I find I agree with most of David B.'s and EWenn's insights on our reading
(and Diana's recent input too). Please let me know any and all thoughts and
suggested corrections to my synopsis below.
The three key conceptual strands that braid together the initial chapters of
Lila are Objectivity, Mysticism and Freedom. The interaction and conflict
between these strands is used to develop Phaedrus' peyote experience, to
introduce us to the MOQ, and to profile the impact of American Indians on
Western values.
I. The MOQ was born of a mystical experience in the teepee as Phaedrus
followed Dusenberry's advice to abandon objectivity in the study of Indians.
Characteristics of the mystical experience include the following:
-- Increased attention to direct experience,
-- Attraction to the analysis of complex and transcendent realities,
-- Expanded consciousness,
-- Union with nature as opposed to "objective" separation, and
-- Dissolution of personal identity
II. From this attentive, nonobjective experience, he was able to "spin an
enormous symmetrical web, larger and more perfect than any [his analytical
side] had spun before." The MOQ arises from direct mystical experience, and
despite his praises for a "more perfect" metaphysics, Pirsig reinforces that,
ultimately, the value of metaphysics is more to free himself from
intellectual patterns than it is just to create them. His goal was to keep
his cup (everyday mind) empty, not full.
In a sentence, the MOQ is a metaphysics built from mystical, nonobjective
awareness which points toward a greater freedom beyond its own static
intellectual boundaries.
III. Phaedrus' initial mystical insight was that Indians are "the
originators" of many of the aspects of the American cultural mythos that so
differ from its European roots. By abandoning objectivity and embracing
mystical awareness, he saw that the following Western values -- all relating
to freedom -- grew from exposure to Indians:
-- Directness (freedom from pretense and ceremoniousness)
-- Simplicity (freedom from confusion and intellectual clutter)
-- Anti-snobbery (freedom from social hierarchy)
-- Equality (freedom of opportunity)
To summarize, I believe that the three essential conceptual strands in the
initial chapters of Lila are the rejection of objectivity, the mystical
origins of the MOQ, and the emphasis on the value of freedom. These concepts
become essential not only to the foundation for the book, but for the
metaphysics itself.
Roger
PS -- It has probably been 6 months since I contributed to this forum. I
sense this new methodical approach offers great potential value if we stick
with it and find a way to summarize and record our progress. We can use it
to empty our own cups, so to speak.
MOQ.org - http://www.moq.org
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