冷暖自知

Origin and story

A Buddhist commentary on the Mahavairocana scripture compares direct understanding with drinking water: the drinker knows whether it is cold or hot, while words cannot fully deliver that sensation to someone who has not tasted it. This passage uses 冷热自知. The Jingde chuandeng lu's account of the monk Daoming uses the familiar 冷暖自知 after he receives instruction.

The comparison originally concerns personally realized spiritual understanding. Outside that setting, it describes the inside knowledge of one's own experience: outsiders may observe a marriage, a job, or a choice without feeling its particular difficulties and satisfactions. It need not mean suffering alone; pleasant experience can be equally personal.