[MD] Pirsiq and Depression

[Mike Craghead]

Hi Folks!

Perhaps you can clear this up for me. Most of ZAMM and Lila rang true 
for me, some was very practical, some just made general metaphysical 
sense. But there was a sticking point for me that I'm having trouble 
digesting: the allowance made for depression.
[Please forgive my lack of specific references; I've lent my copy of 
Lila to a friend (raise your hand if your copy is missing for the same 
reason!). And I know next to nothing about "clinical" depression or any 
other flavor thereof, beyond my own experience with "normal" teenage 
angst and "normal" adult frustration.]

In Lila (If memory serves) Pirsig talks about letting a depressed state 
run it's course, sort of "rolling" with it as part of the way things 
are, and accepting it as part of a process. (Note: this wasn't the 
"stuckness" problem for which Pirsig provides sound advice, but the 
tolerance of a real state of depression). This didn't really jibe for 
me; I found it a passive and counterproductive idea. I've always felt 
like depression was a problem to correct, not a means to an end.

On a side note, this brings up another issue that kept popping up while 
I read Pirsig's books: they are vehicles to explain a worldview, but are 
they hoping we'll agree? Are they self-help books or opinion pieces? I 
sat my kids down and read them the "gumption trap" section because I 
found it (and find it) very helpful and practical. But there are 
passages throughout both books which feel more like justification than 
philosophy: Lila was written to define the MOQ, but was it also written 
to justify actions that RMP felt awkward about? Was ZAMM born of the 
desire to explain RMP's irrational behavior to the folks who'd written 
him off so long ago?

I feel like some of these issues might be coloring the impressions of 
Pirsig's "detractors," and I'd like to hammer out a bulletproof response 
in case I meet one of them in a dark alley.

Further digression:
ZAMM was in the "Philosophy" section at Borders, but Lila was in 
"Fiction." Begging the question: is Borders run by pinheads, or did Mr. 
Pirsig just choose the wrong title for the sequel?

I'm sure I'll answer all of my own questions soon (I'm a recent MOQ 
recruit and to date have only read ZAMM & Lila -brace yourselves!- 
once!), but until I've completed readings #2 through 57, please chime in!

Thanks,

Mike Craghead
humboldtmusic.com
humboldtmusic.com/mc
humboldtmusic.com/sarimike