Alternate Vision

Pirsig was right. The only Zen you will find on top of mountains or in thick redwood forests is the Zen you bring there. And in that spirit I brought my Zen with me this afternoon to the shores of the San Lorenzo river, along with some divine company, sandwiches, fruit and drink. We hiked into the redwoods and spent the afternoon by the river. TR chose to hop, skip and jump across the river in search of offbeat trails while I rediscovered the joy of reading and meditating outdoors again.

"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's going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals, it's always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt. " Rober Pirsig.

If a belief or idea is considered a universal truth then there is no reason why one should become fanatical about it. But the moment that belief or idea produces self-doubt or non-believers, then our dedication takes on fanatical proportions not because the non-believers are necessarily irrational but that our idea or cause is not a universal truth or something we have full confidence in. And from this lack of confidence stems the need to remain steadfastly dedicated to the idea or cause. This suggests that there is an inverse relationship between dedication and confidence.