[MD] Step One

[118]

Cheers, thanks dmb.

My opinion is that once a book is written in the fictional realm, the author
releases himself from the character.  The reader then interprets the
character as he sees fit.  In this way, a character continues to grow.  So,
I suppose it doesn't really matter what RMP meant, he has no control over
what the character becomes.  The character takes on a life of its own which
is neither correct or incorrect.  One can read a book many different ways, I
wish there weren't so many books to read!  I have returned to ZMM over the
years for a reread, and find something new which jibes with what I have
learned over that time.  Intentional or not, it doesn't really matter.  I
love poetry for that reason, it always seems to fit the mood.

Thanks again,
Mark

On Mon, Oct 18, 2010 at 10:10 PM, david buchanan <dmbuchanan at hotmail.com>wrote:

>
> Hey Mark
> Somebody asked Pirsig that same question. He said he was just going for a
> name that suited the character and he thought of a lilac bush because of
> it's aggressive beauty and unsubtle perfume. But he probably was exposed to
> the concept of Lila as a cosmic dance or play when he studied in India and
> words are just kind of magic sometimes. So even though the author did not
> have a conscious intention to invoke that deeper meaning, I think it's there
> anyway. People certainly WANT to read it that way and it makes a certain
> amount of sense. On the other hand, that chick was total mess so maybe she's
> mostly just Lila the bar lady, the one who wears too much bad perfume.
>
> dmb
>
>
>
> > Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2010 22:24:49 -0700
> > From: ununoctiums at gmail.com
> > To: moq_discuss at moqtalk.org
> > Subject: Re: [MD] Step One
> >
> > Hi dmb,
> >
> > Perhaps you can answer this question I have been wondering about.  Does
> the
> > use of the name Lila have anything to do with the sanskrit Lila?  This
> would
> > be like the playground, or even Reality.  Sometimes I have likened Lila
> to
> > Maya in a general way.  I tried reading the book once with that in mind,
> but
> > perhaps I am on the wrong track and over reading.
> >
> > I will not dispute or follow up on any answer you give, I am just really
> > interested in your input on this.  You may have answered this in the
> past.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Mark
> >
> > On Sun, Oct 17, 2010 at 2:55 PM, david buchanan <dmbuchanan at hotmail.com
> >wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Dan said:
> > > ... I recall Mary getting upset that he would have an affair with a bar
> > > lady while he was still married. And yet he told me himself that he was
> > > Lila, and the boat, and the rest of the story as well. That's what I am
> > > driving at. You are the story. How does your life pertain the MOQ. You.
> Not
> > > the people or places in your life. Do you see what I mean? I know I am
> > > explaining myself poorly but it is a difficult subject.
> > >
> > >
> > > dmb says:
> > >
> > > The same principle applies in dreams and fiction. Everyone in your
> dreams
> > > is you and everyone in the movie is an aspect of the hero.
> > >
> > >
> > > Lila's breakdown is very much like Pirsig's. In those final scenes,
> after
> > > Lila slashes Jamie across the face with a knife and they have to make a
> > > quick escape before the police arrive, he was telling us what what
> > > "insanity" is like from the inside. It's not just autobiographical, of
> > > course, because "Lila's battle is everybody's battle" and her status
> serves
> > > as the book's central koan.
> > >
> > >
> > > These final chapters are also where we find the discussion of William
> > > James, beginning with the question about that squirrel. His discussion
> of
> > > plural truths and pragmatic truths is intertwined with his discussions
> about
> > > the relation between insanity and truth and the similarities between
> > > insanity and mysticism. And he brings all of this together to answer
> the
> > > riddle of Lila.
> > >
> > >
> > > "What he thought was, that in addition to the usual solutions to
> insanity -
> > > stay locked up or learn to conform - there is a third one, to reject
> ALL
> > > movies, private and cultural, and head for Dynamic Quality itself,
> which is
> > > no movie at all.   ...evolution doesn't take place only within
> societies, it
> > > takes place within individuals too." (Lila, p. 360)
> > >
> > >
> > > "Just as mystics traditionally seek monasteries and ashrams and
> hermitages
> > > as retreats into isolation and silence, so are the insane treated by
> > > isolation in places of relative calm and austerity and silence.
> Sometimes,
> > > as a result of this monastic retreat into silence and isolation the
> patient
> > > arrives at a stat Karl Menninger has described as 'better than cured.'
> He is
> > > actually in better condition than he was before the insanity started.
> > > Phaedrus guessed that in many of the 'accidental' cases, the patient
> had
> > > learned by himself not to cling to any static patterns of ideas -
> cultural,
> > > private or other." (Lila, p 375)
> > >
> > >
> > > "That's what Lila's involved in now, a huge VACATION, an emptying out
> of
> > > the junk of her life. She's clinging to some new pattern because she
> thinks
> > > it holds back the old pattern. But what she has to do is take a
> vacation
> > > from ALL patterns, old and new, and just settle into a kind of
> emptiness for
> > > a while. And if she does, the culture has a moral obligation not to
> bother
> > > her. The most moral activity of all is the creation of space for life
> to
> > > move onward." (Lila, p 376)
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Her also talks about the Dharmakaya light all through these last
> chapters
> > > and he remarks that he'd seen that light around Lila, way back in the
> > > beginning. The "quality" he saw was her dynamic nature, she was already
> > > beginning to break up, the static patterns of her life were already
> > > beginning to unravel. At the end of such a process one can come out the
> > > other side better than before. Or you can remain a culture of one and
> be
> > > locked up forever, like common criminal without the respect. Regenerate
> or
> > > degenerate. It goes both ways.
> > >
> > >
> > > Or you can go with Rigel and become a church lady.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
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