Glenn, Marco, Diana and Y'all:
I think Pirsig put the teepee scene at the front of the book because of its
importance! If we disagree on this matter now, in the first three chapters,
then we always will. I'll show that these same issues are carried all the
way through the book, even to the last pages of Lila.
I'm a little concerned about your efforts to dismiss, ignore or otherwise
explain away Pirsig's mysticism? We're supposed to be focused on the book's
meaning and intent. We're supposed to be sticking close to the text and
really listening to the author. Haven't you noticed how many quotes I've
included in the posts this month? Were is your supporting material? If your
reasons for dismissing mysticism are based on Lila, you're not showing it,
and I certainly don't see it.
MAKING A CASE BASED ON THE TEXT
You've forced to break the rules. On page 408, fourth paragraph from the END
of Lila, Pirsig says,....
"Phaedrus remembered saying to Dusenberry just after that peyote meeting was
over, "The Hindu understanding is just a low-grade imitation of THIS! This
is how it must have really been before all the clap trap got started."
I think this is pretty clear evidence that he never abandons mysticism. Its
right there at the very end. And just a chapter of two before that, he says
flatly that mysticism and DQ are indentified with one another within his
MOQ. On page 373 Pirsig writes,
"The Metaphysics of Quality identifies religious mysticism with Dynamic
Quality."
Or how about this one, from page 377...
"He thought about how once this integration occurs and DQ is identified with
religious mysticism it produces an avalanche of information as to what DQ
is."
I'm truly puzzled by the apparent invisibility of these quotes. (And the
apparent non-existence of the quotes from the first three chapters included
in previous posts.) Do they not appear in your e-mail? Are they included
only in my copy of Lila? Does anyone else see Pirsig putting mysticism at
the center of the MOQ, or is it just me? But seriously,...
I realize that I'm not making any friends here, but seems as though I'm
taking the evidence directly from Pirsig, putting right in front of your
eyes, and you just refuse to see it. Its like you're reading a different
book. Or tripping. It just kills me.
Frustrated and lonely, DMB
MOQ.org - http://www.moq.org
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