Crazy,
Perhaps the word "bliss" puts you off either because it's usually synonymous with things like (to use your examples) delicious cake, drinking a cool beer on a warm day, or waking up with a sexy blonde on the morning after some "bliss", or you might be put off by the idea of bliss because, simply, human beings seem to have an in-built guilt of having too much happiness.
In the first case, what you described before is self-indulgence. If we have too much pleasures, it actually leads to suffering. Try eating "too much" cake, or drinking "too much" beer, or having "too much" sex, and you'll end up wishing you hadn't bothered
So this isn't bliss, but such pleasures are labelled as bliss for obvious reasons (i.e. if you promote anything as producing bliss, it will sell much better; people will chase after it).
In the second case, how many people do you know who will freely accept compliments, talk themselves up, allow themselves to really enjoy praise after having achieved something? In short, how many people do you know who really feel comfortable in their own skin and feel good about their positive qualities?
Whether it's a cultural thing, or a society thing, or whether it's down to some innate disposition, most people (strange as it sounds) either don't really think they deserve to be truly happy, or they feel uncomfortable and unsure of what to do with it if they are truly happy.
Next time you give praise to someone, listen to them and you might hear them say something like, "Thank you, although it's nothing really - anyone could have done it", or, "That's kind of you but I really don't deserve those kind words" etc.
People have a tough time in really allowing themselves to be happy, or thinking well of themselves. I can't count the amount of people who, when I offer to help write their resume and ask them what they're good at, will say, "Oh...I don't know - I can't really think of anything I'm good at."
A lot of us are superb at self-depracating, and so the idea of bliss, of being utterly content, gives us a feeling of, "Oh, I don't want this...I've not done anything to deserve it"
So maybe that's why you don't like the sound of it - who knows; certainly I can't be sure, but these reasons are possible.
As for bliss itself, you experience it all the time - you just don't remember it because it doesn't tend to last so long when it comes in many different forms. For example, have you ever been on such a relaxing holiday where you've been on a glorious beach with the sun blazing down on you and all you can hear is the rush of the sea as it hits the sand while you're lying on a comfortable sun lounger? Many people have sighed and said, "Ahh, this is bliss". And it is. Not the false kind either. Proper letting go, no worries, no feeling of attachment, no anger, no feeling of elation, no sense of ego, no nothing...just a calming sense of pure peace. That's bliss.
Of course, as soon as you get up, or you hear a screaming child running around with a bucket and spade, it disappears; then you get frustrated and want to throw the brat into the sea! But then you remember that you're a good Buddhist, and you refrain
There are loads of examples of bliss. If you've ever had an orgasm, the height of climax is pure bliss. Again, no worries, no feeling of attachment, no anger, no feeling of elation, no sense of ego, no nothing. Just bliss.
But these things don't sustain bliss and that's the problem; it's temporary. That's why desires are problematic. Desire, by its nature, is insatiable, you are constantly chasing bliss through your desires, but you can't find anything that lasts, hence the cycle.
However, there is a way to achieve lasting bliss. Through spiritual practice and having developed and fine-tuned the mind, once you find liberation, you notice that...there are no worries, no feeling of attachment, no anger, no feeling of elation, no sense of ego, no nothing. Just bliss.
"Flat poky stick" scares me! I'll have a dream tonight where I'm being chased up a steep hill by one...on your conscience be it
P.S. Jon, I did it again...
