Pirisig is wrestling with a few existential questions, which I will reformulate as: Why is our world filled with so much ugliness? Why do we make crappy, ugly things? Why do so many folks live crappy, ugly lives?
Hah. Those are pretty zingy questions. According to Pirsig it comes down to a lack of caring, a lack of being aware & of paying attention, a lack of peace of mind. After all the searching, all the fireworks, we come to a few basic tools.
Yes. It all sounds so plain & obvious, but at the same time, you nod your head and say "of course."
We all can easily and completely transform our lives just by adjusting our approach to living. Everything we think, everything we say, everything we do can be enriched and fortified by being more mindful, by choosing to do what we love to do, by choosing to do everything we do with utmost care and attention, by caring for ourselves and others too, by paying attention to all the little details, by finding "flow activities" that we love to do, doing them as often and with as much gusto as possible, by taking the time to practice the discipline of sitting quietly to allow inner peace to emerge from the depths of our being.
Hah. Right. Of course. And we can all transform the world if we all do these simple things every day. Everyone can play the game: Business, Politics, the Arts, Science, you know, all human activity & every realm can be transformed. Is it a dream of some kind of heady Utopia? Not really, just a way of living with Quality, The Tao, The Buddha.
"Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding is all you see..." - J. Lennon.
Yes. Instead, living with Eyes Wide Open. That's the ticket!
