[PharmaDrMan]

intellectual understanding and direct experience both play an important role, and the emphasis on each depends on the person. For me, it is similar to learning to drive a car. You have to learn what it is you are doing, but you also have to actually sit behind the wheel and put your foot on the gas pedal. Both are important. Without at least some intellectual understanding, meditation can be somewhat less effective. But without practice, intellectualizing is just academic brain activity.