A student came to his guru, looking very distressed.
“Master,” he said, “something very strange happened this morning at breakfast.”
The guru nodded his head, “Yes, What happened?”
“You know, Master, how if you happen to drop a buttered piece of toast, it always falls butter-side down on the floor.”
“That’s true,” replied the guru, “everyone knows that.”
“Yes but this morning my toast fell off the table and landed butter-side up. How is this possible?”
The guru squinted hard at the student. “Are you sure?”
“Yes master. It shocked me.”
“This is a very serious matter,” said the guru with a frown, “I’ll need to meditate on it. Come back in an hour.”
An hour later, when the student returned, the Master smiled, placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, the answer is quite simple – you simply buttered the toast on the wrong side.”