On 20 Feb 2010 at 20:24, Khoo Hock Aun wrote: > Hi Platt, > > > > Bo: > > > As said a couple of times I think Pirsig's prostrating himself before > > > Buddhism is directly counterproductive after having "received" a much > > > clearer Western system of wisdom that turns circles round the woolly > > > Oriental article. > > > > Platt in response to Bo: > > Yes I think Buddhism is indeed "wooly" if not downright "hippie." > > > > > Khoo asks: > You agree with Bo on this "woolly" description of Buddhism and say its > "hippie" which to me is reminiscent of > San Francisco, the flower people and Woodstock. I am really curious why this > is so for you. Do you have a Buddhist for a neighbour? > Is he woolly ? Please, pray tell why. Its interesting that the Dalai Lama > comes a-visiting and Tiger Woods now wants to re-affirm > his Buddhist upbringing, all this week itself. And the hippie part, the LSD, > the free love and the abandonment ? > Are there any more hippies in America and do they still represent a > counter-culture to the establishment ?
>From Wiki: "Hippie philosophy also credits the religious and spiritual teachings of Jesus Christ, Hillel the Elder, Buddha, Mazdak, St. Francis of Assisi, Henry David Thoreau, and Gandhi." With all those influences the result is bound to be "woolly." There are still some hippies around, mostly in California. But the movement is largely kaput. > > Platt in further response to Bo: > > Would it have been better if he had d stopped after ZAMM and not > > written Lila? Maybe so. But then there would be no MOQ. Right? > > > > > Khoo asks: > Does Lila, the sequel to ZAMM have no value to you while ZAMM does. Its > interesting that I always thought what defined and differentiated ZAMM from > Lila, was that it was an enquiry into values, a question for the individual > in terms of purpose and existence, while LILA makes the perfect companion > book that which enquires into morals, a question of behaviour and conduct > for an individual too, but in the context of a community, society or a > collective. Values are what you think as an individual and morals are your > expressed behaviours based on those values. Maybe no one can govern what you > think, but society does very much govern how you behave. And the MOQ in Lila > very much addresses that. Like you I believe Lila makes the "perfect companion" to ZAMM. In fact, in many ways I find it better. But I'm willing to be convinced otherwise. Please note that my question was to Bo. It wasn't intended to reflect my views. > > Platt finally: > > So should he have written the MOQ or not? Maybe he should have > > shown that we're immersed in Quality whether we know it or not (like he > > did to his students) and let it go at that. > > > > Khoo further asks: > > I am not sure whether you share the same understanding of the MOQ as I do > but it seems to be that what he started would be unfinished if he let it go > at that. I really looked forward to a sequel after ZAMM. Did he write Lila > for himself or for us ? The question to ask is whether Pirsig did a > disservice to Quality in ZAMM, to himself and to us all when he wrote of the > MOQ in Lila. Do you really think so ? I really want to know. No, I don't think so. But, I'm curious to learn what Bo thinks. That's why I asked him. Best regards, Platt Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
