Sweetness

I’m something of a honey connoisseur. In its raw and unfiltered form, it’s my favorite sweetener, far and away, and I’m always on the lookout for new varieties to try. Among the most exotic that I’ve discovered are Aseda Wild Honey (from Ghana) – which, when used to sweeten matcha tea, ends up tasting a lot like butterscotch (yum!); and Manuka Honey – whose rather pungent flavor makes it an acquired taste, famous for its healing qualities.

For recipes that work best with a crystalized sweetener, I go for Sucanat (short for SUgar CAne NATural) or Rapunzel’s Organic Whole Cane Sugar (aka Rapadura). Both of these are dehydrated natural sugar cane juice, with its original and fully intact cadre of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, fibers, and phytonutrients — which work synergistically to allow the body to absorb and digest the sugar in an optimal fashion. Infinitely better – health-wise – than refined sugar!

And Equally Delicious As A Metaphor

Before it was a pile of sugar-cane crystals – waiting to be added to my blueberry muffin or German chocolate cake batter — the Sucanat was a fluid continuity of sugar-cane juice, pulsing within and as the fully-alive and rooted sugar-cane plant itself. So the “sweetness” of my blueberry muffins and the “sweetness” of my German chocolate cake – though manifest each within its unique context — have a common origin.

And so it is with the “sweetness” of happiness, joy, contentment and peace. Regardless of the phenomenal activities or objects these may be associated with, their common origin is the Source of Being: Pure Awareness, Buddha-Nature, the Mind of Tao. To attribute happiness to this-or-that object or activity, in and of itself – is akin to attributing the sweetness of a muffin or cake to these items in and of themselves – rather than to the sugar-cane juice (via the crystals) that is its true source.

So then …. bon appétit!

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