MD Pirsig, a Zen person

From: Steve Peterson (speterson@fast.net)
Date: Sat Jan 11 2003 - 15:15:42 GMT

  • Next message: zykaine telex: "Re: MD Pirsig, a Zen person"

    All,

    Some have recently expressed their unmet expectations about moq.org, so I
    wanted to add my unmet expectations to the stew for some added variety.
    Mari's and Rudy's and other's got me thinking about what I had expected. I
    thought it would be more about Zen. Silly me.

    I'm not complaining about the discussions. I have enjoyed reading and
    participating a little. I had even forgotten until yesterday that it is not
    what I had expected. What ever led me think it would be about Zen in the
    first place?

    I remembered that Pirsig says somewhere that he thinks of himself as a "Zen
    person" and I finally dug up the quote.

    On page 445 of the 2000 edition of ZAMM an e-mail interview is printed
    (along with some letters, an intro to the reader's guide, etc.)

    Pirsig answers the question, "Are you currently working on any literary
    projects?" with:

    "No. Enough is enough. I think it's bad to write when don't really have a
    compelling need to say something. Of course, for most writers the
    compelling reason is money, but my two books have taken care of that.
    Anyway, I think of myself as more of a Zen person than a writer and one of
    the most admirable aspects of Zen is that it encourages silence."

    Is anyone else surprised or interested in that Pirsig thinks of himself as a
    Zen person rather than as a philosopher? Should this discussion group
    reflect that fact or does it already? Is it indeed a fact or am I taking
    his statement out of a broader context?

    Steve

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