a person can either learn something as a reason for somethhing else, or as a reason in itself.  same thing with memory, learning, and zen. you can either learn a skill outright (as in the writing i'm doing here), or draw from an applied experience (making an analogy from life). i prefer the second type since the rules and boundaries are already set up for you, you just have to plug and play.  the first type however draws from making solid rules from the ground up, and are more thoroughly understood than linking together ties.

the first type, pushed learning, comes from when you strive to learn something. your topmost conscious layer will interpret it as a new experience and the skill will dwindle downwards over time.  pulled learning, the second type, comes from when your body draws from its own instincts to teach you.  Since you're putting your conscious focus on something else, it takes over and draws from its own learning methods (association).

 
push : learning to skate
pull : putting your skating skills on the backburner while focusing on controlling the hockey stick in your hands

push : learning planar physics on your own, in class or whatever
pull : coding a game llike quake and finding the truths about physics on a modular level

push : learning rules for the sake of being rules, I.E.: catholocism, the bible
pull : learning rules as a product of self discovery and truth sourcing, I.E.: Zen

push : learning chords, letter notes, octaves, scales.
pull : learning to interpret music strictly from hearing music being played, comparing melodies and instruments.