I think I too voted that comment down, as I felt that it was not addressing the intent/spirit of that person's question, however ill-formed it might be considered to be.
From your comment : Perhaps it just shows how no one really gets it, and why bother explaining if you do: those who know don't tell.
IMHO this is a dangerous attitude to have towards a disagreement, as it can cloud your thinking.
So if that proverb is a truth, why are you telling it to me? :-) That is just a statement that Zen monks used when they were logically cornered, I guess. I used to use it on my sister when I was a kid: "You won't know. Even if I explain, you can't comprehend." I think I used this to get her to trade her real coins for some "wax coins" that I made.
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I think I too voted that comment down, as I felt that it was not addressing the intent/spirit of that person's question, however ill-formed it might be considered to be.
From your comment : Perhaps it just shows how no one really gets it, and why bother explaining if you do: those who know don't tell.
IMHO this is a dangerous attitude to have towards a disagreement, as it can cloud your thinking.
Quite. It's one half of a Zen proverb: a person cannot be told the truth- they have to realize it internally.
So if that proverb is a truth, why are you telling it to me? :-) That is just a statement that Zen monks used when they were logically cornered, I guess. I used to use it on my sister when I was a kid: "You won't know. Even if I explain, you can't comprehend." I think I used this to get her to trade her real coins for some "wax coins" that I made.