Squad: Almost any "philosophy" would have a hard time defending itself
as a practical tool for everyday life. Metaphysics ain't therapy. But
the MOQ claims to explain insanity, among other things, and it claims to
be a form of Pragmatism. So there's some reason to think that Rocky, or
anyone else, might be able to "use" Pirsig's metaphysics. If the MOQ is
a tool, then it's a map. Like a map, the MOQ won't get you there. It
only shows the way.
The question of actual persons obtaining both sQ and DQ simultaneously
certainly seems like a question about how to rightly live a life. Pirsig
certainly addresses certain kinds of personal, cultural and historical
conflicts. He talks about ritual, mysticism, morality, values, and even
religion. He's mapped a territory that, I dare say, we ought to take
quite personally.
SO WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR REAL PEOPLE? John B has raised this issue
before. (Maybe in the other forum.) And Diana has too. Rocky's
complaint, I dare say, is only the most recent and dramatic. And I have
to confess that this month's topic was designed to address exactly that.
I intentionally "spun" the quote that way. To personalize the MOQ is the
whole point of this exercise, isn't it?
I guess we have to admit that the book only has a few specific ideas
about ordinary life. Obviously they only serve as examples of the ideas
being expressed. But if we "get" the ideas, we should be able to add to
the list of examples based on personal experience. If the MOQ is clear,
then we ought to be able to see ourselves on the map. Then it becomes
useful for its power to explain. It can be useful as an intellectual
tool.
I took Diana's advice and had another look at chapter 30 last night.
It's really a kick to go back to the book. Our discussions have already
fired my imagination AND I was reading with specific questions in mind.
The effect was pretty amazing. I was especially impressed by the way the
images and other literary aspects connected to the philosophical
discussions. That's why we do it, eh? Cause its a kick in the head.
In chapter 30 Pirsig describes the tension between static and Dynamic as
a conflict between ritual and freedom. (As we discussed in the past, we
are "determined" to the extent we are static and "free" to the extent
that we open to DQ.) Naturally, his descriptions get us to re-imagine
"ritual" and "freedom" with a whole new breadth of meaning.
RITUAL. Its interesting to following Pirsig as he traces "Quality" back
thru time using definitions. I won't go thru it all here, except to
say... He traces the word "ritual" back to pre-historic times using a
language that doesn't really exist, Proto-Indo-European, but has been
constructed by scholars. Taking this backwards trip helps us to imagine
the cave man in his everyday life. Its interesting to note that the one
hundred languages that have come from that first tounge are all branches
of the same Mythos. It pretty much defines the boundries of Western
culture. Anyway...
80,000 or 90,000 years ago day to day life was nothing but ritual. The
distinction between ritual and knowledge had not yet appeared. They had
a ritual for everything and it served as a non-literate library of
information. How to cook, put up a house, hunt, fish, gather, and how to
plant were all learned as a ritual. Its the way pre-intellectual people
functioned. It was the very mechanism of daily life. And it hasn't gone
away. Pirsig points out that arriving at work each Monday morning is a
ritual. So is getting paid on Friday, grocery shopping on Saturday, and
mowing your lawn on Sunday. It's still the way people function, but now
we also have the intellect to deal with. And it seems the danger for
modern people is that ritual can become a prison. We can get stuck in a
rut, feel bored, restless, like you just can't get your groove back,
gumptionless. Or even worse, we could go through life thinking that our
daily rituals are the whole point and their full enactment constitutes a
satisfying existence. Who is really happy with the Rockwellian McDisney
American dream? Is it based on something deeper or is it just a hangover
from the great Depression? I digress. Sorry.
As Pirsig points out, SPOV are only good servants in the process of
life. The goal is not ritual but FREEDOM, which is associated with
Dynamic Quality. He uses the word "dhyana" to get at this issue on a
personal level. Roughly translated it means "meditation". He says that
dhyana is a natural human process and our ignorance of it only serves as
another example of how a culture can blind us to certain realities. Its
a state of mind in which we learn not to cling to static patterns, not
to cling to the ritual of daily life. Pirsig says that's what his boat
is all about. Its a place to get away from ritual and do some peaceful
puttering on a rainy day. He says thats what all pleasure craft are
about. Cabins and hiking trails and golf courses are all about getting
time away to really be yourself without any social pressures, without
any talking heads and snake oil salesmen. Those who take dhyana very
seriously might devote themselves to quiet contemplation. I would
simply describe it as down time day-dreaming. There must be a zillion
ways. I'm guessing everybody already knows exactly what this dhyana is.
But the Moq says its a pretty big deal and ought to be taken seriously.
IF I STRAY AWAY TOO FAR FROM YOU
DON'T GO AND TRY TO FIND ME
IT DOESN'T MEAN I DON'T LOVE YOU
IT DOESN'T MEAN I WON'T BE COME BACK
AND STAY BESIDE YOU
IT ONLY MEANS I NEED A LITTLE TIME
TO FOLLOW THAT UNBROKEN LINE
TO A PLACE WHERE THE WILD THINGS GROW
TO A PLACE WHERE I USED TO ALWAYS GO
I think these lines, from Lucina Williams' "Side of the Road", describe
her thirst for dhyana. As the song goes, she is traveling down the road
and wants to stop. She's not interested in her bladder, gasoline or
soda. She just wants to stop moving for a while, get out of the car and
stand alone in a field. She wants to feel the wind in her hair and the
touch of her own skin. She looks off toward a farmhouse in the distance
and wonders. And then the lines above are a kind of explaination, almost
an apology to her traveling companion. Naturally the music really helps
to convey the emotion involved, but I'll tell you it has a soulful
yearning folkish sound.
Lucinda is the daughter of a poet and English professor. So her music
has the down-home sound and feel of the Austin/Athens scene, but is
extremely literate. A friend of mine uses her lyrics to teach his high
school english class about poetry. I say this to point out that her use
of the logically incorrect phrase "used to always go" is quite
intentional. She talking about a place she goes that is outside of time
and space. Its an eternal place within her that she's probably visited
since childhood. It can be in a tree house or in a fishing boat or by
the side of the road, it doesn't matter. It seems to me that dhyana is
the state in which we can follow that UNBROKEN line...where the WILD
THINGS GROW. We're talking about the cultivation of an inner life. Its a
natural human process that opens us up to DQ.
I have a room for such purposes, but I also live in the Rockies, so
there's plenty of mind-blowing scenery and hiking trails too. (Rocky,
just south of Georgetown the river has been stocked with trout. The
company that did the stocking has gone belly up, but the fish haven't.)
I used to drive around going nowhere. I've found that time and space for
dhyana can be carved out of just about any situation, even when I was at
sea for six weeks. If I don't get a little time every day madness begins
to set in. I don't know how anybody gets by without it.
At the same time its easy to sympathize with the idea that we're all
tooooo busy and I can see how such "idleness" could seem like a
self-indulgent nicety. Our culture demands that we are always "doing"
something. And all the billboards, TVs, radios, pagers, beepers, cell
phones, faxes and e-mails make me feel as if there is a grand conspiracy
to prevent anyone from ever having a moment to themselves. The giant is
so damn loud that its hard to hear yourself think, don't you think?
(SFX: Loud city noises.) I SAID, "DON"T YOU THINK?".
David B.
P.S. I'd also like to discuss Bodvar's SOLAQI. It's fascinating.
MOQ.org - http://www.moq.org
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