[MD] humpty dumpty

[Dan Glover]

Hello everyone

On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 1:02 PM, Joseph  Maurer <jhmau at comcast.net> wrote:
> Hi Dan and All,
>
> Pirsig proposes a metaphysical difference between DQ and SQ.  DQ is
> indefinable experience and SQ is definable experience.  Seeing the Sun is
> definable experience.  But there is a time lag.  Maybe the sun is exploding
> while you are watching, and you will need to get into your space ship to
> escape destruction from the explosion.  DQ is indefinable experience, and
> IMHO you will know there is something wrong with the sun, and maybe you can
> escape the destruction in your faster than light space ship.

Hi Joe

Thank you for writing!

Seeing the sun means I have defined what I am seeing. Direct
experience comes before the definition of seeing the sun. I cannot
speak of it at all. That is how I know without believing; that newly
dawning moment of awareness is both full of surprise and yet empty of
the prejudice that chains me to words.

We are born. We flourish a short while. We pass away. This is called
the nature of things. Yes, the sun will one day explode. The earth
will wither into a burnt blackened husk. That's why we should cherish
what we have, today. Right now. There is no escape for any of us.

I remember as a young boy watching my great grandmother plant an apple
tree. It was but a sapling. She told me with a twinkle in her eyes how
one day she would be able to bake pies made from the apples grown on
that tree. Even then I wondered at the wisdom of such an old woman
planning to pluck such a harvest. Didn't she realize that she would
never live long enough to see even one apple from that tree?

I didn't understand a thing. Perhaps I still don't...

Thank you,

Dan

http://www.danglover.com