RE: MD Pirsig, a Zen person

From: Erin N. (enoonan@kent.edu)
Date: Sat Jan 11 2003 - 17:26:25 GMT

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    >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

    hi Steve,

    If Zen encourages silence then why are you surprised we
    are not talking about Zen;-) Kidding, but it is hard to talk
    about zen though. I definitely do think of Pirsig as a Zen person.
    I was wondering if anybody who knows about postmodernism
    tell me it would say about Zen. The discussions here that seem most zen to me
    seem like it would be dismissed as postmodernist (hi Platt).
    I don't know enough about postmodernism to say if I would
    call Pirsig a postmodernist but would be interested
    from hearing about it from somebody who does know more about
    both zen and postmodernism (Scott??).

    erin

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