Zen and motorcycle maintenance as a path to Quality

OK...for a long time, I thought that I could find enlightenment by working on mechanical things. So when I read this book by Robert Pirsig,it made me realize why I wasn't achieving anywhere near a zen state when I tried my hand at mechanics: It was because I was bringing my troubles and wandering mind to the practice of motorcycle maintenance.

Fast forward thirty-odd years since reading the book the first time, and I have just bought a 40 yr old Suzuki SP370 that I am trying to bring back to life. It starts but it is more like alive in a Frankenstein, stumbling and backfiring sort of way rather than the smoothly snarling way I wish it to sound. I don't know for sure how to fix it, but it reminded me of how the act of engaging with a motorcycle engine shows me more about myself sometimes then it shows me about the engine I am working on. Why?

Because, as Pirsig puts it so elegantly (if you have not already, please go get his book and read it. You will find your mind seriously expanded about a lot of things, not just Zen and motorcycles!) maintenance is as much about form and perspective as it is about tools and action. What energy/attitude I bring to my work profoundly effects how I do the work. A craftsman cares about his work because it is a reflection of his inner self.

Any type of labor has the possibility to be art.

On the other side of the spectrum is the "barely good enough to get by"... no pride, no emotional investment, just pocket the cash and move on to the next victim. We all know who we want to work on our cars, cut our hair, and watch our children: The first group of people who care and make art of their work, right? Those kind of people are in high demand for their services and get paid accordingly. Funny thing is, the pay and demand are not why they do such outstanding work. Pay and demand are second-order items that derive from the first-order item called Quality.

Now Quality is quite a perplexing trait...Just ask Mr. Pirsig. One of the things he describes in his book is his search for Quality. He taught English to college students in Colorado, and he wanted them to know what quality writing was, so they could produce it themselves. Sounds like an easy task? Turns out to be one of the more difficult things he had ever tried to do. Try it for yourself: name five different books that you feel really exemplify quality writing. Now get five or so of your friends who also think these books are quality and sit down to figure out WHY they are Quality. Not just entertaining prose, elegance, and big words; no, what universal characteristics make one book highly valued and another garbage? P.S. sometimes the same author writes Quality and garbage back to back, so it not guaranteed that anyone will forever produce diamonds or dross.

Assuming you and your friends have broken the code and know what Quality is, now set down and write a Quality essay on anything you choose. then read each others essays and look for quality. This is not an easy thing to do! I will let you in on a key secret: The more you care about what you are writing, the better quality it will be:-)

So my challenge to myself, and one I invite my readers to also ponder, is what kind of creator do I want to be? A craftsman and artist of Quality, or just good enough to get by?

Now to go see if my attitude can shine through on my Suzuki:-)

Namaste