I am getting a crash course in Eastern religions/philosophies via Rose's social studies class. This is a little embarrassing because A. every educated person should know the basic Eastern religions and their various tenants and B. I took a class on Eastern religions at Swarthmore. All I really remember from that were the tenants of haiku, which did serve me well in my future career.

Still, I've always wanted to have a firm grasp on Hinduism vs. Buddhism vs. Confucianism and thanks to flashcard practice I'm getting there. Today's study was actually very moving. Rose was trying to understand a college level article about Confucianism and kept getting stuck and crying with frustration. So, I paraphrased for her with examples. I started to cry when I explained to her that "ren" was acting politely (doing the rituals that reflected the cultural mores) from a position of lovingkindness: I helped her with her homework not because the state insisted, not because I was going through the motions, but because I love her. I find this ethical system very compelling.