Anandamaya Kosha, the Bliss Sheath is experienced in deep dreamless sleep, is established in ignorance and is of the form of Karana Sharira (causal body). It is the last of the Pancha Kosha (Five Sheaths), is the innermost Kosha and is inside Vignanamaya Kosha (Intellectual Sheath).
When we say “For the last few minutes I did not know what happened around me. I was in a state of bliss”, we are referring to Anandamaya Kosha the layer responsible for providing the feeling of joy and happiness.
Whenever we obtain the object of our desire, we feel happy, which is nothing but a spray of happiness that trickles down from Anandamaya Kosha. For the duration of that experience, the mind is still and calm without any agitations. When the mind is still and calm, Anandamaya Kosha reveals itself so that the happiness contained in the Bliss Sheath could be experienced. Soon that happy experience ends because the mind gets back to its agitations and restlessness resulting in continuous thoughts caused by the desires due to the selfish nature of the Ego.
Normally Bliss means great joy or ecstasy. Here Bliss means Peace experienced due to silent or tranquil mind without thoughts. For example, whenever we have an undisturbed deep sleep without any dreams, after we get up we say "I had a blissful sleep". Here Bliss means highly peaceful state experienced due to complete absence of thoughts because mind was absent as it was taking rest during the deep sleep.
We all have experienced such Bliss without speech or thoughts in our lives on several occasions. For example, when a player after a hard fought tournament wins the final then at that moment becomes speechless and thoughtless and experiences complete Bliss, experiences the full revelation of Anandamaya Kosha at that moment.
Whenever we succeed in obtaining which we have been toiling hard for we experience the Bliss by becoming speechless and thoughtless. The eyes become teary. That experience of Bliss is indescribable. But it lasts only for few moments and we come back from the cloud nine to this world.
When one develops a taste for being in Silent Awareness, just existing as a Thinking Ability with just one thought that "I am Consciousness", "I am Atman", after constant practice definitely one gets to experience the Bliss of being in silent, speechless and thoughtless state.
We have seen that during a live concert of a highly popular performer, some people become extremely emotional, with tears in their eyes reach a blissful state where they are speechless, thoughtless and sometimes even require the help of paramedics to take them out of there. In the same way people could experience such emotional bliss on seeing their favourite celebrity, sportsperson, statesman, etc. There is no mysticism about such an experience as we all would have had such moments in our lives.
When a person is well grounded in Advaita Vedanta, such a person does not just see the greatness of the performer in a live concert but sees the Life Energy expressing its greatness through that performer. One sees that it is the same Life Energy expressing its greatness through celebrities, sportspersons, statesmen, etc. It is the same Life Energy expressing itself through various behind the scene unsung hidden heroes such as scientists, doctors, surgeons, engineers, mathematicians, teachers, soldiers, etc. and it is the very same Life Energy present in "You" and "I" as well without any difference.
When one gets to understand that this Atman, the Life Energy is the same in all living beings then one is awestruck with wonder, admiring its splendour, unable to describe its glory becomes engulfed with flood of emotions such as joy, love, respect, reverence, etc. eyes become teary, as the cheeks are washed by the tears, the heart is cleansed of ego, constantly experiences the Anandamaya Kosha by being immersed in its ocean of Bliss while holding firmly onto a single thought which is thinking about the glory of the Atman.
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