The Pagan Experience: Wk 4- Mar. 23- Any writing for the letters E or F.Over the years, I have blogged many times about my values. While not an overtly Pagan topic, my values as a human being certainly shape my spiritual path. As a human being who is interested in continual growth and evolution, it's a good idea to revisit values periodically. They do change over time, and I would venture to say, with gains in maturity.
Chief among my values is arete. Arete is a Greek word that roughly translates to excellence, but it also encompasses more complexity as well. Arete is associated with morality - one must embody the cardinal virtues to be truly excellent. Arete is also associated with purpose - the idea that a thing is excellent if it is fulfilling its potential and purpose.
Arete is also a feeling. Artists and athletes know this feeling, though they may not have a word for it. When I pull back my bow and release the arrow, I know when the shot is perfect. When I write a haiku and re-read it, a tiny arrow of arete pierces my heart. I know it's good, better than good, right. I can feel that same excellence, that simple, pure and right feeling in a properly executed Yoga asana, in a song, in ritual or in love.
I go one step further and associate the concept of arete with the Japanese concept of shibumi. Shibumi is roughly translated as simplicity, but it too is much more than that. Shibumi is essence. Shibumi is what is left when one carves away all that is not essential. And of course, what IS left when you get to the core of a person or an action? Excellence. Arete. That which IS essential. That which is real, and pure, and true.
Excellene and arete are also associated with the concept of quality. Quality is defined as "the standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something." Quality is almost a synonym for arete, but it also contains implications about objects and processes that are slightly different.
Let me tell you a quick story: one year, I attended the Eno River Festival. While wandering through the vendors, I happened upon a jewelry designer's booth. I scanned through their lovely wares, and a ring with a black stone caught my eye. Of everything they had, this was the piece I would buy if I could. Good choice, the artist said. That's a $9000 black diamond ring, my most expensive piece. At the time, I didn't know that black diamonds existed. I just recognized the quality of the piece. This has happened over and over in my life. It's a superpower, if you will. It's not about price, but about the intrinsic quality. I can spot it easily and unerringly. I couldn't, however, also tell you why.
Just like arete, which I associate most with actions, the quality or excellence of objects is something that can be recognized and felt, though it may not be so easy to define or quantify. We know when it's there, and we also know when it is not. The things we do can be full of quality and excellence naturally, when we are in a good place in our being. Ever try to make dinner when you're angry? Did you accidentally cut yourself or burn the food? Ever try to play a sport when you're upset? That's when I miss the mark in archery. So you could say that arete, excellence and quality are not things you do, or things you create, but instead is what you are. The way that you exist.
“You’ve got to live right, too. It’s the way you live that predisposes you to avoid the traps and see the right facts. You want to know how to paint a perfect painting? It’s easy. Make yourself perfect and then just paint naturally. That’s the way all the experts do it. The making of a painting or the fixing of a motorcycle isn’t separate from the rest of your existence. If you’re a sloppy thinker the six days of the week you aren’t working on your machine, what trap avoidance, what gimmicks, can make you all of a sudden sharp on the seventh? It all goes together ... The real cycle you're working in is a cycle called yourself. The machine that appears to be "out there" and the person that appears to be "in here" are not two separate things. They grow toward Qaulity or fall away from Quality together.”
― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
Excellene and arete are also associated with the concept of quality. Quality is defined as "the standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something." Quality is almost a synonym for arete, but it also contains implications about objects and processes that are slightly different.
Let me tell you a quick story: one year, I attended the Eno River Festival. While wandering through the vendors, I happened upon a jewelry designer's booth. I scanned through their lovely wares, and a ring with a black stone caught my eye. Of everything they had, this was the piece I would buy if I could. Good choice, the artist said. That's a $9000 black diamond ring, my most expensive piece. At the time, I didn't know that black diamonds existed. I just recognized the quality of the piece. This has happened over and over in my life. It's a superpower, if you will. It's not about price, but about the intrinsic quality. I can spot it easily and unerringly. I couldn't, however, also tell you why.
Just like arete, which I associate most with actions, the quality or excellence of objects is something that can be recognized and felt, though it may not be so easy to define or quantify. We know when it's there, and we also know when it is not. The things we do can be full of quality and excellence naturally, when we are in a good place in our being. Ever try to make dinner when you're angry? Did you accidentally cut yourself or burn the food? Ever try to play a sport when you're upset? That's when I miss the mark in archery. So you could say that arete, excellence and quality are not things you do, or things you create, but instead is what you are. The way that you exist.
“You’ve got to live right, too. It’s the way you live that predisposes you to avoid the traps and see the right facts. You want to know how to paint a perfect painting? It’s easy. Make yourself perfect and then just paint naturally. That’s the way all the experts do it. The making of a painting or the fixing of a motorcycle isn’t separate from the rest of your existence. If you’re a sloppy thinker the six days of the week you aren’t working on your machine, what trap avoidance, what gimmicks, can make you all of a sudden sharp on the seventh? It all goes together ... The real cycle you're working in is a cycle called yourself. The machine that appears to be "out there" and the person that appears to be "in here" are not two separate things. They grow toward Qaulity or fall away from Quality together.”
― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
Excellence is what I care about most. I know when I'm existing in alignment with my purpose. I know when I am fulfilling my potential. I know when I am living in harmony with the Divine and with Nature. That feeling of arete, of shibumi, of excellence and quality…it makes my whole being sing. I know I'm on the right path when I feel it.
To me, this is everything.
To me, this is everything.
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