[Merrick1]

A buddhist monk told us a story how he, as a novice in a temple in Burma, tried to edify his teacher, the abott. He said: "That man had been a monk long before I was born. And I thought I knew better..."

He mentioned this to bring our attention to the idea of the false "equality", many people like to assert.

He gave us another example: "If the topic were financial management, how to manage the temple's finances, for example, I would have been in the position of authority. Because that was my field of expertise. And the abbot could have sit at my feet. But in the matters of the human mind and how to deal with it, I was the one to humbly listen.

So, of course, on chat forums too there are people with their fields of expertise, experienced people who know what they are talking about. That doesn't necessarily mean that they are always right but they probably know far more about the subject than others who just try to assert themselves and who often resemble that young monk who was trying to mentor his old teacher. Who, by the way, just smiled gently at his student's folly.

Merrick