I never had a singular climactic experience of the sort which Phaedrus had.
I never had the chance to get to the point of letting go of all static
patterns; i never let go of my static patterns of science or religion. But
before i read ZAMM, i had had an ongoing search, sometimes conscious and
sometimes almost subconsious, for a union and agreement of science and art.
If you had asked me at those time if i had anything on my mind, i would have
said No. But looking back i see that was a result of being trained not to
see Quality. (By the way, Maimonides, one of the most famous Jewish rabbis
of the middle-ages, said that "God is all around us, but we are trained not
to see Him")
I sometimes wonder where i would be if i hadnt read ZAMM. My best guess
would be that, in the future, my search might lead me to philosophy and to
metaphysics and ulimately to Pirsig. But im glad i got a headstart, thanks
to my english teacher.
And thats why people do enjoy ZAMM. ZAMM rationalizes an experience which
many people obviously have, a feeling of trying to wake up out of the
mythos.
Lee
----- Original Message -----
From: William Reynolds <william@wsgr.fsnet.co.uk>
To: <moq_discuss@moq.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2001 3:09 PM
Subject: MD Have you had the Phaedrus Experience?
> I am hoping to meet anyone who has had what I'll call the Phaedrus
> experience. That is, the psychological event which Pirsig attributes to
> Phaedrus, which led to the upheaval in his life and which found expression
> in the MoQ.
>
> I had a similar experience, before reading ZAMM. I would summarise it
thus:
> a sense of the dissolving of certain of one's mental structures, a radical
> internalisation of value, an awareness of the artificiality of
conventional
> antitheses and generally of the inadequacy of language, and a detachment
> from the normal imperatives of personal survival and advancement.
>
> You can imagine the impact of reading ZAMM.
>
> Its popularity indicates that large numbers of people are receptive to
these
> issues, but do many actually undergo the experience? I suspect not.
>
> I imagine that in the past an individual thus visited would have been
> inclined to interpret the experience as religious. It certainly invites
> that, since it gives you a powerful sense of being able to understand
> religion from the inside.
>
> As far as I am aware, Pirsig was the first to describe it without
reference
> to religion, thus possibly initiating a process of naturalisation, which I
> think could be developed further, with the aid of philosophy and
> evolutionary biology. Many years of reflection have left me with a few
ideas
> on how this could be done. For all I know, it may already be happening -
> tell me where!
>
> I would be delighted to meet anyone in whom all this evokes a sympathetic
> response.
>
> William
>
>
>
>
>
> MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
> Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
> MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
>
> To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
> http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat Aug 17 2002 - 16:01:27 BST