The Book "Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" (ZMM), Should Be Seen (& USED) As “A Westerners Guide To Eastern Thought & Experience.”

“Most Especially From Standpoint of The Ancient Chinese Book of Wisdom, 6th Century BC” => “The Tao Te Ching” by “Lao Tsu”. ''

My Own Zen Experience With ZMM by Henry Gurr ZMMQ SiteMaster.
… Any person who grows up in their own family and community thinks that what they see, experience, learn, and understand are altogether normal, functional, and adequate for life. In other words, each human, per normal, automatically adopts and assimilates what they’ve lived, and thus becomes a living example of their Culture.

… For myself, I grew up seeing my Western Culture as pretty much normal and workable. Thus-and it has been both hard to believe and a bit of a shock to realize as middle age adult-that there are whole areas of knowledge where my grounding assumptions, and even my knowledge itself, is proven just plain wrong, or very misleading, or is at best quite inadequate.

… In other words, my knowledge and understanding was in need if some pretty serious revision, but I didn’t know it! Even as a physicist with a PhD I had vast areas of UN-knowing and ignorance, most particularly Eastern Culture And Thought.

… And thus, it is my good fortune that, I’ve become aware of other knowledge systems which, although limited in their own way, have positive insights. Among these is Robert Pirsig’s Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. This book became, for me, A Westerners Guide To Eastern Thought & Experience, most especially from standpoint of The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu.

… By 2006 I had read Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance perhaps eight times, and of course knew that ZMM had Zen and Eastern discussions. Plus, I was long aware that Pirsig extensively quotes (and discusses) the Tao Te Ching (in Chapter 20).

But, despite the above, I have to admit that I was slow to see the REAL, FULL, EXTENSIVE extent of Zen Messages Built Into ZMM. This only changed, when I had my own illumination (Feb 2006), when I discovered the followingITALICIZED passages (see below), on the back of a "Tao Te Ching Translation". ….

… Only then did I FULLY REALIZE HOW EXTENSIVELY Robert Pirsig has written the Zen Major Motif Themes (effectively principles) of Lao Tsu’s '' into in his book "Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". Only then, did I begin to fully understand this =>

To see what I mean, I suggest you read the following passage slowly, thoughtfully, and meditatively:

Please read the following ITALICIZED …. Slowly …. Thoughtfully …. Meditatively …. With your best Zen-Aware Attitude!

You Should Be Aware That => The BELOW Tao Te Ching Meditative Reading Summarizes the Zen Built Into Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZMM).

A Tao Te Ching Meditative Reading Summarizes Effectively => The Zen Built Into Robert Pirsig’s Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

… "The philosophy of Lao Tsu is simple: Accept what is in front of you, without wanting the situation to be other than it is, Study the natural order of things, and work with it, rather than against it, for to try to change what is, only sets up resistance. Nature provides everything, without requiring payment or thanks, and also provides for all, without discrimination — therefore let us present the same face to everyone, and treat all men as equals, however they may behave. If we watch carefully, we will see that work proceeds more quickly and easily, if we stop ‘trying’, if we stop putting in so much extra effort, if we stop looking for results. In the clarity of a still and open mind, truth will be reflected. We will come to appreciate the original meaning, of the word ‘understand’, which means ‘to stand under’. We serve whatever or whoever stands before us, without any thought for ourselves. Te — which may be translated as ‘virtue’ or ‘strength’ — lies always In Tao, or ‘natural law’. In other words: Simply be."

The Above Meditative Reading, Is From =>
View Gia-fu Feng and Jane English’s classic translation of Tao Te Ching,, on Amazon’s “Look Inside the Book”.
[NOTE: Amazon no longer shows the above mentioned“Meditative Reading” on the back cover of this translation. ]

In The Above Meditative Reading , You Will Notice Sentence Ending Period Marks, As Well As Lots Of Comma Marks. Most Of These Comma’s Are There Added, So I Can Explain This Following =>

ATTEBTION => In the ABOVE “Meditative Reading, (Set Off By 28 Comma Or Period Mark), Please Go Back And Mentally “Pick-Out” 28 Zen Phrases =>
…AND Know That =>EACH ONE Of These Zen Phrases Identifies One Of => The Many Major Motif Themes Of Discussion In ZMM Book.
… AND although not specifically identified in ZMM, these 28 “Zen Themes”, as well as many more, are points of emphasis, really pointed messages for the perceptive reacer, which arise naturally throughout Pirsig’s book!! These we will call => “Continuing Zen Major Motif Themes”, that weave throughout ZMM’s chapters.

SUMMARY: These 28 “Zen Major Motif Themes”, Continuing Throughout The ZMM Book, Can Help Westerners To Apply Zen Principles To Their Own Lives!

Wikipedia Offers Its Own Discussion & Examples of How Westerners Can Connect To The Incredibly Important Life-Lessons, Taught By the Tao Te Ching:

So you may read more about Lao Tzu’s Ideas, which specifically support the essence of what ZMM says. I have especially selected the following excerpts from Wikipedia
Page The Wikipedia Paragraph (first below), very well explains what Pirsig says throughout ZMM.

Tao Te Ching, Discussion, & Passages, Excerpts from Wikipedia.
… The Tao Te Ching praises self-gained knowledge with emphasis on that knowledge being gained with humility. When what one person has experienced is put into words and transmitted to others, so doing risks giving unwarranted status to what inevitably must have had a subjective tinge. Moreover, it will be subjected to another layer of interpretation and subjectivity when read and learned by others. This kind of knowledge (or "book learning"), like desire, should be diminished. "It was when intelligence and knowledge appeared that the Great Artifice began." (chap. 18, tr. Waley)

And so, "The pursuit of learning is to increase day after day.

The pursuit of Tao, is to decrease the doing of the self, day after day." (chap. 48, tr. W. T. Chan)

The Following 7 Groups Of Tao Te Ching, Enigmatic Poetic Assertions, Are Very Similar To Similar Assertions, Which Pirsig Offers In Chapter 20 Of ZMM.
…((For your convenience I have duplicated Pirsig’s version of the Tao Te Ching, ~16 inches below, where you may read them. ))

Philosophical vacuity is a common theme among Asian philosophical traditions including Taoism (especially Wu wei "effortless action"), Buddhism, and some aspects of Confucianism. One could interpret the Tao Te Ching as a suite of variations on the "Powers of Nothingness". This predates the Buddhist Shunyata philosophy of "form is emptiness, emptiness is form" by half a millennium.

Looking at a traditional Chinese Landscape, one can understand how emptiness (the unpainted) has the power of animating the trees, mountains, and rivers it surrounds. Emptiness can mean having no fixed preconceptions, preferences, intentions, or agenda. Since "The Sage has no heart of his own; He uses the heart of the people as his heart." (chap. 49, tr. Waley). From a ruler's point of view, it is a laissez-faire approach: [So we might conclude the “emptiness”, applies to leader as follows:

As Always, We Say Thank You Wikipedia, For All Your Great Offerings!!

For Those That Want To Learn MORE About, Lao-Tzu's “Tao Te Ching”, Or “Book Of The Way, Please

Robert Pirsig’s Own Version Of “The Tao Te Ching “, Is Given As Part Of The Last Half Of Chapter 20, In ZMM.
… For The Convenience Of The Reader, This Part OF Chapter 20, Is Given Below. You May Read It Here =>

… Phædrus remembered Hegel had been regarded as a bridge between Western and Oriental philosophy. The Vedanta of the Hindus, the Way of the Taoists, even the Buddha had been described as an absolute monism similar to Hegel’s philosophy. Phædrus doubted at the time, however, whether mystical Ones and metaphysical monisms were introconvertable since mystical Ones follow no rules and metaphysical monisms do. His Quality was a metaphysical entity, not a mystic one. Or was it? What was the difference?
… He answered himself that the difference was one of definition. Metaphysical entities are defined. Mystical Ones are not. That made Quality mystical. No. It was really both. Although he’d thought of it purely in philosophical terms up to now as metaphysical, he had all along refused to define it. That made it mystic too. Its indefinability freed it from the rules of metaphysics.
… Then, on impulse, Phædrus went over to his bookshelf and picked out a small, blue, cardboard-bound book. He’d hand-copied this book and bound it himself years before, when he couldn’t find a copy for sale anywhere. It was the 2,400-year-old Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu. He began to read through the lines he had read many times before, but this time he studied it to see if a certain substitution would work. He began to read and interpret it at the same time.
He read:

The quality that can be defined is not the Absolute Quality.

That was what he had said.

The names that can be given it are not Absolute names.
It is the origin of heaven and earth.
When named it is the mother of all things . . . .

Exactly.

Quality [romantic Quality] and its manifestations [classic Quality] are in their nature the same. It is given different names [subjects and objects] when it becomes classically manifest.
Romantic quality and classic quality together may be called the "mystic."
Reaching from mystery into deeper mystery, ,it is the gate to the secret of all life.
Quality is all-pervading.
And its use is inexhaustible!
Fathomless!

Like the fountainhead of all things . . .
Yet crystal clear like water it seems to remain.
I do not know whose Son it is.
An image of what existed before God. -- -- --

''Continuously, continuously it seems to remain. Draw upon it and it serves you with ease . . . ‘‘
Looked at but cannot be seen . . . listened to but cannot be heard . . . grasped at but cannot be touched . . . these three elude all our inquiries and hence blend and become one.

Not by its rising is there light
Not by its sinking is there darkness
Unceasing, continuous
It cannot be defined

And reverts again into the realm of nothingness
That is why it is called the form of the formless
The image of nothingness
That is why it is called elusive
Meet it and you do not see its face
Follow it and you do not see its back

He who holds fast to the quality of old
Is able to know the primeval beginnings
Which are the continuity of quality.

… Phædrus read on through line after line, verse after verse of this, watched them match, fit, slip into place. Exactly. This was what he meant. This was what he’d been saying all along, only poorly, mechanistically. There was nothing vague or inexact about this book. It was as precise and definite as it could be. It was what he had been saying, only in a different language with different roots and origins. He was from another valley seeing what was in this valley, not now as a story told by strangers but as a part of the valley he was from. He was seeing it all He had broken the code.
… He read on. Line after line. Page after page. Not a discrepancy. What he had been talking about all the time as Quality was here the Tao, the great central generating force of all religions, Oriental and Occidental, past and present, all knowledge, everything.
… Then his mind’s eye looked up and caught his own image and realized where he was and what he was seeing and . . . I don’t know what really happened . . . but now the slippage that Phædrus had felt earlier, the internal parting of his mind, suddenly gathered momentum, as do the rocks at the top of a mountain. Before he could stop it, the sudden accumulated mass of awareness began to grow and grow into in avalanche of thought and awareness out of control; with each additional growth of the downward tearing mass loosening hundreds of times its volume, and then that mass uprooting hundreds of times its volume more, and then hundreds of times that; on and on, wider and broader, until there was nothing left to stand.
No more anything.
It all gave way from under him.
[End Chapter 20]

Down To Here: This Page Has Been About How => “The ZMM Book Should Be Seen As ”A Westerners Guide To Eastern Thought”.

… Also, You Dear Reader, Should Have Seen How "Westerners" Can Apply Zen To Their Own Lives!'''

In The Process, You Should Have Read (And Now Understand), The Following “Three Different Takes” On Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching:

Now May We Suggest That You Go Back And “Compare And Contrast , How A), B), & C) May Be Saying The “Same Thing”??

A Final Thought, Prompted By An Expert’s Poignant Comment!

Commenter Hangly says: ”If you read the Dao De Jing [Tao Te Ching], for gods sake find a reputable translation. 90% of the translations I encounter are packed to the gills with new-age hippie crap and/or just plain wrong … Sorry, China is my area of study and this is a pet peeve of mine.
(You may find this above comment here =>
A Forum type discussion on => “Recommended Eastern Philosophy Readings.” AFTER this page comes up > Do > Top Page > Edit > Find > peeve

This Is All For Now: Please Send Your Thoughts, Ideas, And Suggestions.

Added Discussion: Concerning The ZMMQ WebSite & Photo Gallery, (Which You Currently Are Looking At, Including Contents Of Main Menu At Left): … IS IT SUFFICIENTLY “ZEN LIKE ”?

Feedback from Michele Scott, a Freelance Computer & Management Consultant Who Assisted Me In Editing the ZMMQ WebSite Gallery Captions for Parts III and IV.
… ”I wonder if this [the ZMMquality website] is counter to the essence of the book? Is developing a website about this journey very ‘Zen’? “
HSG Reply:
… Thank you for raising this very important Question: Yes, I need to be very careful about this, and study what fails to be “Zen Like” and think what kind of changes should I make? Can you say more about this?
… I perceive that I am helping promote more people to actually read ZMM book itself, and THIS is the best WAY they will get the correct understanding of just what “Zen Sense” really is. Also I assume my pages and photos will help guide Pilgrims, who have already decided to follow the ZMM Route, to make better travel plans. Also help them know what they will see and understand the trials they will face on the road.
… If my ZMM WebSite is counter to Zen, then at least I should explain (warn?) readers about this problem and urge people NOT to learn or understand Zen from my website!!
… Or for sure tell the visitor, if they want to grow in the direction of being more ”Zen Like”, they should, instead read ZMM and avoid my Website!
… But I can tell already, from what you (Michele). have said, that you did pick up quite a bit of the sense of what ZMM book was about. From this I conclude that => What is shown in my ZMMQG captions does help the visitor, to learn of the books content and general thrust, and perhaps what “Zen Like” would be, or should be.
Reader’s Comments Are Invited:
… What do you think about the above Discussion? Please send email to => HenryG__USCA.edu

Accurate & Perceptive BOOKS That Help Westerners Understand Eastern Thought. (Found by Google ~July 2016. Additional Search Needed.)

“The Complete Idiot's Guide to Philosophy.” By Jay Stevenson, PhD.
… [This Philosophy Guide, has a very good Eastern Thought Chapter, which starts of with these quite accurate & perceptive first three paragraphs => ]
Meanwhile, in completely different parts of the:: world, philosophy had been developing in entirely different directions. For many Westerners, Eastern Philosophy seemed superior to their own philosophy, because it was more in rune with the cosmos, with nature, with human nature, and with the nature of human society.
… This being in tune has to do with the fact that Eastern philosophy tends to lack the complicated metaphysics developed in the West, which in many people's eyes gets in the way of what reality is all about. Also, Eastern Philosophy tends to lack the sharp distinction imposed by much Western Philosophy between subjectivity and objectivity. As a result , in Eastern philosophy there is less of an attempt to control reality and more of a recognition that we are all
part of reality.
… There arc three main traditions of Eastern philosophy: one from the Far East, one from India, and one from the Middle East. They represent important traditions in and of themselves and have had an important impact on the way Westerner’s think.
Click Here To Read => Google Books Re => Three Main Traditions Of Eastern Philosophy.

Continued: “The Complete Idiot's Guide to Philosophy.” By Jay Stevenson
… [Amazon Reader Review]
While "Complete Idiot's Guide to Philosophy" is not the best introduction to the subject, it is a good, concise volume of work. As its intention was to be just that, it does its job well. There are better introductions available, but these are often much longer with ideas being developed in greater detail... something that would be sought by a true student of the subject, might turn off those just looking for a surface exposure. The examinations are cursory at times, but this is again understandable considering the breadth of the subject in relation to the attempt to introduce as much as possible in a limited space, in simple terms.
To Read Amazon Full Information About This Book: You also can do Amazon’s “Look Inside the Book”: Click Here.

Continued: Complete Idiot's Guide to Eastern Philosophy Paperback – January 9, 2000 by Jay Stevenson
… [A Second Amazon Reader Review]
Yes, you may feel like an "idiot" toting this book around (somehow 'idiot's guide' and 'eastern philosophy don't jibe.) But this book is an amazingly thought provoking umbrella symposium on Eastern philosophies and religions. Since many Eastern texts require a guide to read along with, this book is extremely useful even for more serious readers. Where else can you get the subtle differences between Taoist factions outlined in half a page--understandably? It's a fascinating book, and could (in fact, should) be used as a textbook at Universities around the country.
To Read Amazon Full Information About This Book: You also can do Amazon’s “Look Inside the Book”: Click Here.

Tao Te Ching
The Best Guide to Eastern Philosophy and Religion. “ Paperback August 25, 2001 by Diane Morgan
This book aims to explain simply the origins, practices and philosophy of Eastern religions. The author teaches religion and philosophy at a community college, and she has a good sense of the text mechanisms that less sophisticated readers might need to help them read such a book. The wide margins of the text add chapter guides, highlights and reviews . . . Morgan writes in a breezy, casual style that is quite accessible . . . Major topics include Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, with each major focus broken up into five or six chapters. A last part more quickly explores 'roads less traveled,' such as Jainism, Shinto and Tantra (the author handles sex here with a beguiling modesty and forthrightness). An index and glossary are useful. (Kliatt)
… A) In this Amacon.com page, you will be able to read more about this quite accurate & perceptive book.
… B) In this Google-Books version, you will be able to read inside this quite accurate & perceptive book. However please be aware, that most Google-Books Internet Displays, will show only a limited portion of the book, and you can NOT Copy & Paste any of the words.

“Oriental Philosophy: A Westerner's Guide to Eastern Thought “ BY Stuart C. Hackett
… This insightful explication of oriental philosophy meets a long felt need for a critical introduction to four systems of eastern thought—Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism—presented in familiar western terms.
This insightful explication of oriental philosophy meets a long felt need for a critical introduction to four systems of eastern thought—Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism—presented in familiar western terms.
http://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/1227.htm

Accurate & Perceptive WEBPAGES, That Help Westerner’s Understand Eastern Thought. (Found by Google ~July 2016. Additional Search Needed.)

To people who studied eastern philosophy, how much different is it from western philosophy? (a self.ask philosophy) [A Good WebPage Presentation, that is quite accurate & perceptive.]
In seriousness though, I studied eastern philosophy, focusing on Confucius era philosophy, and your standard western philosophy from Plato to Sartre. I enjoyed studying both as, actually, they are all dealing with the same issues. Humans and their problems--that is what philosophy deals with. .. Human issues are human issues--no matter where those humans are.
To Continue Reading This WebPage. Click Here.

A Guide to the World’s Philosophers [A Good WebPage Presentation, that is quite accurate & perceptive.]
Philosophy is said to be the mother of all disciplines. It is the oldest of all disciplines and gave rise to modern science as we know it today as both social and natural sciences have their roots in philosophy. Modern sciences either directly emerged from philosophy or are very closely related to philosophical questions. Understanding philosophy and of course, the way problems are addressed by philosophers is therefore the key to understanding of science as we know it today.
http://www.philosophers.co.uk/

Links to Additional Reading Related to The Above Topics and Discussion:

… 1) I Henry Gurr, would have read this book much sooner had I realized Pirsig based some 20 - 30% of ZMM on Northrop's book. Indeed some very, very, important (and key) ZMM assertions have evidently come from Northrop and probably would not have been discovered by Pirsig in any other way. Therefore a "must read" for Pirsig Pilgrims & ZMM Fans.
… I get to wondering how much Pirsig himself read the works of the various other philosophers he quotes, as opposed to merely extracting from Northrop what he wrote in ZMM.
http://venturearete.org/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/Documents/NorthropInfluencedZMM Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Is Deeply Influenced By F S C Northrop's book The Meeting of East and West. by Henry Gurr. To Read Remainder Of page Click Here.

2) This Tao Te Ching book of 6th century BC Ancient Chinese Wisdom, is said to be nearly as widely published, as either the Ancient Hebrew Torah, or added together with, the subsequently incorporated versions into the Christian Bible.
View Gia-fu Feng and Jane English’s classic translation of Tao Te Ching: You also can do Amazon’s “Look Inside the Book”: To Read Amazon Full Information, Click Here.

4) ” Eastern Thought – A Beginner’s Guide'\” “ Some basic historical facts about Buddhism, Zen Buddhism and Taoism:

5) If Tao lets itself be defined as Tao, then it is not genuine Tao." Just as Socratic thinking, a hundred years later, celebrated the precision with which language could dissect and categorize reality, the Tao Te Ching warned against the dangers of such rigid categorizations.
The ambiguity is part of the message of the Tao. Here the master instructs us: " To Read Remainder Of page Click Here.

6) [This Additional Translation Of This Ancient Chinese Book] is the classic manual on the art of living, and one of the wonders of the world. In eighty-one brief chapters, the Tao Te Ching looks at the basic predicament of being alive and gives advice that imparts balance and perspective, a serene and generous spirit. This book is about wisdom in action. It teaches how to work for the good with the effortless skill that comes from being in accord with the Tao (the basic principle of the universe) and applies equally to good government and sexual love; to child rearing, business, and ecology. .. Stephen Mitchell's bestselling version has been widely acclaimed as a gift to contemporary culture.
” Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching “, or “ Book of the Way “ To Read Amazon Full Information, Click Here.

7) A Comparative Philosophy: Chinese and Western by Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. '''
… Comparative philosophy brings together philosophical traditions that have developed in relative isolation from one another and that are defined quite broadly along cultural and regional lines — Chinese versus Western ___ for example. Several main issues about the commensurability of philosophical traditions make up the subject matter of comparative philosophy. One issue is methodological commensurability -- whether and how comparisons between different philosophical traditions --- in this case the Chinese and Western, are to be conducted. Views run the gamut from those holding that meaningful comparisons cannot be conducted at all to those holding that the content of traditions must largely be the same.
A Good discussion of Chinese vs Western Philosophies, that is quite accurate & perceptive. To Read Remainder Of page Click Here.

8) To a Remarkable Degree, ZMM Is Really Fourteen Very Different Books, Compiled Into One Amazing Very Readable Book! By Henry Gurr, ZMMQ Site Master What Is ZMM Book REALLY About? To Read Remainder Of page Click Here.

9) Why Read Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZMM), by Henry S Gurr, ZMMQ Sitemaster.
… You Should Want to Read ZMM, Because It’s =>
Good, A Good Read, Interesting, Enjoyable, Rewarding, Penetrating, Illuminating, Revealing, Meaningful, Relevant, Challenging, Satisfying, Exhilarating, So much pleasure, you pick it up every night, So amazed …. your mind just keeps pondering its profound ideas …. every day!
… You Should Want to Read ZMM, Because You Want A Book That Book makes you =>
Stop and think and question and wonder, Helps you grow intellectually and personally, Learn new ideas, Learn about yourself, and persons around you, Learn even new vistas in science, the universe, existence, and encounter reality, Learn how your mind works, Puzzled & provoked, into new awareness. Why Read ZMM Book? To Read Remainder Of page Click Here.

10) Amazon.com Reader Reviews Say => A) What To Expect When Reading ZMM and B) How To Read ZMM the Best Easiest Way, and C) How To Read In A Way That Will Avoid Possible Frustrations, That May Come Up. '' The Best Ways To Read The ZMM Book ?To Read Remainder Of page Click Here.

11) Amazon.com Reader Reviews Say => A) How They Are Frustrated, Bitter, & Negative When Reading ZMM and B) Their Statements Are Here Analyzed To Identify And Address The Reason ZMM Book Readers Are So Turned Off. and C) If Readers Are Frustrated With ANY Book, What Constructively To Read “Differently”, That Will Avoid Possible Frustrations, That May Come Up. ''How Amazon.com Readers, Are Frustrated, Bitter, & Negative AND How To Avoid This When You Read The ZMM Book ?To Read Remainder Of page Click Here.
'

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And what is good, Phaedrus, And what is not good—
Need we ask anyone to tell us these things?"
Robert Pirsig in his book “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”.
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Composed By Henry Gurr 27Aug15 +; 04mar16;21July16 (For GoogResultsPage, has pmWiki Code for shorten title + BlindComment.), 4May22. 31July23.
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