[MD] New Model Army, Mystic(DQ) Experience, and Religion (SQ) as Power

[david buchanan]

Stephen H thinks that these quotes reveal a contradiction in Pirsig:

310 ZMM:
"I like it also because it describes exactly what happens to someone who 
connects with Quality.  He gets filled with gumption.  The Greeks called it 
"enthousiasmos, the root of "enthusiasm," which means literally "filled with 
theos," or God, or Quality.  See how that fits?"

262 ZMM:
"In the area of Religion, the rational relationship of Quality to the 
Godhead needs to be more thoroughly established, and this I hope to do much 
later on.  For the time being one can meditate on the fact that the old 
English roots for the Buddha and Quality, God and good, appear to be 
identical."

dmb says:
I don't think these comments contradict other Pirsig quotes or the points 
I've been making about theism - and I can only guess why you think they do. 
Do you imagine that these etymological observations are an endorsement of 
theism? That would be my guess. What I see here is Pirsig talking about the 
meaningful connections between words and ideas. What I see here is Pirsig 
trying to broaden the concepts about God. He's connecting it with everyday 
activities and with concepts that reach back in time and around the globe. 
As I see it, the problem with theism is that it is not broad or global. It 
makes very exclusive and specific claims about God. I just don't think that 
mere use of the word constitutes an endorsement. In fact, there is a quote 
in ZAMM where Pirsig asserts that Quality is the source of all the world's 
religions. That's what I'm talking about. The difference between the bishop 
and the mystic, for example, is described. The connections between insanity 
and religion and mysticism is described too.That's what I'm talking about.

thanks
dmb

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