As promised - here is my final catch up on my Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance reading to date (I'm up to page 239). It picks up on the mountain climbing motif I talked of a few posts ago. Remember that Pirsig is using the allegory of the physical mountain for the spiritual one that stands between each soul and its goal. Do try to keep up!
And stop slouching!
Here's Pirsig again:
"Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then, when you're no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn't just a means to an end but a unique event in itself. This leaf has jagged edges. This rock looks loose. From this place the snow is less visible, even though closer. These are things you should notice anyway. To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here's where things grow. But, of course, without the top you can't have any sides. It's the top that defines the sides. So on we go...we have a long way...no hurry...just one step after the next...mental reflection is so much more interesting than TV it's a shame more people don't switch over to it. They probably think that what they hear is unimportant but it never is."Okay - there are a lot of resonances here for me. Here are some - I like the one-day-at-a-time philosophy (that's why you have a line from Lennon's song in the title). It aligns with the 'be here now' buddhist idea. More alignment comes from the 'your focus is your reality' quote from Qui-Gon Jinn and a whakatoki (Maori proverb): Ki te hamama popoia te tangata, e kore e mau te ika. Translates to 'if a man spends his nights yawning, he will not catch any fish'.
Love and peace - W
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