Reddit mentions of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values

Respectfully, your first question is a bit too personal for me to answer. You didn't mean it that way; I understand. But to answer it I would have to reveal more than I choose.

What I can say is that I have survived grief. I experienced it, explored its depths, and came out the other side. There was a time in my life, literally, when everyone I ever had loved was dead.

Life doesn't offer any promises. All it offers is itself. And it will end soon enough, anyway.

To address the issues you raise in any sort of competent way would require far more space than I have here. I suggest--and I don't mean this as a brush-off--that you read the Bhagavad-gita, the other Upanishads, the writings of the Buddha. You also probably would want to read commentaries, as the texts probably would be indecipherable without them. You also might want to try The Razor's Edge and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which are a couple of accessible novels that at least introduce certain ideas.

This may seem like a puzzle, but the main thing to understand is that your sense of permanence is illusory. This concept is so fundamental to life that it transcends and infuses atheism, philosophy, religion. From it flows the idea that many other things also are illusory--pain, suffering, grief, desire, hope, happiness.

In any event, as you ask such valid and profound questions, it would make sense to arm yourself with the equipment to answer them, right?

A few that come to mind:

• Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre, by Keith Johnstone. Discusses many things in the context of improvisational theatre, such as human interaction, creativity/spontaneity, stories, perception, and teaching.
  
• The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are, by Robert Wright. Evolutionary psychology. Puts some concreteness, even obviousness, to many irrational human behaviors.
  
• The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self and Soul, edited by Hofstadter and Dennett. A selection of texts on consciousness, and reflections by the editors. Some is fictional, some non-fictional.
  
• The Tao is Silent, by Raymond Smullyan. Eastern philosophy in an Eastern way by someone who thoroughly understands the Western perspective on things.
  
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, by Robert M. Pirsig. No one has mentioned this book so far, so I feel like I should; although it did not affect me directly in the way some of the other books here did, it certainly planted some ideas for "independent rediscovery" later on. Some things I've only thought of some time after reading it and then made the connection. This is Taoism from a Western perspective. I'll read it again in a few years and see how it's different.
  
• The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence, by Josh Waitzkin. A book about learning that says some important things quite well. I read this only a few days ago, but it's influenced my perspective on learning/teaching (and doing in general), so I thought I should add it to the list.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

It's not about Zen, and it's not about Motorcycle Maintenance, and it is a good read.

• The Pilgrim's Progress
  
• My Experiments with Truth
  
• Zen And the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
  
• Discourse on Method
  
• Tao Te Ching

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. It's a wonderful mix of literary nonfiction, travel narrative, and philosophy by a man with a genius-level IQ as he comes to terms with the ramifications of his discoveries before suffering a nervous breakdown and undergoing electro-convulsive shock therapy. A truly genius commentary on the American worldview from a brilliant man--definitely changed the way I look at life. If you like it, the sequel is even better. I love plugging these books. Check it out on Amazon

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintanence


A classic meditation on what it means to pay attention to the world.

http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0061673730/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343461510&sr=8-1&keywords=zen+and+the+art+of+motorcycle+maintenance
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Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig

Not being coy on why it had such an impact on me, you'll just have to read it for yourself. Each person's take is going to be different, is all.

Consider buying the book for his son as a thank you. http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Motorcycle-Maintenance-Inquiry/dp/0061673730

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values

i started my wishlist with books i want to share with my grandkids, expanded from there. i always wanted to read that Zen book. there are red, blue, and purple editions, love 'em all! and i know the nephews would be in awe of The Five Chinese Brothers !

fun contest!

Philosophy: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

This can be construed as the basis of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

This book / roman / philosophical essay.

I believe it's one of the most easy way to make a transition from a american / occidental way of thinking to a eastern way of thinking. This book lead me to taoism and zen. Anyway, it's an american classic.

Two books you absolutely must have with you:

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Travels with Charley


EDIT: Oh . . .you already went. Hope it was good.

This isn't really direct advice, but just some books you might enjoy:

• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
  
• Shop Class as Soul Craft
  
  Enjoy!

Section 4 of the Urantia Book.

I was a young adult, and very disillusioned with the kind of Christianity I was brought up with. I was an athiest, but I wasn't comfortable with my newfound atheism. I very angry that I thought I had been lied too for all those years. I thought that my Atheism was truth, and Christians were just a bunch of cowards that lied to themselves to provide a little comfort. This bloomed into a very obnoxious "You're at best an idiot, at worst a liar." type of attitude toward anyone that professed any type of belief in something. In short, I had become an elitist dick.

But also during this time, I found myself exploring the world's religions, including plenty of new age crap. I was reading stuff like The Tao of Pooh, A Path With Heart and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I experimented with meditation, played with I Ching and Tarot Cards. Losing my belief in God had left a festering dark spot in me that I subconsciously sought to fill.

I read the Urantia Book off an on over many years, mostly as entertainment, but eventually I gradually realized that I wasn't athiest anymore. I really believed in the Jesus portrayed in Section 4 of the UB. I found myself saying yes, yes this is what my God is like.