I took “demonstrate that it is as you say, and not as I say” to be asking for an explanation, especially given that you consider responses like slapping you in the face to be irrelevant. But perhaps I misunderstood, and for sure you didn’t use the word “explanation”. What other sort of demonstration did you have in mind?
As for the face-slapping, I think it’s possible that in this situation a Zen teacher would slap you by way of showing that the answer is X not Y, and possible that in this situation a Zen teacher would slap you to encourage you to stop asking (what he regards as) unproductive questions, and possible that in this situation a Zen teacher would slap you just because he feels like slapping you and the Zen tradition gives him some cover to do it.
And my point was simply that that first possibility seems like a real one, which means that “he might slap you in the face” is not quite like “he might tell you to stop interrupting his lecture”.
What other sort of demonstration did you have in mind?
I was not making any assumptions about what sort of demonstration it might be. I was neither assuming that it would be a verbal explanation nor that it would not be. “What sort of demonstration” is precisely the question that I was asking.
And my point was simply that that first possibility seems like a real one, which means that “he might slap you in the face” is not quite like “he might tell you to stop interrupting his lecture”.
You see, this is why I addressed my questions to people who know the answer (i.e., people who know things about Zen, e.g. Gordon), not to people who are speculating based on no knowledge of the subject.
I took “demonstrate that it is as you say, and not as I say” to be asking for an explanation, especially given that you consider responses like slapping you in the face to be irrelevant. But perhaps I misunderstood, and for sure you didn’t use the word “explanation”. What other sort of demonstration did you have in mind?
As for the face-slapping, I think it’s possible that in this situation a Zen teacher would slap you by way of showing that the answer is X not Y, and possible that in this situation a Zen teacher would slap you to encourage you to stop asking (what he regards as) unproductive questions, and possible that in this situation a Zen teacher would slap you just because he feels like slapping you and the Zen tradition gives him some cover to do it.
And my point was simply that that first possibility seems like a real one, which means that “he might slap you in the face” is not quite like “he might tell you to stop interrupting his lecture”.
I was not making any assumptions about what sort of demonstration it might be. I was neither assuming that it would be a verbal explanation nor that it would not be. “What sort of demonstration” is precisely the question that I was asking.
You see, this is why I addressed my questions to people who know the answer (i.e., people who know things about Zen, e.g. Gordon), not to people who are speculating based on no knowledge of the subject.