The Opposite of Statement

A monk asked Unmon, "What would the Gautama Buddha have said if there were no one to hear and no occasion to each?' Unmon answered, "The opposite of statement."

When the monk in this koan asks what Gautama would have done if there had been no one to hear his teaching and no occasion to teach it, Unmon answers very simply: if there is no need of teaching, the Bddha will not say anything. It is exactly the opposite of teaching. Generalised truth is not living truth. Truth is always concrete and unique.