Shankara on Bliss

Śańkara was a good deal less exuberant than his later followers came to be in his references to the Absolute or the Self as bliss.

This may be illustrated from the case of the famous work called 'The Crest-Jewel of Wisdom', attributed to him but now known to have been composed centuries after his death by some member of his school.

Of the 580 verses of the 'Crest-Jewel' almost a tenth refer in one way or another to the topic of bliss, whereas in Śańkara's one independent work of guaranteed authenticity, the Upadeśa Sahasrī, there is only one appearance of the term bliss (ānanda), and the Absolute is regularly described as 'Being-and-Consciousness-only (sac-cin-mātra)' and not according to the later formula 'Being-Consciousness-Bliss (sac-cid-ānanda)'.

Nevertheless, the Upanishads do speak of the Absolute as bliss, and this note is not absent from Śańkara's genuine texts:

-the bliss of the Absolute available in dreamless sleep when nescience is absent

-under the influence of nescience, the bliss of the Absolute manifests in fragmentary and temporary form as worldly joy

-the bliss in the 'ether of the heart' enjoyed by those who realize the true nature of the Self

-the bliss of the Self is permanent, and, unlike that derived from objects, not dependent on activity

-the bliss of the Self is not anything experienced like an object

~Alston, Absolute, p.260