Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

the most important thing I took out of ZAMM was the notion of "lateral thinking."basically, it's about seeing the world from a slightly different angle than the one we've been trained to see it from...not unlike Sartre's Nausea...however, whereas it was daunting for Sartre, it's welcome to Pirsig

 

I read this back in the 70's when it came out - I'm afraid I wasn't too impressed. I found it a bit shallow, and misleading as regards both Zen and the ideas of Emmanuel Kant.

 

i'm sorry, i absolutly hated that book. perhaps i would enjoy it more if i knew something about motercycles (my freind's father said thats why he liked it) and had a longer attention span. it just rubbed me the wrong way from the very beginning for some reason

 

The Zen is abit shallow as I recall - ok as a kind of intro to the subject, but I think that in practice Zen is more structured.
Remamber, its years ago I read this..
As to Kant, I would have to reread the book to go into any detail, but I find it hard to eqate what he says of Kant with anything else I have read on Kant's philosophy.

 

My cousin and I actually saw that book in the book store and laughed. It was placed in the Buddhist section.

Thanks for the recommendation though. I might check it out.

 

Zen practitioners might claim that without structured practice, one has no chance of penetrating the heart of Zen. O thers say Zen 'has nothing to say'.

As regards Kant, his work is quite complex and difficult to penetrate, but generally speaking he represents German Idealism as opposed to English Empiricism. In this Prisig is correct, However,where Kant's actual philosophy is concerned, he seems to depart from both Kant and his commentators.

Also, the thing about empiricism is that without it there would never have been a Newton, and hence no motorcycles to maintain with the aid of Zen, Kantian or any other philosophy!

 

From the first pages of the book,
Author's Note:
What follows is based on actual occurrences. Although much has been changed for rhetorical purposes, it must be regarded in its essence as fact. However, it should in no way be associated with that great body of factual information relating to orthodox Zen Buddhist practice. It's not very factual on motorcycles, either.

 

thank you nightmare! you saved me from having to go into some psyche-babble that could've ended up more confusing than it was worth....thanks for explaining that most essential point....

it's funny how that was the most stressed point right in the beginning, and people STILL miss it lol

 

I haven't readi tyet, but my best friend swears by it, he gives away copies regulary as well!

 

Hello all! I would like to know how many of you have read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", and what you think of it. What are your thoughts on romantic vs. classical, Phaedrus, and The Great Truth...?
Hopefully millions of people will reply and this will be the most popular thread on the Books forum! My English teacher said that it was her ALL-TIME FAVORITE book, so certainly it is worth discussion on the Hip Forums.

 

i must confess i didn't read it. somehow, it always slipped from my hands, but now it's a sure thing. for everybody who want to read it, here is online version
http://bonigv.tripod.com/
http://www.virtualschool.edu/mon/Quality/PirsigZen/index.html

 

i read it a long time ago (and the sequel lila)

anyways, my take-home message was about the [size=-1]Chautauqua [/size]--follow the scenic route, stay off the main highways both when travelling in a vehicle and metaphorically while living your life and you're bound to have a much more interesting experience. i also love the way pirsig talks about reading chautauqua style to his son--they would read a sentance or two out of the book, and then spend as much time as they wanted discussing the concepts they discovered. it could take years to read a book that way, but wow!

 

Love your sig pic, nimh! Did you read Mrs. Frisby...?
Anyways, all you eager little bookworms should read this book. If you're just browsing this thread, well, I think you should just give it a go anyways. And plus, Mr. Zeljko-H has been kind enough to provide you all with a free online version.
As soon as I've finished the book I will be able to post more enlightening comments...

 

yes! how delightful that you recognized the connection. most people think that i've mis-spelled nymph

i think another important part of zataomm is the interconnectedness of everything. how you can totally tune into your surroundings and be able to intuit what needs to be done to keep things running copesetically

 

It's been a while since I read it, but I remember that it really made me think. Some of the thoughts he expressed made a lot of sense to me, while others flew right over my head.


I should probably read it again.

 

i'll check it out sometime.sounds interesting.i remember another title "the zen art of archery"

 

just finished it.I enjoyed it....had to concentrate and re read a few parts,but it holds up well even today-