Vision

twinkle twinkle little light
by kleoniki vanos

DAY 26

it's raining chocolate & the corners of my mouth are sweet & dripping with life!

chocolate comes from the seed of a tropical cocoa tree. the seeds of the cocoa tree have an intensely bitter taste, & must be fermented to develop the flavour. after fermentation the beans are dried, then cleaned, & then roasted, & the shell is removed to produce cocoa nibs. the nibs are then ground to cocoa mass, pure chocolate in rough form.

cocoa solids contain alkaloids such as thebromine & phenethylamine, which have physiological effects on the body. it has been linked to serotonin levels in the brain. some research has shown that chocolate, eaten in moderation, can lower blood pressure, enhance blood circulation, anticancer, & a cough preventive.

how interesting that life could be compared to a bitter cocoa seed & the process that ensues to make it's bitterness sweet.
removed from our comport zone,
then placed in a smelly dank barrel,
after which you are taken out to die of thirst.
aaah, at last somebody pays attention to your extreme discomfort & cleans us up nicely just to shove us
in the oven to burn (or so it feels),
& if this isn't enough for a cocoa been they strip him of his protective layer.
the last & final level of his degradation, they crush him. now he really must be dead, deader, deadest...
but wait, what is that tantalising smell of perfection & taste of pleasure that almost goes beyond bearing? it's him & so it is with us.
being able to be sweet is to go through the process of sweetening, there is no short cut, there is no avoiding it, but oh the pleasure...

sri chinmay has this to say about sweetness:

sweetness
is the most powerful strength
of the heart

sweetness tell me
i can love the world.
dignity tells me
i can rule the world.

with sweetness we conquer the world.
with dignity we frighten the world.
dignity surrenders to humility's sweetness
and finds there it's satisfaction-abode.

love
is sweetness embodied.
surrender
is sweetness revealed.
surrender
is sweetness manifested.

sweetness & bitterness
fight against each other within me
to be my teachers.
sweetness is anxious to teach me
how to become a morning rose.
bitterness is anxious to teach me
how to have an evening sigh.

here's to the rivers of the blessed chocolate process of life!
when life is full of chocolate, there is a smile



there's a light over at the chocolate factory
by kleoniki vanos