the phrase "Follow Your Bliss" is discovering what true bliss really is. True bliss is not momentary. True bliss is not monetary. True bliss is not self-centered. True bliss makes no demands of anyone. True bliss does not require fame or fortune. It's free! And it's available in every moment. In the simplest of terms, bliss arises when "you" depart.
Bliss arises when one is in harmony with "what is". Bliss arises when cravings and attachments have departed. Bliss arises when the petty desires of the little self have given way to the Divine Harmony of the True Self. The little self imagines that it is very important, has great authority and exercises control over myriad events... but, alas, that is not true. Actually, there is very little that happens each day that we have any control over whatsoever. The workings of Life do not follow our whims.
When one begins to enjoy the witnessing of the awesome spectacle of Life and rises above the little self's petty whims, the Divine Harmony of all of nature becomes apparent. Every person has the capacity, and indeed the need, to discover this Divine Harmony. All of the longing and separation and selfishness of this world can be instantly vaporized by being in harmony with what is.
In every moment, bliss is awaiting discovery, longing to be expressed. In every moment, bliss is ready and waiting to shine forth. Your bliss, your own realization of the bliss of living in Harmony with all that exists, will be a unique expression of Life flowing through you. You don't need to do anything other than allow harmony and bliss to happen.
That's Bliss! It comes from within, not from striving for outer appearances or outer circumstances. Living your own unique life in harmony with Life... that's Bliss.
Joseph Campbell's "Monomyth" from his book The hero with a thousand faces.
Myth= deep symbolic truth that crosses between consciousness and unconsciousness.
Carl Jung's Theory of archetypes
-Archetypes
An archetype is a universally understood symbol, term, or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated. Archetypes are often used in myths and storytelling across different cultures.
-Who is the hero?
Everyone is the hero once their journey start.
-The hero's journey
The hero is introduced in his ordinary world, where he receives the call to adventure. He is reluctant at first but is encouraged by the wise old man or woman to cross the first threshold, where he encounters tests and helpers. He reaches the innermost cave, where he endures the supreme ordeal. He seizes the sword or the treasure and is pursued on the road back to his world. He is resurrected and transformed by his experience. He returns to his ordinary world with a treasure, boon, or elixir to benefit his world.
-How does the shift from a hunter-gathering economy to an agricultural change human society?
The history of civilizations comprises only a tiny fraction of the time that the genus Homo has inhabited the earth. Civilized societies those that relied on sedentary agriculture, developed social stratification and economic specialization, and created population densities sufficient to support urban life have existed for the last 9,000 years. In order to understand civilizations, it is necessary to look at prehistorical precedents for human development in the Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages. The rise of sedentary agricultural communities during the Neolithic is one of the first great transformations of human society.
While most human societies at the end of the Paleolithic period migrated in pursuit of game, some groups were more sedentary. More stable groups harvested wild grains that grew in profusion near their settlements, and some of these societies progressed to true farming by domesticating plants and animals. Some of these groups subsequently reverted to hunting and gathering, suggesting that humans developed different strategies that produced sufficient quantities of food.
Only those groups that adopted agriculture proved capable of producing civilizations. Hunting and gathering groups were limited to about 30 people and required extensive amounts of territory to support themselves. Migratory groups tended to live in the open rather than in caves and probably developed a sense of territoriality over the lands that produced their food. Labor was organized by gender males were responsible for hunting and protection of the group, while females gathered food from plants.
Beginning around 8000 B.C.E., many human cultures became increasingly dependent on cultivated crops and domesticated animals to secure their supply of food. By 7000 B.C.E. sedentary agriculture was able to support towns such as Jericho and Catal Huyuk with populations of more than 1,000. By 3500 B.C.E. the first civilizations appeared in the Middle East. While no one knows for certain what conditions caused the shift from hunting and gathering to sedentary agriculture, changes in the climate may have been significant factors. It is also probable that increases in human population prompted changes in food production.
-What does it means about daily life?
There is a myth that describes part of our journey through life for each and every one of us.
-And how does that show up in the representative technologies employed by the two group?
The Development of Technology
1. hunter-gathering
• Stone tools for cutting were made at least 2 million years ago
- other tools included axes, bags, awls, drills
• Later complex tools included bows, fl int spearheads, metal tools
• Tools used to hunt and butcher animals, build simple shelters
• Technology helped humans control environment, led to settled livesHunter-gatherers move around constantly in search of food. As a result, they do not build permanent villages or create a wide variety of artifacts.
2. agricultural change human society
• Technological change is an essential condition for agricultural modernization or transformation instead of a sufficient condition.
• The agriculture was adjusted spontaneously and their agriculturalindustrial organization was reconstructed based on international trade and international division of labor.
-And what would be the difference we might expect in the shelter where people live?
The shelter of the early people changed dramatically from the paleolithic to the neolithic era. In the paleolithic, people did not normally live in permanent constructions. In the neolithic, mud brick houses started appearing that were coated with plaster. The growth of agriculture made permanent houses possible. Doorways were made on the roof, with ladders positioned both on the inside and outside of the houses. The roof was supported by beams from the inside. The rough ground was covered by platforms, mats, and skins on which residents slept.
-What other aspect of culture would we expect?
We can expect different aspects of culture. It is because they makes the world a more wonderful and interesting place to live in.Different cultural aspect describes a people's religion, spirituality, economic, family and community life, government, sports, foods, art, and other parts of their culture.
-How would it be represented in their beliefs?
Beliefs can be powerful forces that affect our health and capacity to heal. Whether personal or cultural, they influence us in one of two ways–they modify our behavior or they stimulate physiological changes in our life.
