Marsha, Thank you. I'm astounded by the coincidence that recent posts from you, Mark and John under different subject headings all focus on thought's limits and the Buddhist belief that, as Pirsig wrote, "Thought is not a path to reality."
Unlike many other thinkers, Pirsig acknowledges thought's shortcomings at the outset of Lila. "Quality is essentially outside definition, this means that a "Metaphysics of Quality" is essentially a contradiction in terms, a logical absurdity." But, he goes on to conclude, "Getting drunk and picking up bar-ladies and writing metaphysics is a part of life." Further, in a letter to Ant, he rationalized the value of the MOQ by saying, "Finally, though it may be argued that a metaphysics that incorporates a central term that isn't defined (i.e. Dynamic Quality) isn't a real metaphysics, it can also be argued that the strength of the MOQ is its ability to incorporate the indeterminate divine within a coherent and logical paradigm." Here we see admitted that thinking about reality boils down to "argument." On the one hand, we have the Buddhist understanding that reality cannot be divided. On the other hand, we have the MOQ understanding based on the axiom that some things are better than others, implying a divided reality. The irony is that the Buddhist understanding of reality cannot be argued. All the Buddhist can say is, "See for yourself." Which is why you, I and others find reality in art whose value strikes the senses directly, prior to argument, and why those who have sold their souls to thought are inclined to dismiss us as "airheads." We threaten their deepest beliefs by winking at their arguments and having fun, like Mark's brilliant spoof, the "Cheese Theory." Thanks for the quote from Alan B. Wallace. Platt On Fri, Nov 19, 2010 at 4:00 AM, MarshaV <[email protected]> wrote: > > Platt, > > Speaking of mystical poetry - your words. Thank you. > > > Marsha > > > > 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/md/archives.html
