“But, friend, when you know certain things:

these things lead to dispassion not to passion;

to detachment not to bondage;

to diminution not to accumulation;

to having few wishes, not to having many wishes;

to contentment not to discontent;

to seclusion not to gregariousness;

to the arousing of energy, not to indolence;

to frugality not to luxurious living

-– of such things you can be certain.”

(Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: An Anthology of Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya, Thera Nyanaponika and Bhikkitu Bodhi, eds, 1999, p.220).

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An essay on Buddhism gave me opportunity to think about the carousel horses that I have had opportunity to see while traveling with a friend out west.  I was invited to come along to assist with the setup for photo sessions to record these carved wooden horses which gave delight to untold numbers of children in amusement parks which no longer exist.  The amusement park was an attraction of the late 19th century and the early 20th century.  Many of the old parks were destroyed by fire, most went out of business when society changed due to the advent of television entertainment, and the construction of suburbs.  Perhaps the Coney Island Parks in New York city are most remembered as the embodiment of the amusement park.  The Knott’s Berry Farm Park on the west coast, opening in the 1920s is also remembered by many.

The carousels were deconstructed.  The animals that were stored, sold off singly, or in lots are now being collected, the history researched.  The immigrant carvers whose skill with mallet, chisel, and paintbrush are revered by collectors who treasure these symbols of many lives past, and of a way of life.

All is change, and yet, it is a matter of propriety that we treasure objects of beauty and meaning which have been left to us by past generations.

Is there any better way to learn to become more human than to pay attention to the past?