Worldly Desire

## Dialogue

* **Bozé**
(Hmm...) *"Hello, Cross."*
*"I've been struggling with something lately."*
*"A number of xenoforms have started coming to hear my sermons."*
*"Until now, my disciples have tended to come and go, so I've never had such a large group with whom to share the wisdom of the Buddha."*
*"And while I'm happy for that, I've noticed the crowd bursting into laughter at various points. Various...inappropriate points."*
*"When I use a Zen Buddhist "katsu" to scold them into a desire for self-improvement, they laugh at that, too."*
*"In my younger years, I'd have just shooed them away. But age and experience have made me reluctant to exclude any from the teachings of the Buddha."*
*"Instead, I've been trying to find a way to get them to listen more intently to my sermons."*
*"After all, an opportunity to share the teachings of the Buddha throughout the universe should not be ignored!"*
*"With this in mind, I've prepared three sermons which I believe might have intergalactic appeal. Which of these do you think I should use?"*
* **Cross**
	+ *Pizza*: *An amusing homily about the joys of eating.*
		- **Bozé**
		*"You prefer that one?"*
		*"It's true, the Ma-non are obsessed with pizza."*
		*"And the lack of it seems to be a source of great consternation for them."*
		*"This despite the fact that they never even knew about pizza until very recently."*
		*"I am hoping to preach about how they should consider pizza a source of joy, not a necessity which they should bemoan the absence of."*
		*"There are a number of Prone in the audience as well, but hopefully the general topic of food will hold their attention."*
	+ *Prejudice*: *A fiery sermon about the dangers of prejudice.*
		- **Bozé**
		*"You prefer that one? Interesting..."*
		*"Have you heard of cicadas?"*
		*"They're insects that emerge into the world as mature adults, then die off within the month."*
		*"People often talk about their lives as fleeting things, but in truth they live underground for many years before we humans ever notice them."*
		*"That's an allegory for how people can be deceived by their perceptions."*
		*"And, I think, a very relevant example for New LA."*
		*"I hope to teach both humans and xenoforms alike how to understand each other without being led astray by their prejudices."*
	+ *Festivals*: *A talk about festivals involving offerings of food.*
		- **Bozé**
		*"You prefer that one? Hmm..."*
		*"The idea was to teach them about our Earth customs."*
		*"I believe that the more the xenos understand about us, the more cordial our relations will be."*
		*"However..."*
		*"I'm a little worried that the Ma-non will misinterpret the point and think I'm proposing a pizza party."*
		*"Regardless, if you think it best, I'll get started."*
		*"I trust you'll be in attendance?"*
		(3 hours later)
		*"...As I'd feared, the topic quickly turned into pizza."*
		*"The other xenoforms in attendance got swept up in their excitement, and it appears they've decided to actually throw a pizza party of their own."*
		*"That sort of thing is...not a strong suit of mine, but as I inspired it, I suppose I'd best attend."*
		*"With you as my invited guest, of course."*
		(END)
* **Bozé**
*"Right then! I suppose I should get started."*
*"I trust you'll be in attendance?"*
(3 hours later)
*"I'm glad I sought your advice on this. Thank you for your counsel."*
*"We'll have to go over additional future sermon topics when we have more time to talk."*
(END)