Doughnuts....

I recently posted a note on my FaceBook page, asking people for topics to write about.  Looking through the suggestions that came through I found one that was very very interesting.  It went something like this "the esoteric meaning of the hole in a doughnut".  At first I thought what a silly thing to write about, but something inside me said maybe not.  Maybe this is not such a silly thing to write about.

The interesting thing about a doughnut is that it does have a hole in the middle, however it is not the only familiar item of food with a hole in the middle.  A bagel and macaroni come immediately to mind.  The hole in the middle of these do serve a practical purpose.  In macaroni it is to capture the sauces in which it is cooked.  In the doughnut and the bagel it is to aid the cooking process.  By creating a circle of dough of uniform thickness it ensures that the bagel or doughnut is cooked at the same rate ensuring a perfect product every time. Apart from this practicality I think they can symbolize something else.  To illustrate, lets consider the doughnut, as it is typically fried in oil and drenched in sugar glace or dipped in chocolate or some other sweet treat.

The glace drenched dough, which forms a ring, with a hole in the middle represents the life that we lead.  We look for success by accumulating material things, and just as we increase our waistlines when we consume doughnuts, likewise we bloat our lives with possessions.  Just as difficult as it is to get rid of a bloated waistline, that is how difficult we find it to let go of those things especially those that do not have any significance or practical value.  And like the doughnut, that has a hole in the middle, we are left feeling empty.  So the doughnut serves as a reminder to us of the futility of chasing the material things in life because they do not satisfy our spirituality and we are left bloated and empty.

Or an even more deeper meaning could be that the circle of dough represents the flesh while the hole in the middle represents the spiritual being that sits at the center hidden and unseen.  So to expose the center we have to consume the desires of the flesh to complete our spirituality and become one with the universe, just as consuming the doughnut will allow the nothingness in the center to merge with the nothingness around it.

Having realized that we can find meaning in anything around us, because as humans we are bound to create things that represent our lives.  As for me I have decided to consume my doughnut :-)