Bliss & Appreciation
As everything here, this is just an exploration - a possible map.
As with any map... It is temporary. It is a map of what is more than and different from any map. It is more or less aligned with data from any source, such as experiences and more formal research. It has certain implications if we use it as a guideline.
Of all these, maybe the most important is its temporariness. It will change as any of the others change. It changes with changes in the terrain. It changes with changing data. It changes with the changes in what is currently needed from a guideline, on individual and collective levels.
Bliss
Bliss seems to be one of the carrots for awakening. There is a glimpse of awakening, a following bliss, and an attraction to this bliss and to explore this further.
Another way of looking at this form of bliss is in terms of release and expansion.
We start out with a relatively limited and rigid identity, for instance as a human being or more accurately a limited subset of our rich human qualities - those that confirm with a particular self-image formed by culture and personal experiences.
When there is a release from or expansion of this limited identity, there is often also a sense of bliss. There was such a confinement and suffering, and now there is space and freedom.
No wonder bliss comes up. And as every phenomena, every experience, every content, it is temporary. It is there for a while, then goes away, and continues to come and go, living its own life.
Appreciation
If there is an awakening to selflessness, there may be bliss for a while or not. In either case, the bliss will go away and become more fluid as any other content of experiences.
What remains is not really bliss, but maybe more of a receptivity and appreciation, in a very ordinary way. Appreciation for everything being just as it is. Appreciation for our temporary human life, and the way the rest of the Universe shows up right now.