Word Zendo

[Cenwulf]

Fergive me fer speakin out o' turn, but yer spelling ain't correct. The word 'fullsome' is wrong as it shud really be 'fulsome', thus showin' yer knowledge is awry. An' anyway this word means 'over the top'.

Yer need yer intelligence ter be in top workin' order fer enlightenment.

[Bunnylump]

Oh fellow student, I gratefully acknowledge your spelling instruction, which I have now learned from, and have subsequently adjusted my post. I bow to your superior knowledge. However, my learning indicates the following two points:
1. In modern usage, “fulsome” has two inconsistent meanings. To some people it means “offensive, overdone,” so “fulsome praise” to them would be disgustingly exaggerated praise.

To other people, however, it means “abundant,” and for them “fulsome praise” is glowingly warm praise.

The first group tends to look down on the second group, and the second group tends to be baffled by the first.

2. The other lesson I have learned, is that there are ways and means of highlighting the errors of others. My tutors have always put forward the case for sensitivity, rather than direct and blatant criticism.

[SparkOut]

Greetings to you also, student Cenwulf, hallo indeed is more acceptable to the ear of the Buddha than hejsa. Wessex is a land indeed in which the Buddha passes gladly, while he gives no thought to the pride of any inhabitants. As well as this, the Enlightened One wishes to assure that he considers it no shame at all to dwell in or hail from Northumbria, merely that the name of the region does not meet the rule for the teachings of this lesson.

Regardless of the spelling or meaning of the word fulsome, the rabbit has correctly identified the nature of the Buddha words. I congratulate Bunnylump, and gladly pass on the mantle.

Let us all welcome the new Master and hear from her the next lesson. Lead us well.

[SparkOut]

Indeed our new Master (or Mistress, if she prefers) already shows a great wisdom. I look forward to learning further under the tutelage.

[Bunnylump]

I will, with great reverence, accept the mantle bestowed upon me. This lesson is one in which students must learn and grow by their mistakes in order to increase their wisdom.

Your quest is to savour both red herrings and cranberries, but not to be tempted to indulge in either rainbow trout or blackcurrants.

Buddha's cream buns
herrings cranberries interrogate raspberries strawberries cherries sherry ferry

Buddha's shaving cream buns
trout blackcurrants donkey camel question redcurrants Browning Tennyson
fruit nuts bread cake wine beer apples bananas expedition journey plums brandy rowboat

Buddha's pets
Scurra (well, he used to be)
Cenwulf
SparkOut

[SparkOut]

Well does our new Master look in the new garb. (I did bang it on a rock in the river before passing it on, so it should be clean enough.) May I humbly beg that to be sure of seeking the true way, that the key words of the lesson are highlighted in some way, perhaps by colour and/or bold/italics, so that we may distinguish them from those words unimportant to our learning?I apologise for my tardy request. The Master is ahead of me, again.

[Bunnylump]

Your wish is my command, my loyal friend. The mantle is both freshly scented and ready warmed. It will keep me cosy for that brief period before the next student whips it from me.

[SparkOut]

Master, I seek to gain knowledge of the way, but the path is hard and the burden is heavy. Would a camel be a more helpful pack carrier than a donkey?

[Bunnylump]

Although both the camel and the donkey may carry a burden, to them the burden is heavy and arduous. The straightest road to enlightenment may be rather than to question these beasts, to interrogate them is the preferred method to further your knowledge.

[Scurra]

This humble student wonders if strawberries would be received more appreciatively than redcurrants?

(One would also like to remind the Master that they are not obliged to include additional words in their responses; only if it seems that the students are stumbling in their search for enlightenment should this be required.)

[SparkOut]

(or as an urge of the nature "Come on, you must know the answer, you can do it!")

May this student enquire as to whether the Buddha prefers the poetry of Browning to Tennyson?

[Bunnylump]

Thankyou, novice Scurra, for setting me straight on this matter. As a mistress who has only newly been welcomed into the all-encompassing embrace of our order, I am unfamiliar with the conventions and practice expected.

I am delighted that you have a taste for the sweetness of raspberries, since redcurrants have such a bitter tang. I am therefore, novice Scurra, allowing you the privilege of an assay.

As to the poetry of Browning and Tennyson, I have heard that their words may be both clumsy and ill-matched. Our gracious order surely deserves poets whose lines flow serenely?

[SparkOut]

Well it seems we shall be well fed with sweet fruits on our journey, at least. I was going to wait for the other student to decide upon some more, but he, yes, that student in the juice-stained robe, he's busy sucking on raspberries that he didn't even pick, and still has some strawberries up his sleeve.
So, I shall enquire myself as to whether apples are more wholesome to the Buddha than bananas?

[Scurra]

[ I tried to post this just after SparkOut...!]


This student is slightly confused as I thought I had offered strawberries instead of raspberries.

Anyway, pursuing this line of enquiry, I would next like to offer the Master some apples, which I feel sure she will prefer to these bananas.

edit: However, in the light of the previous student's offering, I shall revise mine. Would the Master care for some fruit or is she merely nuts?

[SparkOut]

Don't start a food fight now!

Mistress, we seem to be abundantly well off for fruit, but as well as the herring should we take some more basic and substantial provisions, such as bread, and leave behind any cake, which will surely get squashed and leave a mess? And for accompanying beverages should we take sweet wine and shun the bitter beer?

[Bunnylump]

Novice Scurra, I am delighted to hear from SparkOut that you still have strawberries up your sleeve, since these are clearly also one of the sweetest fruits. Sadly, apples do not hold appeal ( even though they do hold a peel). The Mistress is most displeased at the suggestion that she is nuts.

Mistress also would like it to be noted that although bread cake wine beer and bananas have also been proffered, she was obviously too sleepy to notice the evening last. Since these offerings failed to wake her out of her near slumber, these too are unworthy.

[SparkOut]

Mistress, I am perplexed. Should I be preparing for a full-scale expedition rather than a mere journey?

[Cenwulf]

The fool learns from his own mistakes, the wise man from those of others.
I humbly submit to the mistress a bowl of cherries and a bottle of sweet sherry, and consider both plums and brandy to be unworthy of offering.

[Bunnylump]

Novice SparkOut - although you may feel that an expedition or journey could feed your mind with fruitful knowledge, you would be mistaken. Your lesson is best learned here in Puzzlebrainia. However, your patience and perseverance with such an errant Mistress is truly humbling.

Novice Cenwulf, I am heartened by your fresh tone and seeming deference. This has clearly taken you further down the path towards the light, since cherries and a bottle of sweet sherry have the aroma of ambrosia, whereas plums and brandy have the unfortunate air of plummy brandy. You, too, are now entitled to an attempt at an answer.

[SparkOut]

Mistress, perhaps as the student points out, I may be a fool, for I see that I should be able to learn from my own mistakes.
Would the Buddha prefer to take a ferry 'cross the Mersey rather than a rowboat over the Thames?