The art of writing. It has always been a mystery. Ever since the three Rs (reading, writing and arithmetic) entered the English vocabulary in the early 19th century, writers and journalists have been trying to manipulate the vocabulary to come up with a masterpiece.

It is the art of writing, creative and technical, that Phaedrus teaches in a small college. The question of what constitutes good writing takes Phaedrus to what in general constitutes "good" or "quality". And it is this quest that compelled an author to spend four years in the quest of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Robert M. Pirsig, who re-instilled the quest of philosophy in us, died in Maine, United States, about two months ago at the age of 88. Pirsig authored other works, too, but he will always be remembered for his "inquiry into values" in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Critics, and there are many, are of the belief that the philosophical discourse in the book are closely related to the author's (the narrator Phaedrus) own past. Phaedrus (after Plato's dialogue), they say, is therefore Pirsig himself.

Friends back in India in the late 1970s and 1980s were more interested in the content than the narrator. One of these friends - a real erudite but carefree soul - said Pirsig's is "the philosophy of small things". And most of us believed him. We still do.

Before you start beating me with the broom of logic for describing the Zen and the Art of ... as the philosophy of small things, think of the Kierkegaard, the Nietzsche and the Heidegger who have, by exploring personal and subjective issues - of boredom, anxiety, despair, laughter and ecstasy - given us deep insights into human condition and profoundly influenced intellectual history.

Pirsig said the protagonist in his book "set out to resolve the conflict between classic values that create machinery, such as a motorcycle, and romantic values, such as experiencing the beauty of a country road". But in the opening pages of his book, he also explained that despite the title, "it should in no way be associated with that great body of factual information relating to orthodox Zen Buddhist practice. It is not factual on motorcycles, either".

Today we resolve, or try to resolve, conflicts with a smartphone, a tablet or a PC - mostly through social media. We have unwittingly, or otherwise, made more and more small things an integral part of our lives and cannot survive even a single waking hour without them.

But how to maintain one of those small things we do not know, for another is there for the taking for a few high-value currency notes. That is the rational choice.

But our rational choice has no place for creativity and intuition - or romantic perception, for that matter. Pirsig through his philosophical discourse teaches us to pursue both the rational and romantic perception. And that's why Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is not only about Zen or motorcycles, but about life in its entirety - and thus exceptionally vital to our existence.

Contact the writer at [email protected]

(China Daily 06/19/2017 page2)