I spent a whole summer reading this book. I read several pages every day before I sleep, which helped me winding down and being prepared for tomorrow’s work. At start I read this book only for leisure, but it turned out that I learned a lot of stuff from this book and it was one of my best reading experiences ever.
There are three main takeaways for me from this book. The first one is also the one this book trying to answer: what is Quality?
Quality is a characteristic of thought and statement that is recognized by a nonthinking process. Because definitions are a product of rigid, formal thinking, quality cannot be defined.
We tell a thing has Quality by the first glance, even before our brain processes the input signal from our eye. It’s a thing that we can’t tell.
In the Oriental classic Dao De Jing (道德經), Laozi wrote, “If the Dao can be spoken of, it is not the true Dao.” The author believes that Dao shares many similarities with his idea of Quality.
Another question: what does Zen has anything to do with motorcycle maintenance? In author’s words:
To put it in more concrete terms: If you want to build a factory, or fix a motorcycle, or set a nation right without getting stuck, then classical, structured, dualistic subject-object knowledge, although necessary, isn’t enough. You have to have some feeling for the quality of the work. You have to have a sense of what’s good. That is what carries you forward.
The key word is ‘better’—Quality.
After all, it’s exactly this stuckness that Zen Buddhists go to so much trouble to induce; through koans, deep breathing, sitting still and the like. Your mind is empty, you have a “hollow-flexible” attitude of “beginner’s mind.”
Stuckness shouldn’t be avoided. It’s the psychic predecessor of all real understanding. An egoless acceptance of stuckness is a key to an understanding of all Quality, in mechanical work as in other endeavors.
The state of mind people want to achieve here is what people called “Zen”. Or you can say, “peace of mind”.
Peace of mind isn’t at all superficial to technical work. It’s the whole thing. That which produces it is good work and that which destroys it is bad work.
The reason for this is that peace of mind is a prerequisite for a perception of that Quality which is beyond romantic Quality and classic Quality and which unites the two, and which must accompany the work as it proceeds.
I say inner peace of mind.
What I’m talking about here in motorcycle maintenance is “just fixing,” in which the idea of a duality of self and object doesn’t dominate one’s consciousness. When one isn’t dominated by feelings of separateness from what he’s working on, then one can be said to “care” about what he’s doing. That is what caring really is, a feeling of identification with what one’s doing. When one has this feeling then he also sees the inverse side of caring, Quality itself.
Peace of mind produces right values, right values produce right thoughts. Right thoughts produce right actions and right actions produce work which will be a material reflection for others to see of the serenity at the center of it all.
The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there. Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind. I just want to talk about how to fix a motorcycle. I think that what I have to say has more lasting value.
An important point is that you must directly engage and understand the thing you’re working on, then can you experience Quality.
Last question: how this book helped my work?
This book introduced the idea “gumption”, which means using your own view to do the work, taking actions that not necessarily same with others to achieve the goal. We all know that listen to feedback is important, but in the end it’s you to decide what you’re going to do. You take the initiative and the responsibility.
Moreover, the idea “peace of mind” resonated me so strongly. It’s related to “attention”, which is also a crucial skill in modern society. I’ve noticed that when I have peace of mind, I’m able to do higher-quality work.
Although I feel like I didn’t grasp the full idea of what the author wanted to say, reading this book itself was very engaging and really joyful experience. Chapter 25 and 26 are the most interesting part of the book. I could no longer follow the author’s idea after Chapter 29, it seemed more like the author was laying out his own problems he was facing, but it didn’t affect the overall reading experience.
A cool thing is that Gothenburg appears in the book’s 10th anniversary note, which suprised me that how much connection I have with this city. What a coincidence! It makes me want to go back to the city more. Or maybe even live there?