Kia Ora Diana, David, Marco and Foci,
How does one follow the path towards
a mystical experience?
Why does one follow the path towards
a mystical experience?
It is best to start with the latter question...it provides the underlying
value. Phaedrus commenced his journey because of the 'technological
hopelessness' rampant in our modern culture. Why was there such
hopelessness? He had a perception that it was somehow tied to the term
'Quality'. He then argued the case in ZMM that Quality was the key towards
overcoming this hopelessness.
Gautama, the Buddha as best as I can fathom, also commenced his journey to
seek out the solution for suffering in the world. Why was there such
suffering and how can it be alleviated.
The common thread is the awareness of the suffering, technological
hopelessness. It is the first step. If this first step is not taken, then
the mystical experience will not occur. This first step is essential in
order to journey the path.
Gautama had four insights to create this awareness of suffering. The old
man, the sick man, the dead man and the holy recluse. In ZMM Pirsig gives
many insights to develop his awareness of technological hopelessness. John
and Sylvia and the dripping tap, the broken cooling fin by a trained
'professional' on his motorcycle, the fallibility of dialectic argument in
the face of rhetoric and so forth.
These insights build up the awareness of a culture lacking Quality. Everyone
on the planet has these insights but choose to either accept them as a)
part of the nature of their life (static existence), or b) choose to change
it (Dynamic existence). The key to either path hinges on the individuals
ability to attach or detach these perceptions of existence.
Gautama and Pirsig travel similar paths in this respect.
Gautama had an insight that attachment to material possessions was part of
the cause of suffering. Pirsig also noted that the attachment of our modern
culture to SOM was causing the technological hopelessness. Gautama's
renunciation of his rich and noble life was seen as the boldest step that
any man could have taken. Phaedrus' renunciation of the SOM and go between
the horns of the bull was a path that no man had journeyed.
Detachment is one of the most important factors for the attainment of
Enlightenment. The attainment of of Enlightenment (the mystical experience)
is by way of non-attachment.
Both realised that once this detachment was made, whole new possibilities
were explored. Both continued down the path, both experimented for many
years on ways to achieve it and in doing so built up and sharpened their
awareness to the experiences that they participated in.
Six years later, at the age of 35, Gautama had the mystical experience and
was deemed as 'Buddha' by nature. He was no longer aware, but 'awakened'.
The DQ. In becoming awakened he founded the four noble truths:
Why are we here?
Why are we not happy with our lives?
What is the cause of our unhappiness?
What is the path towards ending our unhappiness?
This is also the format to how Pirsig developed the MOQ. The ironic twist in
this whole story concludes that they are both intellectual paths by nature
to assist with the attainment of the Mystical Experience, Enlightenment,
Oneness.
How did they travel the path towards Enlightenment? Zen is a form of
Buddhism that emphasises value in meditation and intuition. Here is the key.
One must value intuition (n. immediate apprehension by the mind without
reasoning) and meditate (v. exercise the mind in contemplation) on this
intuition. This becomes a spacial emptying experience that leads towards the
mystical insight.
Both Gautama and Pirsig travelled to the high plains of the mind, building
up their awareness and intuition. Once reaching the fertile hign plains of
the mind, the path towards the mystical experience, Enlightenment broadens.
The possibilities available range from the contemplative meditation that
Gautama did under the Bodhi tree in Gaya, to the peyote taken by Phaedrus in
the teepee.
Every shaman, mystic, guru, monk or peace of mind seeker in the last 2600
years has followed a similar path. The difference or similarity between each
is the high plains part of the journey and the type of seed they dropped
into the fertile space to gain the mystical insight.
What Marco points out supports this:
Peyote can help you to have mystical visions...if
you are not a mystic... but I believe that there are infinite ways to DQ.
Where you have fertile plains, any seed planted may grow if supplemented by
the waters of intuition and the radiant energy of meditation. The means to
access the mystical vision is secondary to the actual primordial mystical
experience. It is human nature to first want to know what the mystical
experience is like and then find out the path. The DQ is the value then you
have the way.
Gautama had many teachers to lead him along the path to help develop his
awareness. These teachers assisted Gautama to recognise when his cup was
full and needed emptying in order to go on. Phaedrus also had his teachers,
Dusenberry was one of them. Phaedrus has a reached the point where his cup
was full as well. Reached a point of stuckness and deliberation on how to go
on. Dusenberry was the catalyst. Phaedrus' mind had become static and it
was time to empty the cup. A dynamic insight was needed to start anew.
This puts Marcos' comment in perspective:
My assertion is not that "Dusenberry was responsible for Pirsig's mystical
vision" but that Pirsig's mind was ready for new experiences. And he found
in Dusenberry something that the other professors were not able to find.
It also supports Davids' comment on the importance of the ceremony:
"Phaedrus couldn't have gone that distance without the peyote. He would have
just sat there observing all this objectively like a well-trained
anthropology student. But the peyote prevented that. He didn't OBSERVE, he
participated, exactly as Dusenberry had intended."
Phaedrus had become embalmed in his own static intellectual reasoning.
Whilst he had found a new path it was becoming rigid and needed new space.
It was necessary for Phaedrus to experience something dynamic, unfortunately
for him, he had reached the end of his dynamic intellectual rope. There was
no space to go but down, but he had no means by which to release himself.
Dusenberry was the catalyst.
"The nucleus of this intellectual web was the observation that... Normally
he wouldn't have attached much importance to this, but now, with the peyote
opening up his mind and with his attention having nowhere else to go, he
bored in on it with intensity."
He let go of the intellectual rope he was clinging to and down he went.
Gautama meditated to attain Enlightenment, Phaedrus participated in the
peyote ceremony. However one difference appears to stand out between the
two. Whereas Gautama maintained the connection to the mystical experience,
Phaedrus saw it as a vision/insight. Gautama lived the mystical experience
with every breath for nigh on 50 years afterwards. Phaedrus stepped back
from it to intellectualise it. As a result we have the body of values known
as the MOQ.
The MOQ is an intellectual description of this mystical insight, no? Peyote
was an essential component of the vision quest, and that experience shifted
Pirsig's consciousness in a very profound way.(David B)
Whilst 2600 years ago the Four Noble Truths in their intellectual simplicity
made converts of many people all the world over, the complexity of our lives
today require more insights, more intellectual commentary to the nature of
the world to help us reach these high fertile plains. The path towards
enlightenment is through the intellect. All must tread the path. Pirsig has
given us that commentary of what that path looks like. All those who have
read his work are intuitive to the fact that it is the best path seen in
nigh on 2600 years and has value in our modern culture.
>From it we can learn that it is up to each individual to sow the seeds of
their own experience into these soils. It is not enough to sow them. To reap
the attainment of enlightenment requires meditation. Meditation has value.
It is the disciplined (static) practice of detachment, emptying, freedom,
space creation, intuition and awareness to harvest the Dynamic Quality.
Once it has been harvested, then it is a matter of sustaining that yield.
This is the Tao.
Ke Kite
Andrew
MOQ.org - http://www.moq.org
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat Aug 17 2002 - 16:03:20 BST