Theos-Talk Archives (May 1996 Message tl00789)

Following is the good quote that Liesel had previously
posted, which I'd been trying to locate in the archives.
Liesel mentioned that she found the koan after browsing
through some Buddhist materials on the internet.

>    2 sages were standing on a bridge over a stream.
>One said to the other,"I wish I were a fish. They are
>so happy."
>    The other replied "How do you know whether fish are
>happy, or not? You're not a fish."
>    The first one said "But you're not me, so how do
>you know whether or not I know how fish feel?"

(Deutsch, Liesel, F, "Koans, from WWW", theos-l,
  October 9, 1995)

The important point that this koan is pointing to is
that we cannot generalize as to what people are capable
of knowing, based upon our own experiences. There are
ways of knowing that any of us may be unaware of.

-- Eldon