Dear Erin,
Having read your postings regarding ZMM and Lila and how each is received, I am reminded of my experiences with each. Having read ZMM several times during the decades between its release and Lila's, I found each re-reading to be like a door opening just a little further, each time, until I found myself on the other side of that door, seeing the world with a much different perspective. There was a clarity and understanding that I perceived as I thirsted for further reinforcement of what I perceived was true. Then I read Lila. At first, it seemed a continuation of ZMM. But about two thirds of the way through the book, the entire world on the other side of that door exploded into a million new directions (not unlike Pirsig's lucid description in ZMM when he describes how some answers, the best ones, open up so many new questions that are more important than the first, and lead us in new unpredicted directions). Then it was apparent. The only time that we really ever know all that there is a need to know is when we know that we know nothing. IMHO, Pirsig is taking the reader on the journey to search for further meaning and understanding of the MOQ (read Tao) but realizes as Lao-Tzu did 2500 years ago that the "Tao is nowhere to be found yet it sustains, nourishes, and completes all that is." In other words, Pirsig learns and teaches us to stop searching, stop preaching, stop thinking that we understand and to just LIVE in harmony, and dynamically when the opportunity presents itself. Lila is less about the "laws and science" of the MOQ and more about the qualities of compassion and stewardship. It is the new testament of the MOQ.
Why is it the smart one? Because it's the last one that he wrote and he was smarter when he wrote it.
Regards,
The Bard
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