Mindfulness Chocolate

Consider, if you will, the quality of mindfulness, being fully relaxed and open to our experience in the present moment, and how that is so easily disturbed by tension created by desire, or aversion, or other distracting thoughts.

Here is a piece from the booklet Beginning the Journey by Doug Kraft:

If we are calm or joyful but are not aware of it, our mood tends to tighten. But, if we are serene and know it, the serenity deepens.

For example, when we take a bite of chocolate, the mind may become joyful and serene because the hunger [desire] for chocolate is suddenly gone. If we relax into this good feeling, it gets stronger.

But, if we think the bliss was created by the chocolate itself, we quickly reach for more. In that [tension of] greed the serenity [peaceful joy] is disturbed.

Perhaps you would like to engage with a practice of noticing the movement of the mind around desire, aversion, and chocolate. So, use a small piece of a chocolate bar or a few M&M chocolate candies. If you are allergic or just not a ‘chocolate person,’ then you can use any food item that is small and enjoyable to you. Ideally something that could be easily placed in the mouth and doesn’t involve a lot of chewing, such as: a couple of grapes, a small piece of cheese, a few raisins, etc. Feel free to be creative, but keep it small and easy to swallow.

Place the food item into your mouth, without chewing or swallowing. Allow yourself to experience the full range of thoughts, feelings, and sensations that arise from the first inclination to take a bite or chew. Let the food rest in your mouth until you feel the strong desire to chew or swallow. Be fully aware of your experience up until the last bit of your food item is gone. Notice the sensations and the feelings that remain after the food is gone. Explore the ‘pull’ of desire, the savoring of joy as that desire is fulfilled, and our tendency to either rest with the serenity or to experience the rising tension of desire for another bite.

From Rupert Spira:

We never truly desire an object for its own sake; we desire only to be relieved of the agitation of resistance and seeking that takes us away from the now into time. Thus, all we ever truly desire is to be desireless.