[MD] Selfishness a Buddhist idea?

[Ant McWatt]

Platt asked September 25th:

In today's New York Times is an article about Ayn Rand's influence on
business people. About halfway through the article is this:

“Ms. Moore, a benefactor of the University of South Carolina, spoke of her
debt to Rand in 1998, when the business school at the university was named
in Ms. Moore's honor. “As a woman and a Southerner,” she said, “I thrived
on Rand's message that only quality work counted, not who you are.” Rand's
idea of “the virtue of selfishness,” Ms. Moore said, “is a harsh phrase for
the Buddhist idea that you have to take care of yourself.”

Is this another case of the NY Times getting the story wrong? Or is Ms.
Moore out of her mind?

Assuming neither is this case, can anyone explain the “Buddhist idea
that you have to take care of yourself?”

Ant McWatt comments:

Though I'd agree with Ms. Moore's sentiment that it's quality work that 
counts not who you are, it appears that either the NY Times or Ms. Moore is 
confused somewhere along the line.  Anyway, if it's any help, the phrase 
“The Buddhist idea that you have to take care of yourself” sounds very 
similar to the Pirsigian idea that:

“The real cycle you’re working on is a cycle called yourself. The machine 
that appears to be ‘out there’ and the person that appears to be ‘in here’ 
are not two separate things. They grow toward Quality or fall away from 
Quality together.”  (ZMM, Chapter 26)

“Zen Buddhists talk about ‘just sitting,’ a meditative practice in which the 
idea of a duality of self and object does not dominate one’s consciousness. 
What I’m talking about here in motorcycle maintenance is ‘just fixing,’ in 
which the idea of a duality of self and object doesn’t dominate one’s 
consciousness. When one isn’t dominated by feelings of separateness from 
what he’s working on, then one can be said to ‘care’ about what he’s doing. 
That is what caring really is, a feeling of identification with what one’s 
doing. When one has this feeling then he also sees the inverse side of 
caring, Quality itself.”

“So the thing to do when working on a motorcycle, as in any other task, is 
to cultivate the peace of mind which does not separate one’s self from one’s 
surroundings. When that is done successfully then everything else follows 
naturally. Peace of mind produces right values, right values produce right 
thoughts. Right thoughts produce right actions and right actions produce 
work which will be a material reflection for others to see of the serenity 
at the center of it all.”  (ZMM, Chapter 25)


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