Question authority?

I’m a bit embarrassed I had to correct my Anthropology professor today in class when he said something to the effect of Zen coming from Confucianism.   Zen Buddhism is a school of Buddhist thought separate from Confucianism.   Though, the Japanese and Chinese are known for incorporating bits of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism into their lives.

I find it disrespectful for a student to correct a professor in public, but the thought of students associating Zen with Confucianism really got under my skin.  I didn’t even spend but a nanosecond contemplating whether I should speak. In fact, I don’t recall thinking much at all.  Just saying, “No, actually…”  If there is no such thing as freewill, I really had no choice in the matter and I should stop feeling guilty.

I haven’t slept in 32 hours.   I am running on empty.  I need sustenance in my stomach and some rest.  I hope the creativity of my narration will make up for my poor kinship chart and slim essay.  Though, I did use 10 pt font vs. 12 pt, so I hope he realizes I’d have taken up more space if I had done the required.   I also hope that he isn’t bitter about my correction in class and doesn’t take it out on my project

We’ll soon find out.

This evenings objectives:

• Grocery Shopping – one cannot live on Ramen noodles and condiments alone.
• Russian Homework – this should take up about 10 minutes of my time
• World Religions HW – generally takes about two hours to complete my reading.  I tend to do it between classes.
• Poem/Prose Composition – For this I might need to partake in some transcendental elixir to get my juices flowing.

Organized Chaos

Upon the cessation of a private review session I had with a fellow classmate before World Religions class, I realized I was really pumped for the midterm we were going to have.  I walked into the auditorium thinking “I’m totally going to ace this!”  Around question 61 I realized the GTA lied when I specifically asked if there would be questions that weren’t covered on the crib/review sheet.  Fortunately, those incredibly specific questions regarding obscure passages in the readings were quite limited, so I have no excuse for not receiving an A.  The first 90 questions were multiple choice and the last 10 were short answer.  I left one answer out of 102 blank because I couldn’t for the life of me recall what important figure brought communism to China.  It was not on my review sheet and it was part of a reading that was not mentioned in class.  I sat in my chair for 5 minutes mentally scanning names of important figures we learned about and couldn’t even conjure up some semblence of a good guess.  I was quite ashamed for leaving an answer blank, but, I had to get over it.  So, I attempted the bonus questions.  Of course, one just had to ask what family Ganesha was a part of.  Since I know Brahma is generally overlooked, I narrowed it down to Vishnu and Shiva in the Trimurti.  And being such a fan of the counter-culture, I chose Vishnu because Shiva is so blasted popular.  Curses! I was wrong.  I could have hung myself, but the second bonus question asked to explain how Buddhism rejected Upanishadic and Vedic Hinduism.  Thankfully, I knew that answer.  I just hope it was what they were looking for.  I found myself trembling whilst testing and at some points I thought I’d go mad.  At first I thought it was just my desperation for the grade, but several hours later I remembered I had about 18 ounces of coffee earlier in the morning. 

I walked out of the exam with a lot less arrogance, realizing the exam had humbled me.  But I respect DeChant more for it.  This class is not an ‘easy A’ and if I eventually attain it, it will because I put forth the effort.  At best, I’ll find out my grade on Thursday, but most likely it’ll be Tuesday before I know. 

I walked my anxious self to the library after class, as I regularly do and worked on some Anthropology homework.  I completed my readings for tomorrow but have yet to complete my project.  It shouldn’t take too long.  A 3 to 5 page essay and a kindship chart should take but 2 or 3 hours of my time? 

On my drive home my head swirled with what I still have to accomplish before this week is over: a kinship project, Russian homework, completion of the eastern religions reading, and a couple poems for a certain Poetry Jam to be had on Thursday evening.  My mind wandered from school to recreation and contemplated what my compositions’ focii would be.  I thought of incorporating my studies into the poems.  And an idea to express music as a religion was born.   I hope to work on this tomorrow after classes.  But it, of course, will take a backseat to my studies.  And with all that I still have to make it to the nearest computer with a decent internet connection and headset tomorrow by 5PM BST to hear Shardcore’s interview.