Zen and the Difficulties of Life

Robert M. Pirsig, who died April 24, 2017 at the age of 88, wrote his classic novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, in 1974, much of it based on his own life. In it, he narrates a motorcycle trip with his son through the U.S. west while presenting his philosophy of "Quality" and relating the internal journey he took through mental illness to achieve healing.

Pirsig's "other self" in the novel, whom he names Phaedrus, was a professor at a college in Montana who goes deep into this concept of Quality - too deep, too analytical, and too much into himself. He secludes himself in his work, cutting himself off from meaningful relationships, overthinks the issue, and ends up in a psychiatric ward suffering what appears to be a break with reality.

Pirsig himself, according to his Wall Street Journal obituary written a few days after his death, graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in philosophy, studied Hindu philosophy, worked as a technical writer, then taught English at Montana State College where he was instructed to teach "quality". (He had no clear idea what that was.) He attempted to gain a doctorate at the University of Chicago, but "had a mental breakdown and was given shock treatment" the Journal article states. He returned to technical writing afterward and in 1968 made the motorcycle trip with his son, Chris.

In the novel, Pirsig also to a great extent leaves the philosophical realm which perplexed and threw him so in order to return to a more sensible pursuit of rationality and technology. But one of the purposes of the cycle trip, besides to reconnect with his son after the devastating trial of mental illness, is to attempt to not only understand his "Phaedrus" self and integrate Phaedrus with his now "cured" self, but also to integrate Phaedrus' earlier philosophy with Pirisg's current and more rational and technical one.

And hence, the title Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is his attempt to meld the two ways of looking at life, his life and ours. But while he begins by admitting his story is neither orthodox Zen Buddhism nor much in the way of factual motorcycle maintenance, the two form a platform for his ideas. He says, "The real cycle you're working on is a cycle called 'yourself.' " An early statement he makes he makes in the book sums up his idea of rational "quality": "When you want to hurry something, that means you no longer care about it and want to get on to other things. I just want to get at it slowly, but carefully and thoroughly ..."

Apparently Pirsig did get his life together. However, in 1979 his son Chris was murdered during a robbery; Pirsig only wrote one other book, that taking him 17 years. But despite this and the strain of instant success and notoriety over the novel, divorce from his first wife, and a life of relative seclusion (not totally unknown for authors), he seems to have had no relapse of mental illness.

I write this tribute to Mr. Pirsig because I, too, was hospitalized in psychiatric wards, four times, and also received a series of shock treatments, in 1976. They diagnosed me with bipolar disorder and I have been taking medication and receiving therapy since. Everyone struggles, just in different ways. In some ways I think the old religious notion that we all carry a cross that is uniquely fashioned to ourselves is true.

For me, journeying on foot into the mountains has been curative. But I could never have done what I’ve done without the encouragement and guidance of others – family, friends, doctors and counselors. The notion of Zen that Pirsig introduces has translated to me as meditation, mindfulness and relaxation exercises. And, of course, exercise itself has been touted as one of the best counters to depression around.

Probably overthinking and overwork were some causes leading to my problems with depression. I try now to balance things in my life better, although that still can be difficult to remember to do when I get emotionally involved in some important things. But I remember I wasn’t leaving enough time for recreation and involvement with friends.

Mindfulness, a la Jon Kabat-Zinn and others, has been good. Reminding myself to focus on the present and what I’m doing in the present moment, while difficult at times, is a practice that can become more of a habit and yield benefits like less depression and anxiety. Depression and anxiety often come as a result of ruminating on unproductive, damaging or untrue thoughts that just drag you down.

I’m also trying to get adequate sleep and rest, as anger and irritability can come about when those are in short supply. Another cue is keeping a good perspective on what’s going on in my life; I’m not by temperament an optimistic person though – I prefer to look at things realistically as I see them.

A big step for me was when I came to realize that for me and others, psychiatric problems are not insurmountable. One can live a good and productive life under those circumstances. Robert Pirsig is a good example.