A few of you touched on the point I got out of this, but no one explained it very well. In the first koan, Ougi says two things. The clearer one is tangential to rationality, but important for self-doubting cultists. “You are like a swordsman who keeps glancing away to see if anyone might be laughing at him”.
The more important point was that the teachings are valuable if they are useful. (This is applicable to the sword fighter because allowing yourself to be distracted is an immediate danger.)
The importance of the parable about hammers doesn’t relate to prices, but to usefulness. “Use the hammer to drive nails” in a discussion about rationality is metaphoric for using the techniques to make better decisions. If Ougi’s teachings help you make better decisions in your life, then they are valuable. If they merely bind you more tightly to Ougi, then you are a cultist.
Bouzo didn’t learn anything that helped him make decisions, he was merely cowed into following Ougi more closely. Ni no Tachi learned to “concentrate on a real-world question”, so “the worth … of his understanding [became] apparent.”
Ni no Tachi figured out how to use the hammer, but Bouzo only sold them without understanding their value.
A few of you touched on the point I got out of this, but no one explained it very well. In the first koan, Ougi says two things. The clearer one is tangential to rationality, but important for self-doubting cultists. “You are like a swordsman who keeps glancing away to see if anyone might be laughing at him”.
The more important point was that the teachings are valuable if they are useful. (This is applicable to the sword fighter because allowing yourself to be distracted is an immediate danger.)
The importance of the parable about hammers doesn’t relate to prices, but to usefulness. “Use the hammer to drive nails” in a discussion about rationality is metaphoric for using the techniques to make better decisions. If Ougi’s teachings help you make better decisions in your life, then they are valuable. If they merely bind you more tightly to Ougi, then you are a cultist.
Bouzo didn’t learn anything that helped him make decisions, he was merely cowed into following Ougi more closely. Ni no Tachi learned to “concentrate on a real-world question”, so “the worth … of his understanding [became] apparent.”
Ni no Tachi figured out how to use the hammer, but Bouzo only sold them without understanding their value.