The Buddha's Silence

The scriptures mention in a few places when the Buddha answered questions with silence.

The Buddha remained silent when he knew the questioner was not prepared or yet ready to understand the answer, or if the questions were wrongly put or irrelevant.

Here are ten questions the Buddha answered with silence:

1.........Is the Universe eternal?

2.........Is the Universe not eternal?

3.........Is the Universe finite?

4.........Is the Universe infinite?

5.........Is the soul the same as the body?

6.........Is the soul one thing and the body another?

7.........Does the Tathagata [the Buddha] exist after death?

8.........Does the Tathagata not exist after death?

9.........Does the Buddha (at the same time) exist and not exist after death?

10.......Does the Buddha both (at the same time) neither exist nor not exist?