In the introduction to ‘Zen And Art Of Motorcycle Maintainence,’ Robert M. Pirsig compares how the ancient Greeks viewed life with how we moderns do. The ancient Greeks viewed their life as growing before them, as a whole, keeping the future at their backs and watching how the patterns of the past unfold. In contrast, we are taught to keep our backs turned to our lives and to face toward the unknown future. The ancient Greek way is profoundly counter-intuitive to our modern consciousness. We have been trained and conditioned to ‘put the past behind us.’ We perch on...
