Dialogue, today at 2:28 pm. Student has two pointy-looking wood-carving implements out, and is focused on something at a desk.
Teacher: "What are you making?"
Student: "Destroying."
The behavior was questionable, but the English was excellent.
Day: June 7, 2010
Caveat: Be lamps unto yourselves
"Do not accept what you hear by report, do not accept tradition, do not accept a statement because it is found in your books, nor because it is in accord with your belief, nor because it is the saying of your teacher. Be lamps unto yourselves." – Gautama Buddha.
This is why I am more interested in Buddhism, despite my confident atheism, than in other religious traditions. It offers a sort of "freedom of conscience" that e.g. Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism or Islam don't appear to offer. When I say, "I'm an atheist," I have had more than one Buddhist answer, simply, "That's OK." It's hard to imagine a Christian saying that.