John said:
Sincere thanks to Paco and David for cordial, thoughtful, and supportive
replies to my recent post, which was, I confess, somewhat deliberately
"baited". David, your reply affirms the basic goodness and openness that Dr.
Pirsig always manifested. You truly participate in the spirit of his
affirmation of the Good. ... Thank you both, and thank you all, for showing
that mutually affirming dialogue is possible among people of good will in this
often contentious and sometimes petty forum.
dmb says:
Supportive replies and affirming dialogue? Quite the opposite. I posted the
quotes from Lila in order to show the MOQ's opposition to your claim.
" ...rituals are seen as merely a static portrayal of Dynamic Quality, a
sign-post which allows socially pattern-dominated people to see Dynamic
Quality." As I read it, Pirsig is saying that ritualistic religion is static
social quality. To the extent that these static patterns are mistaken for what
they merely represent, such rituals "destroy the Dynamic Quality they were
originally intended to preserve." (Lila, p.385)
"Phaedrus thought sectarian religion was a static social fallout from Dynamic
Quality," he says, and "it would certainly be a mistake to think that the MOQ
endorses the static beliefs of any particular religious sect". (Lila, p.376)
"In all religions bishops tend to gild Dynamic Quality with all sorts of static
interpretations because their cultures require it. But these interpretations
become like golden vines that cling to a tree, shut out its sunlight and
eventually strangle it." (Lila, p.377)
Pirsig repeatedly issues the same sort of warning with respect to intellectual
static patterns. Metaphysics is a 30,000 page menu but we ought not try to eat
the menu. We don't mistake static intellectual portraits of DQ for DQ itself
either. Static patterns of either kind can help evoke an experience of the
"transcendent", if you're lucky, but the opposite effect is far more likely. A
"transcendent" experience is more likely to shatter those fossilized, brittle
and rigid truths of the past than affirm them.
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