deepak chopra's ruby slippered glasses

The PBS stations were having their telethons this week.
This sucks because they play a never ending series
of programs that they think older people with
extra discretionary income might enjoy.

These include a lot of musical reviews with faded
stars from the 1960s, Daniel O'Donnell,
self help gurus, shows on how to extend your
lifespan and avoid Alzheimer's, and more Daniel O’Donnell.
I was flipping through when I saw Deepak Chopra.

What caught my eye and made me stop were the glasses he wore.
The crimson frames had clearly been doused with liberal
amounts of red glitter. They sparkled brightly in the camera
lights like Dorothy’s ruby slippers. You’ve got to be kidding,
I laughed.

He was talking about the 10 steps to happiness and
relating it to the life of Buddha.

An anecdote ensued relating to a conversation he had had
with the dog whisperer. Apparently, Mexican dogs are far happier than American dogs. And if they hang out together the American dogs get less depressed.Yet another reason not to erect a border wall.
Mexico, send us your chihuahuas!

Initially, some of the audience members seemed uncomfortable about
the spectacle of the spectacles, as if it was some cheap parlor
trick conjured up by a pop culture guru in a television studio.

However, his subsequent profound reflections on the impermanence
of being and the value of living in the present
held their interest. He spoke repeatedly of ‘the infinite’.
Soon everyone was mesmerized by the twinkling magic
of Deepak’s glasses!

Even the PBS telethon announcer mentioned them to Deepak,
who sat next to her, basking the phone workers in a
brilliant radiance. Deepak uttered a lame rejoinder,
and then quietly let his ruby slippered glasses push
the comment away from the audience’s distracted consciousness
on a wave of impermanence.