Hi Gav,
You asked "do you think pirsig's experience with insanity could be seen as a
mystic experience?"
This is also Antony McWatt's point, I think. There is no simple answer to
this. As I understand mysticism, so-called mystic experiences occur to many
people, and can be an indication to them that there exists another realm of
being that they might otherwise ignore. Many people suggest that drugs
function that way. I would also include Pirsig's experience with peyote as a
'mystic experience', and his little story 'Cruising Blues' points to another
experience that is familiar to my best friend who is also a sailor, of being
alone with the elements at sea, especially at night.
There is much difference of opinion in the mystic literature as to the
meaning of the term 'enlightenment', which I often use as a shorthand term
for mystic awareness. Some claim that there is an unmistakable state of
being which deserves this title, or something equivalent. The most
fascinating account comes from John Wren-Lewis whose account of a near death
immersion in a mystic state is available on the internet, entitled 'The
Dazzling Dark'. I have spoken to Wren-Lewis some years ago, and know a fair
bit about his background, and find him an entirely credible witness, though
his ideas about the topic are still, of course, his ideas.
If you are interested enough, the best text on the transformation leading to
'enlightenment' is in my view 'The Point of Existence' by A.H. Almaas, but
it is a big book. Some mystics claim any path to mysticism is a
contradiction in terms. Krishnamurti is a case in point. I think Almaas
handles this paradox well in his description. I have debated this with Platt
in the past. I also find Ken Wilber's extensive writings very helpful in
capturing the difference between having an experience with mystic overtones,
and operating at a level where this is part of the texture of all
experience.
But I think the answer to your question is most easily taken directly from
Ch 5 of Lila. If Pirsig sees himself as a mystic he certainly isn't taking
any credit for it here. Almaas's quote in my previous post is interesting in
two ways. One, it suggests that there are people with an intellectual grasp
of some of what the mystic experiences, who are not mystics. And two, he
asserts that this is quite common in western philosophy, which seems also to
me to be the case, and is an argument against those who keep claiming that
ONLY Pirsig can see how things are. I find this view of Pirsig as saviour
quite tiresome. He wrote a great novel (ZMM), and concocted a not-so-great
metaphysics, in my view, but his general viewpoint is hardly original, as he
is happy to concede. His stroke of genius was to use the word 'quality' as a
new focal term for discussing an old issue.
But to return to your point, I think the mystic state is simply openness to
experience without any constraint by past conditioning or future
expectation. It sounds easy and is perhaps the most difficult thing in the
world. But it makes all the difference to how the MOQ is viewed. The
metaphysics is not mysticism - it is an intellectual system. That it
includes dynamic quality as its highest level is commendable, but naive.
Most immediate experience is far from immediate, in that it is filtered
through a maze of conditioning, both personal and cultural, and while Pirsig
is right to point to the immediacy of quality in our experience, he is
almost totally silent about how distorted most experience is. His little
story about the man waking in hospital after a heart attack and gazing at
his hand with wonder and awe brings this home. This is mystic observation.
When do most people see like that? So yes, Pirsig has experienced states
which point to the mystic immediacy, as has almost everyone. His insanity
was probably a powerful instance. But I see no reason to assume that Pirsig
is a mystic, any more than I am.
John B
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