[MD] The Individual Level

[Ant McWatt]

Platt stated July 7th:

>Another reason why the intellectual level might better be called the
>individual level:
>
>‘For purposes of MOQ precision, let’s say that the intellectual level
>is the same as mind. It is the collection and manipulation of symbols,
>created in the brain, that stand for patterns of experience.’ (LC, #25)
>
>‘The brain,’ a biological pattern, exists only in the individual. There
>is no such thing as a social or collective brain.

Ant McWatt comments:

Firstly, social patterns exist in the brain just as much as intellectual 
patterns.  As with notions of honor, thrift etc, the only place a 
“collective” mind possibly doesn’t exist in a brain (or, at least, is of no 
value) is a person stranded by themselves on a desert island.

Secondly, the notion of the individual (in the MOQ) is a social pattern, 
and;

Thirdly, as I mentioned before in reference to Walpola Rahula’s ‘What the 
Buddha Taught’, the clinging to the sense of individual or ego is not 
mentally healthy i.e. leads to dukkha.  The same point is made in Steve 
Hagen’s book ‘Buddhism, Plain & Simple’ which Pirsig cites as the nearest 
Buddhist text to the MOQ.  (Both Pirsig and Hagen attended the Minnesota Zen 
center in the 1970s and knew the Zen master Dainin Katagiri Roshi).

See the following review of Hagen’s book for more details:

In this country, where we cherish the idea of ‘being number one,’ extol self 
esteem as a great virtue, and are taught, beginning as infants, that 
happiness comes from the acquisition of things, ego-centeredness is bound to 
be a big problem for each of us. By ‘things,’ I mean not just physical 
assets -- property, toys, impressive cars, etc. -- but also relationships, 
status, personal power, and, for some, the escapist pleasures that come from 
drug use or promiscuity. All of these things are supposed to bring us joy. 
‘For God’s sake,’ we cry out, ‘give me something, anything, to quickly 
distract me from the moment at hand.’ These distractions are plentiful -- 
abundant beyond count ... and in the long run THEY DON’T WORK!

If the core task of Buddhism is to rip away the mask of illusory ego, by 
having us not be creatures enslaved by covetousness and yearning, this is 
the opposite of what we are taught to do to enhance our happiness and to 
advance our social and economic status. From this standpoint, Buddhism seems 
unAmerican, doesn’t it? But Steve Hagen, in his well-titled book ‘Buddhism, 
Plain and Simple’ widens our viewpoint, as he transcends any supposed 
conflict between Buddhism and the American Way. In a few short words, I 
would say that its main theme is that THERE IS NOTHING TO DO, ONLY SOMETHING 
TO SEE.

Those of us who are familiar with Buddhism are already very cognizant of the 
four noble truths and the eightfold path, yet in his book Hagen goes into 
each in such a way that he answered questions I had about a few of them. 
While the book might be difficult for readers who have no knowledge of what 
Buddhism is about, it would be a good beginning for them. And it is likely 
to help many advanced Buddhists to see their religion in a new light.

Early on in the book, Hagen writes:

“You are already enlightened. All you’ve got to do is stop blocking yourself 
and get serious about attending to what’s going on. You are not lacking a 
thing. You need only to stop blocking or interpreting your vision.’ How easy 
it is to get caught up in our thoughts, to let that override the direct 
perception of what is at hand. One of the things I used to glibly do when 
some friend would ask me what Buddhism was about, was to answer that it was 
about living in the now. I stopped doing that when a friend asked me, ‘I 
don’t understand what you mean, but okay, so how many nows are in an hour?’ 
It is to this moment -- the moment right now, while you’re reading words in 
this sentence -- the only moment there is, that the book is directed…”

Through the years I have wrestled with the paradox of desiring to be 
desire-less. It’s a silly struggle, perhaps, but one that was difficult for 
me to contend with, much less overcome. Hagen addresses this problem quite 
well when he writes:

“If we’re not expecting to get anything from being awake, what reason do we 
have to awaken? There isn’t any reason. You already know what not being 
awake is. It’s confusion. It’s pain. It’s suffering. It’s dukkha. If you’re 
getting tired of that, why don’t you stop?”

Well, why don’t we?

When I read the words of the ancient Ch’an Masters -- such as Hui Hai, Huang 
Po, and Bodhidharma -- I came to realize that conceptual thinking was the 
greatest impediment to awareness. However, I also know that to live in the 
culture and society in which I do, to lead the existence that I have, even 
to type words on my computer for this review, I have to think conceptually. 
Hagen addresses this dilemma:

“The problem is not so much that we [conceptualize]. In fact, we can hardly 
help but [do it]. ... The real problem is that we are caught by our 
concepts. We don’t have to grant them power or accuracy or validity that 
they don’t have. We simply need to recognize that our concepts are not 
Reality.”

Years ago, Ram Dass titled one of his books Be Here Now -- which most times 
is tough to do! It is nice that we now have Steve Hagen’s Buddhism, Plain 
and Simple to point us in the right direction ... it’s the finger directing 
us toward awareness.

http://www.zenunbound.com/plainsimple.html

============================================

If you really must have a notion of a ‘Quality principled person’, I think 
Arlo’s summary of some ideas from ZMM is the best one recently posted on 
this discussion group so far:

“A ‘Quality principled person’ is someone who respects the oneness of life. 
S/he
is patient, egoless and possesses a ‘beginner’s mind’. S/he holds her values
flexibly, and can be seen as filled with gumption. S/he dislikes 
specialization, and is an excellent all-rounder. In her/his work, she 
demonstrates no division between art and practice, and her/his work can be 
seen as possessing beauty because of their unselfconscious way of looking at 
things.”

Best wishes,

Anthony.


www.robertpirsig.org

.

_________________________________________________________________
The new MSN Search Toolbar now includes Desktop search! 
http://join.msn.com/toolbar/overview