[MF] MOQ and theism

[Marty Jorgensen]

Thanks to Kevin and Mike for your responses on living a life of quality.
Since the original subject is theism, I have often suspected that dynamic
Quality is a description for what some would refer to as God; not in the
sense of a supreme being, but more in line with a Tao-like definition.  My
dictionary defines theism thusly:  "Belief in the existence of a god or
gods, especially belief in a personal God as creator and ruler of the
world."  So if the broader definition is used, (belief in the existence of a
god or gods), then I would say that the MOQ could easily be seen as
theistic, although not in the traditional "God as supreme being" sense. If
theism can be defined as a belief in a guiding force or creative source from
which everything flows, then Quality could be defined as that force or
"god", could it not?  Perhaps Pirsig means to replace traditional religious
beliefs with this broader notion of Quality, and if he does, then the MOQ is
certainly theistic.

Perhaps living a life of Quality IS a spiritual path.

Marty J

-----Original Message-----
From: moq_focus-bounces at moqtalk.org [mailto:moq_focus-bounces at moqtalk.org]
On Behalf Of Michael Hamilton
Sent: Friday, December 30, 2005 8:04 PM
To: moq_focus at moqtalk.org
Subject: Re: [MF] MOQ and theism

Hi Marty,

You asked:
> Question for you, Kevin.  What does it mean to "Live a life of Quality"?
> What would such a life look like?  Is it merely an INTENTION to live a
> certain way, or do you envision a path to follow, that any man could
> emulate?  Would a "life of Quality" require certain activities and
restrict
> others?  I'm curious about what you have in mind when you suggest this.

That's no small question! For me, it's the most important question,
and one that all philosophy should aim at. I love ZMM because the
central part of Pirsig's writing, Quality, is all about life and life
experience.

I don't think that a life of Quality requires "certain activities" or
restrictions in any absolute sense. The point of undefined Quality or
undefined Dynamic Quality is that we can't create any complete recipe
for goodness. But, of course, there are certain SQ patterns that we
can put our faith in, such as the ones Kevin mentioned: honesty and
compassion. Kevin also said that we should be "aware", and I strongly
agree with this, because it implies openness to DQ.

Also, I don't think we can say that Quality is only about intentions
or only about actions. It's about the whole thing, the whole of life.

Many thanks for your thought-provoking questions!

Mike
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