Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance-excerpts

Page 72
We just take a handful of sand from the endless landscape of awareness around us, and call that handful of sand the world

Page 114
Its so hard when contemplated from advance, and so easy when you do it

Page 137
It began with a news article about a country church building with an electric beer sign hanging right over the front entrance. The building had been sold an was being used as a bar. The article said that a number of people had complained to the church officials about it. It ha been a Catholic church, and the priest who had been delegated to respond to the criticism ha sounded quite irritated about the whole thing. To him it had revealed an incredible ignorance of what a church really was. Did they think that bricks and boards an glass constituted a church ? or the shape of the roof ? Here, posing as piety was an example of the very materialism the church opposed. The building in question was not holy ground. It had been desanctified. That was the end of it. The beer sign resided over a bar, not a church, and those who couldn’t tell the difference were simply revealing something about themselves.

Page 140
You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it is going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any kinds of dogmas or goals, it’s always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt.

The militancy of Jesuits somewhat resembled a case in point. Historically, their zeal stems not from the strength of the Catholic church, but from its weakness in the face of the Reformation.

Page 191
Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible, and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then, when you’re no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn’t just a means to an end but a unique event in itself. This leaf has jagged edges. This rock looks loose. From this place the snow is less visible, even though closer. These are things you should notice anyway. To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the side of the mountain which sustains life, not the top. Here’s where things grow.

But of course without the top, you cannot have the sides. It’s the top that defines the sides. So on we go,we have a long way, no hurry, just one step after the next.