I stared at his bald head and said, "Oh, the nine burn marks left on your head must have hurt when you first got them."

The abbot rubbed his head, laughing joyously. "These burn marks symbolize our determination to renounce our ties to the secular world and take refuge in our beliefs. The pain is only temporary."

"With all due respect,” I started. “I’m just a layman but I seem to remember that this has been abolished in our country since the 80’s. Why do you still practise it here?"

The abbot appeared awkward and faltered for lack of a good explanation. Zhu Xiaohao stood up and defended him, "Song Yang, haven’t you said enough? You're purposely making things difficult for the abbot. Just you wait! You’re going to be punished by the Buddha for being so cynical!"

"What’s wrong with asking a few questions?” I retorted. “Enough about being punished by the Buddha. You’re clearly bullshitting! I've read quite a few books on Buddhism...