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Robert M. Pirsig, dead at 88 (1 Viewer)

JaxBill said:
Growing up, I was the youngest of 7 and there was a copy of this floating around the house for roughly a decade. Several of my older siblings read it.

A huge reader at the time, I tried reading it on my own when I was about 14. I didn't get it and gave up.

Perhaps it's time to revisit it
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It is. 

 
Well I just ordered it.  Says it won't ship for 2 months, so I guess reading it is unreal.  Not sure though because well, I havent read it yet.

 
psychobillies said:
Well I just ordered it.  Says it won't ship for 2 months, so I guess reading it is unreal.  Not sure though because well, I havent read it yet.
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If you've read any philosophy, it's mind bending.  If you haven't, I'd imagine it will send you into immediate ontological shock.

 
Henry Ford said:
If you haven't, I'd imagine it will send you into immediate ontological shock.
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:lol:

Road rash is often unavoidable, regardless of riding experience, in some terrains...imo.

However, countersteering, can help in difficult corners...

...both in our analogy and out of it.

Of course, I could be wrong...and just be a sharp corner & counter addict. :shrug:

EDIT: That's why I have to wear a helmet at all times, I suppose.

 
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Henry Ford said:
If you've read any philosophy, it's mind bending.  If you haven't, I'd imagine it will send you into immediate ontological shock.
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I have read very little philosophy.  Basic college freshman stuff.  Just googled ontological and was getting a little nervous.  That's all in the past though.

 
Henry Ford said:
The man ain't got no culture. 
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Wow, a Simon and Garfunkel reference inside a thread about Pirsig. Very impressive.

I reread Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance every five years or so. Should be mandatory for high school seniors. Or at least college kids. Right up there with the Bible and Star Wars for me. And like another post mentioned, I'm surprised he had been alive until just now. Maybe he was a recluse, but if not, some journalist should have done a piece on him. RIP.

 
pecorino said:
Wow, a Simon and Garfunkel reference inside a thread about Pirsig. Very impressive.

I reread Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance every five years or so. Should be mandatory for high school seniors. Or at least college kids. Right up there with the Bible and Star Wars for me. And like another post mentioned, I'm surprised he had been alive until just now. Maybe he was a recluse, but if not, some journalist should have done a piece on him. RIP.
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I pulled a 30-something year old paperback copy out of my bookshelf when I got home from work.  It still has dog-eared pages from the first time I read it and wanted to mark passages to remember but didn't want to write in the book.

 
Now cynical and grumpy with a lawn to protect, I need to read this again. An idealistic and altruistic me went to college in the early 80s and was assigned this the first semester there. I used to could quote from it with little effort. Not now, sadly. Well, beyond, "Sometimes it's better to travel than to arrive." I still got that. I had to look this one up. it was a favorite once:

To the untrained eye ego-climbing and selfless climbing may appear identical. Both kinds of climbers place one foot in front of the other. Both breathe in and out at the same rate. Both stop when tired. Both go forward when rested. But what a difference! The ego-climber is like an instrument that's out of adjustment. He puts his foot down an instant too soon or too late. He's likely to miss a beautiful passage of sunlight through the trees. He goes on when the sloppiness of his step shows he's tired. He rests at odd times. He looks up the trail trying to see what's ahead even when he knows what's ahead because he just looked a second before. He goes too fast or too slow for the conditions and when he talks his talk is forever about somewhere else, something else. He's here but he's not here. He rejects the here, is unhappy with it, wants to be farther up the trail but when he gets there will be just as unhappy because then it will be "here." What he's looking for, what he wants, is all around him, but he doesn't want that because it is all around him. Every step's an effort, both physically and spiritually, because he imagines his goal to be external and distant.
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Also my favorite writer back then and one I still visit for his magical prose is Loren C. Eiseley. Pirsig had a lot of Eiseley in him. Night Country is worth a go for any Pirsig fan.

 
Chaos Commish said:
Now cynical and grumpy with a lawn to protect, I need to read this again. An idealistic and altruistic me went to college in the early 80s and was assigned this the first semester there. I used to could quote from it with little effort. Not now, sadly. Well, beyond, "Sometimes it's better to travel than to arrive." I still got that. I had to look this one up. it was a favorite once:

Also my favorite writer back then and one I still visit for his magical prose is Loren C. Eiseley. Pirsig had a lot of Eiseley in him. Night Country is worth a go for any Pirsig fan.
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Pirsig's discussion of the types of emotions really resonated with me, partially because of my own failure to understand and confusion with social displays of emotion at the time (and all my life prior.)  For some reason they started to make sense after that book.  Really helped me out.

 
Henry Ford said:
"You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it's going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals, it's always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt."
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So good

 
bostonfred said:
So good
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That passage was the first time I realized that the proper way to display power was not ostentatiousness or bombastic displays.  The way to take control is comfortable silence when you're not making a new and true statement.  The man who speaks less, and softly - but confidently - is assumed to be carrying a big stick. 

 
Been on my list to read for a while. Think it's time I finally pulled the trigger. Ordering it now. Thanks for the thread and thereby nudge to read, HF.

 
Henry Ford said:
That passage was the first time I realized that the proper way to display power was not ostentatiousness or bombastic displays.  The way to take control is comfortable silence when you're not making a new and true statement.  The man who speaks less, and softly - but confidently - is assumed to be carrying a big stick. 
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Can we talk about the irony of him writing a book to say something is always true, which is almost immediately contradicted by the passage itself? 

 
Henry Ford said:
For Christmas this year, my wife got me motorcycle riding lessons.  She said she knew I'd always wanted to get back on a bike and at our age it's time.  But she wouldn't be able to live with it unless I took a professional riding course.  I haven't taken them yet.

I think I may do that this summer.
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I had a license for 30 years moved away and when I cam back, the state of Texas required that I take a two day course to get a license. 

Shockingly, I am unlicensed.

 
bostonfred said:
Can there even be an other mu?
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The Japanese Mu.

"Mu becomes appropriate when the context of the question becomes too small for the truth of the answer. When the Zen monk was asked whether a dog had Buddha nature he said 'Mu,' meaning that if he answered either way he was answering incorrectly. The Buddha nature cannot be captured by yes or no questions."

 
Henry Ford said:
The Japanese Mu.

"Mu becomes appropriate when the context of the question becomes too small for the truth of the answer. When the Zen monk was asked whether a dog had Buddha nature he said 'Mu,' meaning that if he answered either way he was answering incorrectly. The Buddha nature cannot be captured by yes or no questions."
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So is that a yes or a no to my question? 

 
Ok.  I'm just getting into this thing @Henry Ford.  To say my background in philosophy is spotty would be a slight understatement.   How much do I need to know about Phaedrus?  Is it all gonna come together, or should I do a little digging before I keep going?  Is it totally not Zen to ask for help here?  Mu?

 
And yes, I know y all told me to read Phaedrus,  but I didn't get very far with it.  Just want to know if I should stop, read it and then get back to this book. 

 
psychobillies said:
Ok.  I'm just getting into this thing @Henry Ford.  To say my background in philosophy is spotty would be a slight understatement.   How much do I need to know about Phaedrus?  Is it all gonna come together, or should I do a little digging before I keep going?  Is it totally not Zen to ask for help here?  Mu?
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You don't need to.  Just know it's the blueprint. 

 
I have just found this on youtube:

Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance part 1

Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance part 2

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig Audiobook part 3 Complete

I believe this covers the entire book, but I am not 100% sure (spoken like a skeptic ;)  ).

If we are ever going to have a fuller discussion on the book, this may be a good source for others.

It has been so long ago that I read it, I really need some refreshing. 

I plan to listen to it soon during work.

 
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