Zen and Now

But a meditation from the roaring seat of a motorcycle.

The journey and the search became a huge bestselling book: “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.” A generation — and in the years since, much more — flocked to its message of peace and enlightenment within the wild clatter of technology. Of the Buddha in the gearbox.

This hour, On Point: On the road, again. Retracing the journey of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.”

You can join the conversation. Did you read it way back then? Ten years ago? Yesterday? Did it change your life? What's the appeal of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”? What’s the message you took away? Share your thoughts.Guests:

Joining us from Denver is “Pirsig Pilgrim” Mark Richardson. He is a writer at the Toronto Star and author of the new book “Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.” You can browse inside the book here.

Also joining us from Denver is Ron DiSanto. He’s a professor of philosophy at Regis University and co-author, with Father Thomas Steele, of a study of Pirsig’s philosophy titled “Guidebook to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.” You can browse inside it here.

More links:

The site robertpirsig.org is a good resource on Robert Pirsig's philosophy, including this 2005 essay by Pirsig on what he called his Metaphysics of Quality (MOQ).

Here's a short video trailer for a new DVD series on Pirsig and his philosophy, featuring Pirsig himself: