Monday, May 30, 2011

Revised Lila's Child text

I am proud to announce that I have just uploaded a revised text for the Kindle version of Lila's Child: An Inquiry Into Quality. I have cleaned up some mistakes and fixed the html so that the book shows much better on the e-reader. These days, more e-copies are being sold than traditional paper books so I wanted to provide as clear a reading experience as possible for everyone.

It has been nearly ten years since I first published Lila's Child. The main body of work seems to have stood up well over the years. Of course, there are those who disagree with some of Robert Pirsig's annotations but that is to be expected. There is still an ongoing debate in the moq.discuss group over the nature of the intellectual level of the MOQ, plus some contributors are not happy with the antropocentric nature of the MOQ. All in all though, I think the annotations lend a great deal of clarity to Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals and the MOQ in general.

I am pleased that Lila's Child has been cited in Dr. Anthony McWatt's PhD thesis on the Metaphysics of Quality as well as a new paper just published by Dr. W. Gregory Alvord. Those who are interested in all things pertaining to Robert Pirsig might also be interested in Dr. McWatt's new book, compiling his correspondence with Mr. Pirsig over a period of years.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Zen Stories

My latest collection of short stories is called Zen Stories: The Art of Caring. These stories are Westernized versions of traditional Zen stories told from a humorous or sometimes a poignant point of view. Some of my favorites are The Sign and A Butterfly Picnic.

These stories are inspired by life... by my experiences in practicing Zen over the last three decades, and by the meager reading I have done concerning Buddhism. One of the first teachers I had told me to never read anything about Buddhism. Just practice. And for the most part I have followed his advice.

These stories seem to pop into my head at the oddest of times... when I am working, walking, taking a shower... times when I am alone and my mind is still. With The Butterfly Picnic, I was sitting beside a slow-moving creek, deep in meditation, eyes half closed, looking at nothing in particular, when suddenly I was surrounded by a swarm of white butterflies with black spots on their wings dancing all around me, landing on me, caressing my face. When I got home and sat down in front of the computer, the story appeared on my screen as if on its own... a lost moment in time fleeting past.

For those who are into Robert Pirsig's work, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Value, and Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals, I have just finished updating Lila's Child: An Inquiry Into Quality. It is available for purchase on Amazon.com as an e-book. The traditional paper book is still available as well.