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A MAN NEEDS A LITTLE MADNESS

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The film “Zorba The Greek“, based on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis  (1883 –1957), was nominated for seven and won three Academy Awards in 1964.

QUOTES FROM THE FILM:

“You’ve got everthing except one thing: madness! A man needs a little madness, or else he never dares cut the rope and be free. “

“Life is trouble. Only death is not. To be alive is to undo your belt and *look* for trouble.”

“On a deaf man’s door, you can knock forever!”

“God has a very big heart but there is one sin he will not forgive: if a woman calls a man to her bed and he will not go. I know because a very wise old Turk told me.”

“Am I not a man? And is a man not stupid? I’m a man, so I married. Wife, children, house, everything. The full catastrophe.”

“You think too much.That is your trouble.Clever people and grocers, they weigh everything. “

“If a woman sleeps alone, it puts a shame on all men. “

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PARTS OF A RELATIONSHIP

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PARTS OF A RELATIONSHIP

Recently, I’ve thought a lot about the subject of “relationships”, in an attempt to live my own life on Earth.  One of the most joyful and agonizing experiences in existence is the successful creation and maintenance of a “relationship”.   It is easy enough to withdraw from relationships and simply give up on them because they can be painful, confusing, frustrating and a lot of hard work!   In human society it is very commonly the source of turmoil, destruction and unhappiness.  If anyone has any more ideas about how to have a successful relationship, I’d like to know….

Here are a few definitions that I think are the most important parts of a “relationship”, in relative order of importance:

RELATIONSHIP

noun:   a state of connectedness between people (especially an emotional connection)

COMMUNICATION

  • noun:   a connection allowing access between persons or places

UNDERSTANDING

  • noun:   an inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion

  • noun:   the statement (oral or written) of an exchange of promise

  • adjective:   characterized by understanding based on comprehension and discernment and empathy

RESPONSIBILITY

  • noun:   a form of trustworthiness; the trait of being answerable to someone for something or being responsible for one’s conduct

  • noun:   the social force that binds you to your obligations and the courses of action demanded by that force

FREEDOM

  • noun:   the condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints

  • noun:   immunity from an obligation or duty

WISDOM

  • noun:   accumulated knowledge or erudition or enlightenment

REALITY

  • noun:   the state of the world as it really is rather than as you might want it to be

LOVE

  • noun:   any object of warm affection or devotion

SEX

  • noun:   all of the feelings resulting from the urge to gratify sexual impulses

ART, FREE ADVICE, INSIDE THE BOOK, LIVES, READING MATTER

ONTOLOGICAL CHAUTAUQUAS

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Zen_motorcycleI was interested to read “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” as I spent many years of my life riding motorcycles, and most of my life searching for answers to ontological and spiritual questions.

The author, Robert M. Pirsig, in first person, tells his real-life adventure of  a 17-day journey on his motorcycle from Minnesota to Northern California with two friends and his 8 year old son Chris.  The trip is punctuated by numerous philosophical musings and educational diatribes he refers to as “Chautauquas“, a popular method of adult teaching used in rural America during the 1800s.

Robert Pirsig was tested as having an IQ of 170 at the age of 9 years.  His prodigious intellect led him to an epiphany that Western academia and science is based on unsubstantiated bullshit.  Thereafter his personal philosophical investigations eventually drove him to ask questions and find answers that can only be discovered by exploring ones spiritual self.

The “dialogues” the author has with himself while riding his motorcycle across America are tied together by the story of the narrator’s own past self, who is referred to in the third person as Phaedrus (after Plato’s dialogue). Phaedrus, a teacher of creative and technical writing at a small college, became engrossed in the question of what defines good writing, and what in general defines good, or “Quality”.

The book reviews the subject of Western philosophy, touches on Eastern philosophy, including Zen.  The discipline and technical skill of maintaining the motorcycle he is riding is used as an excellent analogue for his explanation of his psychic travels through the barren landscape of soulless Western world, both physically and metaphysically.  Eventually, he resolves the question of “what is quality” through a subjective understanding of spiritual essence.

Fortunately, Mr. Pirsig is still living and has resolved his personal quest sufficiently to continue living in human society long enough to write this excellent book.