one more word about Masson (or about me?)

[Guest guest]

Hello to all:

Just one more thing about Masson, and he will be done, as far

as I am concerned.

You may not agree with some of his propositions, such as: avoiding

all sorts of dairy (except butter); eating honey alone or leaving it

alone; eating fresh fruit only as an afternoon snack; exercising in

the afternoon, etc, etc... But in one thing he probably is matchless –

he is liberating, and what he liberates you from is dogma.

That was my experience with him. When we first met each other about

20 years ago, he invited me to dinner at his place on the following

evening. There were three of us: he, his second wife (who looked like

a movie star, although she was quite friendly indeed) and me. At that

time I was a young orthorexic (this is for you, Christie), but that

dinner started to put an end to my belief in perfection and gurus. He

served white bread (though it was certainly leavened), he offered red

wine (though it was probably organic) and a steak so tough that I

really couldn't cut it let alone eat it (I remain so far unable to

find a justification for that). Can you figure how embarrased I was!

And moreover, as I left his flat, he didn't follow with me to show me

the lift, he simply said " bonne nuit " and bumped his door on me,

leaving me alone in a semi-dark corridor. That was him. How could I

ever believe in such a man? How could I ever dream of finding another

guru?

However, that was maybe the best lesson I had from him.

In a field of knowledge, in which there is so much contradictory

information, as nutrition, it is no surprise that people who want to

know often find themselves walking in a maze or a mist. Some authors

tell you to be a vegetarian, or even a vegan, while others tell you

must eat meat. Some say carbs are harmful and unnecessary, while

others say they are the staff of life; some say you have to eat raw

like animals in nature, while others say your food must be cooked,

and so on. Who is saying the truth? Probably nobody. Probably

everyone is only focusing on a section of the whole truth. And what

are we to do? We have to find what is best for us, of course, and one

solution could be a synthesis of all those partial " truths " . In most

cases, a middle-of-the-road solution. That was what I mainly learned

with him.

Well, if you want some poetry (though it may sound vain), I will tell

you this: Maybe my search for a guru was not in vain, after all. I

think I have got one at last. It is not him, of course; it is there

in my mirror looking seriously at me. But strange to say, it is not

one and it is not fixed; actually it is the sum of all the persons

who, by accident or not, have so far come and are still coming

through my life.

José