Robert Pirsig, the author of Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, has passed away at 88.  This book, Zen, is one of those books that serves to define.  It defines my generation; it defines the fragility of life; in many ways it defines me.  And while I first heard of it in the late 1970s, it took me a while to "get it".  And that is one of the ways it defines me.  The "me" who tried to read Zen in 1981 wasn't mature enough--physically, mentally, intellectually, spiritually--to understand it.  I thought I would.  I mean I loved motorcycles and road trips, and had watched every episode of Kung Fu on the TV.  I understood Master Po better than I ever did my Sunday School teacher.  But, alas, I had no clue what all the words were about.

Some fifteen years later, after grad school, after some spiritual awareness, after witnessing what mental illness can do to a loved one, after having my own adult ups and downs, and after realizing I wasn't the mechanic I thought I was (humility), I think I finally got it enough to get it.  And now, another twenty-plus years later and after yet another reading, I feel I get it even more.  

At the beginning of the book, Pirsig says it's not really about motorcycles or Zen Buddhism at all.  After my first reading, I agreed.  Now, not so much.  Any true motorcycle lover knows his/her bike, knows the road, and knows the ride only exists in the moment.  The motorcycle is the perfect metaphor for life.  Breakdowns, breakups, repairs, losses, love, mistakes, the crests of mountains and the valleys on the other side; these are the nuts and bolts of life.  You don't get any more or less Zen than this.  As far as that goes, after practicing Zen for long enough, there isn't anything that isn't Zen.

I'm not sure what Pirsig's intention was in the writing of this book.  I imagine it was multifold.  I know the rewards of reading it are.  However, from the perspective of where I am now in my life, I would say that Pirsig has written the definitive book of American Zen.  It should be classed with Cold Mountain Poems.  Like Han Shan, Pirsig is no priest nor monk.  He is a common man navigating a common life.  Without beating his chest or even much discussion of Buddhism or what not, he offers a very Zen glimpse of what life is like.  To the uninitiated, Zen may appear as mystical and magical, some Oriental version of perfection, or to use Pirsig's obsession, quality.  But it's not.  Zen is thisness, thusness, suchness.  It is all this and nothing at all.  It includes machines and rhetoric, logic and koan.  I can't speak for anyone else, and frankly don't want to.  I can say, that for me, my life wouldn't be the same without this one book.  Thanks, Robert.

From NPR
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​From The NY Times

Following is a re-post of an excellent article on the Small Heavenly Circle, or Microcosmic Orbit.  This practice is of interest to me but at the same time is very mysterious and ambiguous.  I have often not felt comfortable with some teachers' explanations and teachings on this subject, even though I have had no informed reason to feel this way.  Regardless, my bullshit detector has often been aroused.  So, I am still curious and still searching for further understanding.  The following post has shed a good bit of light on the subject for me, if to no other end than to clarify what the practice is not.  I thought I would share:

"This is a massive area, and I cannot do justice to the full width and breadth of issues surrounding this topic in a single blog post. I will however, attempt to hit on some of the most common and prevelant issues.
The 小周天 xiao zhou tian (small heavenly cycle), or 河車 heche (river vehicle) are the two most common terms for what is most often referred to in English as “micro-cosmic orbit”, itself a translation of xiao (small) zhou (rotation) tian (heaven)."  The Rest

"All ideologies tend to the “reductio ad absurdum” because they are driven by ruthless logic."  George Friedman ​
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Wuji is void, undifferentiated potential, emptiness.  Wuji is not only all around us, Wuji is us, there is nothing that is not Wuji.  I am not implying nihilism, I am stating fact backed by science.  It is an ultimate truth that we don't really know what to do with.

Wuji is not to be feared.  As noted above, it is potential; further, it is the greatest potential known.  All things arise from Wuji, therefore anything imagined is contained in its potentiality.

Wuji is conscious, as is all creation.  This is another ultimate truth we don't really know what to do with.

Consider that the Dao unfolds on its on, as needed.  Via informed intention we can be co-creators, but we cannot control it all.  The best we can do, which is all we can do, which is powerful beyond comprehension, is engage intention and go with the flow.

If we employ strong beliefs we limit our options and the true potential of Wuji.  To not know is to know.  To not do is to do.  To let go is to go.  To paraphrase Nike, 'Just don't do it!'