Zen and -

I read Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values in prison. I had deen the book gor decades, had the time and opportunity, and dug in. What I could not tell then (and hopefully my notes still exist and you will get a chance to read my experience) was any information on the author. Well, having now internet access and seeing an article on the novel, I jumped on the link for Zen and the Art of a Higher Education by Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen. I will not say the book is an easy read, or for everyone, but the article did give a perspective that might tempt some doubtful readers.

It may seem odd for the university educated or even university educators to welcome a book that seems to view the academy as enemy territory. But properly understood, and more in keeping with Pirsig’s original intentions, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance shows how the learning in a lecture hall or seminar room should be preparation for a life of learning on the open road. His claim that the “real university is a state of mind” doesn’t mean that there’s no work for bricks-and-mortar higher education to do. Just the opposite: it’s a reminder that awakening the appetite and practicing the skills for lifelong learning are what constitute a university education itself. The Zen and the art in a higher education would train students in these habits of mind and prepare them to take their learning with them, wherever they go, whatever roads they ride.

And that I see is Pirsig's message: life is learning and learning is life.

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 12/13/21