>But further to this, I also argue that in his concern
>to overcome the subject/object divide, Pirsig has
>failed to see that ideas about the way things are
>don't make a praxis, a transformative path.
>Soquality emerges in a patterned and layered way,
>which Wilber argues does not
>vary between individuals and cultures, and this
>progressive unfolding of
> quality can be facilitated by education.
You stumbled into the Pirsig Paradox (see my
Wittgenstein post for more on this). The
TRANSFORMATIVE PRAXIS for each person is DIFFERENT.
Each person has a DIFFERENT path to get to your own
dynamic quality. A PRAXIS would be an infinite book.
So what did he do? He wrote his own TRANSFORMATIVE
PATH by "showing" it. He wrote about HIS
transformative path about GETTING LAID. GETTING LAID
was his transformative path. Will it be yours? I don't
know, it certainly isn't mine. LILA was his
transformative path. So he "showed" his transformative
path because you can not "say" it.
I think this is where Wilber is WRONG and where New
Age gets its bad name: the presumption of universal
rules that can help you transcend. Pirsig admits in
LILA that he at first made the mistake. The mistake is
equating the BIOLOGICAL level with the DYNAMIC level.
It feeds into a pop psychology of people wanting to be
connected by the BIOLOGICAL level, but ignoring the
fact that we are alone in the emerging sensations of
our OWN DYNAMIC creation. That's fool's gold. We can
still be all one in the face of an INDIVIDUAL mystery.
BUT to continue the PARADOX, for John Beasley, Wilber
may be part of YOUR TRANSFORMATIVE PRAXIS. Maybe
Wilber is to John as GETTING LAID is to Pirsig. So,
simulaneously, Wilber can be RIGHT AND WRONG.
So Pirsig did write a PRAXIS, his own PRAXIS. That's
the only Praxis that exists: your own. But you can't
"say" a praxis, you can only "show" it. To quote
Wittgenstein, "of that which I can not speak about, I
pass over in silence." Of that which he can not speak
about, he shows it in the form of a book, a form of
life (lebensform for my friend Sam), his own life.
>I think it is a mistake to assume that understanding
>a metaphysics makes any
>difference to our ability to progress to deeper
>levels of quality.
It clarifies in your own life what is static and what
is dynamic. It splits the "show" and the "say." By
clarifying it gives you focus on what is "dynamic" in
your life. By focusing on your "dynamic" you can begin
to become who you are. It gives you power over your
life so you don't confuse for example the BIOLOGICAL
with the DYNAMIC. It lays out the rules for VALUING
the taste of your "soul." Eek, that word, but I like
it.
>I am mainly interested in working on the cycle called
>myself, and so am looking for a transformative
>practice, rather than a newer and finer set of
>ideas.
YOU are your practice, and these postings of yours are
part of it. Keep practicing.
Angus
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