I recently noticed the ecstatic bliss, which is present more often, seems to soften the experience of emotional pain, specifically as it relates to relationship/attachment struggles. For a few years the growing energy seemed to bring focus on areas of pain, unveiling the repressed places. Now that I’ve done a pretty deep inventory of my life I am working on some of the deepest/stubborn attachment wounds from my family of origin. I sense the ecstatic conductivity gets activated almost unconsciously to smooth things over, at times making the harshness of the experience lesson. I don’t sense I am fully in a spiritual bypass mode but I do wonder if the glow of ecstatic bliss may reduce the connection with the more painful places. This feels like a blessing and a possible barrier to full liberation. Have you experienced this and have any insights to share?
Hi Interpaul,
Are you saying that in daily life, when a negative thought is triggered by someone and you notice it, that the ecstasy is present along with inner silence? If so seems like a boon to me.
I seem to have plenty of inner silence in daily life but less so the ecstasy, although I experience a fair amount of euphoric ecstasy in meditation and during mid-day power naps, where I seem to just dissolve into a kind of euphoric haze of bliss and light which seems to build in intensity in stages a few minutes apart.
Much of my purification seems to come at night, with vivid dreams leading to visions when I wake, accompanied by some either wonderful ecstatic sensations of loving unity or the contrast of the most appalling emotional tornado, seemingly exiting my body from the crown. Sometimes I can pinpoint the chakra that was involved too.
One thing I have noticed in the last few years is that even during the negative experiences, the explosive power of these horrifying emotional experiences can be quite awe inspiring. Instead of waking up feeling bad about them, I wake up in a sense of wonder, like ‘Wow, that was really f**ked up, but also pretty cool’ - not sure if that’s a good thing or not 
but it seems to be due to my ability to witness these phenomena. Even waking up to the experience of impending doom, that I am about to die seems pretty cool when witnessed. It reminds me of the feeling of being totally in control when climbing something dangerous when I used to rock climb. It kind of satisfying in a way.
Hi Interpaul,
It is not necessary to fully experience stored emotional pain in order to attain liberation. Deep traumatic wounds, along with any past karma, can simply dissolve as a result of our spiritual practices.
The ecstasy is caused by prana producing friction in the energy channels as it flows through the body. And this flow of prana is what dissolves the blockages in the channels. Past emotional traumatic wounds are stored in the body as blockages and so are released. Sometimes we can notice them as the blockages are being cleared but many times they go unnoticed. There is simply the sense of feeling lighter and more joyful after they have been dissolved, with an increased sense of liberation.
Tom, It isn’t 24/7 but I do notice the ecstatic bliss almost seems to activate when I’m quiet. It’s least accessible at present when engaged in conversation, unless I’m just actively listening. It sounds like you are making nice progress on your path.
Tristan, Thank you for weighing in on this. Your framing is certainly a positive spin on this. I like to think the rising ecstatic currents are working on blockages happening behind the scenes. My experience so far on this journey is the growing energy from the practices intensifies my clarity and I see the wounds more clearly ,and have a strong desire to take actions to resolve. Given that framing I wonder if the calming effect of ecstatic bliss could slow my progress in dealing with difficult blockages.
From the non AYP perspective, which I have not studied yet, speaking from direct experience and in correspondence with scriptures, bliss or Ananda is our natural state and far from impeding progress, bliss itself is the enabler, more so when it becomes a permanent embodiment of being.
The aphorism SatChitAnanda or Existence/Truth+Consciousness/Awareness+Bliss/Peace is our nature.
Blockages are fears and desires rooted in attachment, that is with clinging to an aspect of body-mind attribute, strengthened by vasanas or what we may call tendencies. If we introspect, contemplate honestly, we can look at these impediments in witness mode and erase them by deeming them to be external influences, that is, we assign no ownership over them, we stop feeding them with our attention. Of course this method presupposes that we can remain in witness stance, that is, in mindfulness for a large part of our waking state.
I think that the ego conjures up these thoughts to protect itself. Ive noticed in dreams , in particular dreams where I am killing someone, some symbol of negativity, I often feel sad at the same time that I am overcoming this energy. I believe this is the attachment holding on until the last moment.
Maybe the bliss & ecstasy of purification is a trigger for the minds unconscious attachments?
Either way, under these circumstances (admittedly after plenty of engagement with the mind games!) I personally hold onto the fact that this energy knows what it’s doing, as long as I maintain my practice at a safe level, progress will be made. A prayer may help.
Good luck with it! Hey if you’re getting ecstasy during the day I’d say all in all, that’s great 
Warm regards,
Tom
I think the idea that issues need to be seen and then resolved is a common one. And the idea is sometimes taken further, that if issues are not seen and resolved, then they remain forever. And this is the basis of what people sometimes refer to as “shadow work” where they deliberately attempt to confront their fears and past traumas in order to try to resolve them. However, I believe it is more of a Western idea than an Eastern one. It is certainly not part of yoga. In the practice of yoga, nothing needs to be faced and resolved, as all past karmas can simply be dissolved by the practices. So, it is important to have faith in the practices, and in their ability to bring us to liberation.
This actually means that if something does come up, such as a memory of a trauma that we experienced as a child, for example, we do have the choice to simply let it be. We do not need to face it, or attempt to resolve it. We can just observe the memory as it arises and observe it as it passes away, knowing that it will eventually be dissolved through the practices. Of course the memory itself will always be there, but the traumatic effect of the memory will dissolve, as we gradually transcend the mind.
Allowing things to simply arise and pass away, without becoming involved with them, is also setting the conditions for transcendance to occur.
Hi Interpaul,
In my experience, simply witnessing past experiences does create space—the separation of witness and witnessed, subject and object. For a time, it can feel resolved. Yet often, the experience returns.
When instead I rest in stillness and gently enter the experience itself, something deeper occurs. The body receives what it has been holding. The memory is not merely observed; it is digested.
I have come to see that the past is not only stored in the mind, but carried within the body. When it is fully metabolized, it releases into spaciousness, joy, and a quiet freedom.
This way of meeting life feels natural to me—embodied, intimate, alive.
Sunyata.
Hi Sunyata,
The reason that I do not recommend people to gently enter the experience itself, is that for people who are suffering from past trauma, this can occasionally re-traumatise them. Sometimes people do not even know that they are suffering from past trauma, especially in situations where there is unconscious suppression happening. So, for most people I find that simply allowing things to arise in silence and pass away into silence is safer. And yes, the experience will often return, but I have found that it will only return a certain number of times, usually more times for deeply-rooted emotional issues and less for lighter stored emotional issues. But if we are engaged in the practices every day, there will be a finite number of times that a past traumatic emotional experience can re-surface, before it dissolves completely.
So, it is a slower route than gently entering stored challenging emotional experiences, but for many people it is a safer one.
Hi Tristan,
I agree with all of your points. For those who are further along the path, this technique can be skillfully employed when gentler approaches are no longer effective. Of course, such application rests entirely on one’s own discernment and inner guidance.
For deeply rooted patterns, this approach has brought me complete liberation. My response was offered in the context of Interpaul who appears to be further along the path yet still experiencing some struggle. As Yogani so wisely reminds us: do your practices, and then go live your life fully. In time, our inner guru will reveal precisely what needs to be done.
Sunyata.
Hi Sunyata,
Yes, certainly for advanced practitioners there would be no risk of re-triggering past trauma, as there would need to be someone who could be triggered, and that would not be the case.
Hi Tristan,
I do not believe there is “no one home.” Rather, there is an intact integration of ego, balanced with a beginner’s mind that engages each moment freshly. Presence remains quiet, awake, and caring—through it, life is gradually harmonized.
Sunyata.
Hi Sunyata,
Just to clarify, I was not saying that there would be “no one home”. I was saying rather that in the case of an advanced practitioner, there would no longer be someone who could be triggered, so the risk of being re-triggered would not be there.
I would say that if someone was wondering if they are ready, or not, to be gently entering the experience of a past emotional trauma as it arises in the mind, then whether or not there still exists an apparently separate self which could be triggered at all, would be a good guideline. If that still exists, then simply allowing things to arise and pass away, would be the safer option.
Thanks for these reflections — they’re helpful.
In my case, what’s coming up feels less like unresolved childhood trauma driving the process, and more like a response to prolonged relational deprivation in my marriage. The childhood material seems more like something revealed by the inquiry rather than its primary cause.
Right now, my work doesn’t feel like dissolving experience into silence as much as digesting it into truth and action. The practices have actually increased clarity for me, and with that clarity comes a desire to address things directly in my life.
Equanimity has been a great support over the years, but at this point decisions seem to require clarity more than calm. I’m trying to honor both the practices and what my life is asking of me in this phase.