Independence

In Nan-ch'üan's manastery the cook monk was entertaining the gardener monk one day. While they were eating, they heard a bird sing. The gardener monk tapped his wooden arm-rest with his finger, then the bird sang again. The gardener monk repeated this action, but the bird sang no more. "Do you understand?" asked the gardener monk. "No," answered the cook monk, "I do not understand." The other monk struck the pillow for the third time

—Nyogen Senzaki, from The Iron Flute

The bird sang. The bird would have sung again whether or not the gardener tapped his arm-rest. The bird would have stopped singing whether or not the gardner tapped his arm-rest. The cook would not have understood whether or not the gardener had tapped the arm-rest.