Hi Rog, Jonathan, SOJ, All:
There’s a great line in LILA (among many) where Pirsig nails a truth
commonly overlooked:
"James would probably have been horrified to find the Nazis could use
his pragmatism just as freely as anyone, but Phaedrus didn’t see
anything that would prevent it." (Chap.29)
So when you summarized the "Overdoing the Dynamic" thread as
follows . . .
ROGER
Overwhelmingly, participants stressed the patterns of higher quality
achieve a Dynamic/static balance, and that the way to find this balance
is by attuning one's self to the broader universe
. . . I asked myself if there was something there that would prevent a
good Nazi from agreeing with it. Unfortunately, I couldn't.
Similarly, many of the other summary-type words mentioned such as
"enthusiasm," "survivability," "passion," "creativity," "good intentions,"
etc. could be used by those of a totalitarian mind. Even "tolerance" has
a downside when applied to those who stood idly by while the Nazis
perpetrated their unimaginable crimes.
My point is to take Pirsig's observation about pragmatism and apply the
'Nazi Test' to any broad philosophical generalities the group may settle
on.
Personally I find SOJ's answer most in line with the spirit of the MOQ-
"We should be silent and create an opening."
Or as Kafka wrote:
"You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and
listen. Do not even listen, simply wait. Do not even wait, be quite still
and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It
has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet."
Or as Wilber wrote:
"This is really all there is to contemplative mysticism--to be aware
without judgment or comment of what is actually happening at this
moment, both outside ourselves and within, listening even to our
involuntary thoughts as if there were no more than the sound of rain."
Or as Yung-chia wrote:
“Like the empty sky it has no boundaries,
Yet it is right HERE, ever serene and clear.
When you seek to attain it, you cannot see it.
You cannot take hold of it,
But neither can you lose it.”
I can’t imagine any Nazi having such thoughts.
Platt
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