Chocolate Fever

When I was 8, "Chocolate Fever" aired on TV.  It depicted a boy who ate too much chocolate resulting in chocolate colored spots on his skin. Coincidentally, when I got to school next day I broke out in a rash similar to the boy in the cartoon. Little did I know that this single event would set the tone for what would be a lifelong journey to achieving greater consciousness. 

Word spread like wildfire that someone had chocolate fever, and before long I was surrounded by an unruly crowd of 100 children in the school yard. The crowd persisted until they formed a horseshoe around me with my back against a wall. The disorder approached a boiling point as they shouted, pointed fingers, and threw trash at the trapped boy with chocolate fever.

Surrounded by chaos and no help in sight, I felt compelled to sit in the lotus position with my back against the wall, eyes closed and palms upward in my lap. My mind cleared and was immediately overcome with calmness and peace. The screaming and pelting of trash continued, but were not associated with beyond the immediate experience.

I could not articulate my emotions at the time, but it was at this moment that I first realized liberation is impossible as long as there remains a "self" to be liberated.