[QUOTE] Originally posted by CocoNut: *
What is they key to keep the **fire* burning to keep close to the divine and your other relations?
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"Bliss" - hmmmm. For me, it's a feeling. It's inside of everyone - it's a sensation that's either there or it's not.
That doesn't make much sense :D so lemme try to give one or two real-life examples.
Regarding the 'divine' or matters of spirituality - you know that tingly sense you get whenever you hear the Azaan? My family and i had gone to the UAE last year, and there's nothing that you can describe when you hear a 'real-life' muezzin calling out the Azaan, particularly Fajr azaan with the sky changing colours. Time stands still, a sense of peace overtakes you and one really feels as though - i don't know how to describe it, you feel really grateful to be Muslim. But to answer your question above, i think the only way to "keep the fire burning to keep close to the divine" - is if you keep yourself close to your faith. For me this is easier said than done since i am nowhere close to where i want to be vis-a-vis my faith. My only motivation is that i know, if i don't work on it, i tend to lose that blissful sense of peace. Maybe it's the fear of losing the bliss that drives one. So work on making myself more knowledgeable of Islam - either by trying to learn Arabic so i can one day read the Quran without relying upon an approximate English/Urdu translation, etc.
'Bliss' in relationships - i am certain it's possible, but i don't think i know enough about it to really comment on this. Suffice it to say that there are one or two individuals with whom i feel very close and would trust completely - and as with anything else, you have to work to maintain that relationship with them. i think an important aspect of bliss in relationships is that, one has to realize not every day is going to be utopia. There are ups and downs - weathering them out successfully over a protracted period of time, is probably a part of the bliss. (Does that sound contradictory?). It's like that saying - the journey is more important than the destination.
If you want to really know about the Spiritual Bliss; read Surah Waqiah with translation. It describes three kinds of people: The people who have reached the highest level of Bliss, such as the Prophets, and the teachers( I think the likes of Al-Khidr; the teacher of Musa(as)); The Companions of the Right Hand, and The Companions of the Left Hand.
Who are the comapanions of the Right hand, their spiritual closeness with their Creator, and their reward in the Hearafter has been revealed in great detail. Who are the Companions of the Left Hand; the ones who have reached the maximum limit of evil and in a sense, that's their bliss in this world; their punishment in the Hearafter is also described in length.
Relationship I think being in a relationship with someone is a really sweet feeling. Someone you share a lot with, do things etc, and something I may experience some day..so no comment till then :D
Bliss is always going to be a short term thing. The reason it feels so good is that it doesn't happen very often. If we were in a constant state of bliss, we'd start taking it for granted and thus lose the feeling.
I think bliss has a lot to do with contentment. I know, whenever I've experienced bliss it's been a case of 'yeh, this is the way I want to live the rest of my life'.
