This is not a peanut butter ball

Last Thursday I met my two sister’s for lunch. One of my sisters ordered and picked up the food. We all met at my other sister’s house and ate on her front porch. It was a warm day and it was so nice to be together.

We passed out the food, ate and chatted about all kinds of stuff and then my sister pulls out a little something extra out of the food bag. My eyes brightened. I really, really like these peanut butter balls with chocolate chips so when I saw (what I thought) were those sources of yum, my sister quickly informed me, “The woman at the counter said they didn’t have the peanut butter ones so I got these instead.”

Sigh.

I had bought the ‘other’ ones before too when they were out of the peanut butter balls and they were just meh. Anyway I opened the cute little box and took a bite. It was weird but the first thing I tasted was…peanut butter? So then I really poured my attention into it. What was in it? Tahini? They wouldn’t use another nut butter if it was the alternative to the peanut butter balls. Or maybe they would? Peanuts are a legume. Maybe it was almond butter? Nope. I know almond butter. I finished it off and thoughtfully chewed. I couldn’t figure it out.

I said, “These taste like the peanut butter ones.” Both of my sisters agreed. We looked at the box for ingredient info and there wasn’t any.

It was bugging me so I looked up their ingredient list online which was:

Peanut butter, honey, oats, coconut and chocolate chips

It turns out the ‘just meh’ balls are no longer even on the menu. (Apparently, the woman on cash was unaware of the change too. The coconut on the outside maybe confused things?) Regardless, the star of the show that day was in fact the peanut butter ball.

On the way to teaching a yoga class later that afternoon I was thinking about how perfectly this story aligns with how to explain ‘the watcher’ in meditation.

In the case of the peanut butter ball, my mind was still providing commentary. However, on my attempt to decipher the mystery ingredient, I allowed the commentary without being pulled away from watching.

Watching the breath is the same in meditation. It is the same as watching sensation in your yoga practice. If you work with a mantra, an imaginary or other sensory cue, it is similar. You allow the mind to do what it does; it comments and evaluates and persuades. The you that is you is not this voice in your head because you can watch the voice and direct your watching. You are something other than the voice.

In this case with the peanut butter ball, my attention was poured into my sense of taste. My mind was busy commenting on what the mystery ingredient could be or not be. It veered off into probability about substitutions for peanut allergies. I was aware of my commenting mind but I resided within my sense of taste.

This distinction between the voice in our heads and who we really are lives within this discussion. It is also where all of our barriers to peace as well as our path to authentic freedom exists. We are not our minds. The more often we practice being the watcher, the more likely we are to become aware of the power our mind chatter has over our lives.

Here’s a link to a recipe I love and fyi: it is not a peanut butter ball 🙂

https://monicaswanson.com/cookie-dough-balls-inspired-by-oh-she-glows-everyday/