The Buddha said that life was suffering caused by desire which arose from conditioning. The Lord’s Prayer asks the Our Father to “lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil.” I am beginning to think that our prayers have been answered and our suffering should soon diminish. Have you gone shopping lately?
I remember when I was young or at least, younger, there were so many wonderful things to buy. If I went by a jewelry store, I would see beautiful watches on display. There were the thin elegant watches by Omega, Patek Phillipe, and International Shaffhausen (IWC). The faces were fine and clean and the bracelets were works of art, sometimes made of pure gold. I saw several that I would have loved to have owned. We also had Longines, Bulova, and Hamilton watches to admire and possibly own.
I remember looking forward to autumn to see the new American cars come out. Each year they were different and better than the previous ones. I always preferred the cars made by General Motors: the friendly Chevy, the sporty Pontiac, the comfortable Olds, the handsome and distinguished Buick and the king of all cars, the Cadillac.
When I went to a department store like Macy’s, Saks, Brooks Brothers or even as recently as Nordstrom, I would see so many clothes that I would love to wear. I found myself restraining myself from buying things I didn’t really need just because they were wonderful. But I still desired them.
Food was also a great temptation. Living here in San Francisco, I found so many different kinds of great food to savor. While always limiting the variety of foods that I ate (I don’t eat nuts, beans, fish or pork and don’t drink alcohol), I always found many items that I longed for even when I wasn’t particularly hungry.
I have seen all this change over the past 20 years or so.
Rolex started selling big fat watches for use deep under water and people who never even swam started buying them. Suddenly every other watch was big and fat rather than thin and elegant. Then the Swiss watch was replaced by the ones made in Japan. Now I cannot find a single watch that I would be remotely tempted to give even a second look.
American passenger cars have also lost their appeal to me. What ever happened to bodies by Fisher? Where are the adorable Chevys like the ’56, perhaps the best ever? The sporty Pontiacs are long gone, way before the line was put to rest. What happened to the great ’64 Grand Prix or GTO or Bonneville that every young person dreamt about? No more classy Oldsmobiles like the 1960 model or the Toronado or the 98 or the hot 442. The Buick has maintained its place of subdued excellence, but where is the great Riviera that started in the ‘60s? And where is the Cadillac that we knew, loved and looked forward to having when we were older and more established. Remember the ‘56 Sedan de Ville or Fleetwood? Was that the Caddy’s finest hour? Can you recall the 58 Eldorado Brougham or Biaritz? They were hand-made and cost $12,500 back when that was enough for six or seven cars, but they were worth every penny. Lincoln had its Continental that was $10,000 and a work of art. Chrysler had its 300 series and the Imperial. And there was the Corvette, a cute and hot little two seater. The new version of this classic sports car is the size of a station wagon. I think that the 79 Seville was the last Cadillac that I thought was truly great and worthy of its name. Nowadays, the “American car” means a large, boxy SUV or pick-up truck. We don’t seem to remember how to make exciting small sedans like we did in the early 60’s or even the great larger sedans, hardtops, convertibles and coupes of the 50s.
We have gone from 16 American car brands down to what will soon be six when Dodge is the next line to fall after Mercury, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Saturn, Hummer, Volvo and Saab (originally Swedish), Jaguar and Land Rover (originally British), Plymouth and Desoto before all of them. And no one will miss most of them, except, perhaps, their former dealers.
I go to my favorite department stores nowadays and see shirts, pants, jackets and coats that I wouldn’t own even if they were free. And the shorts and bathing suits for men lack both function and beauty. Why are they so long and baggy? They look ridiculous. Why do men buy and wear them? Have they no pride? And everything in the stores is made in China. Who am I helping by buying them?
I could theoretically still be tempted by food. There are still some great restaurants, especially, here in San Francisco. But the sad irony is that now that I can afford to eat at any restaurant and am aware of many good ones, I am no longer motivated because of my medical condition which is like a who’s who of entropy with almost every organ finding itself getting disorganized probably from overuse, resulting in malfunctioning that is exacerbated by certain foods and food groups.
A “compromised” heart makes the intake of food high in cholesterol seem much less appealing. So foods like meat, cheese, cream, butter and especially shell fish (which I don’t eat anyway) have lost their pull on me. Foods high in salt like pizza should also be avoided.
An underachieving pancreas makes the enjoyment of sugar-related foods suddenly bittersweet. And sucrose is not the only sugar. It is in foods ending in “ose” like lactose (read milk), fructose (fruits and corn), and dextrose as well as foods high in carbohydrates like pasta, bread, etc. And just when you thought that you at least had fruits and vegetables to fall back on, the kidneys slow down in sympathy with the other organs. It’s like workers of a different union honoring the picket line of a striking union.
Kidney problems mean a need to reduce the intake of foods high in potassium or phosphorus. This includes most green vegetables, especially avocado, my favorite vegetable/fruit, many fruits like bananas, melons and then all the foods that I don’t eat anyway like nuts, beans, fish, and pork. It turns out there was a reason I never touched clams and oysters besides their disgusting appearance.
This leaves me two meal choices: water or cauliflower. It is hard getting too attached to these options.
So the bad news is that the material world has very little that I am conditioned to desire (and I can no longer go swimming in public refusing to buy absurd looking trunks - someone has to take a stand). The good news is that life is no longer suffering for me because I no longer desire its fruits.
I think that I liked it better the other way.
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