the enchanter

Here is the Buddhist Philosophy paper my roommate wrote for me - we had talked about it over lunch earlier today and here's what she came up with while I lay crawled up in a miserable little ball on HER bed, sniffing and kicking my feet:

"A Buddhist Manual of Self-Improvement

A wise man walked through a bamboo forest and came upon a cellist playing a Bach suite.
The cellist was working very hard, trying to navigate all the nasty string crossings and intonational problems she had been issues with, but nevertheless gave a glorious performance.
The wise man sat down on a mossy boulder and said to her:
“If a cellist plays a Bach suite in a bamboo forest, and there is no one around, does she make a sound?”
The cellist gave him a quizzical look. He smiled the smile of a thousand years of serenity and wisdom. Then he continued:
“But more importantly, if a cellist performs a Bach suite in a bamboo forest, and there is no audience, does she not reclaim the act of performance as an inherently selfless act of creation?”

The End."

Aww... Genius, Emily Chao. :) Thank you...! :)