In this episode, Eric continues to examine the first chapter of Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and a wide variety of sources, meanings and intentions that the author may have had. Do you find that there isn't enough time to talk? Does the noise and business of running your own cycle prevent dialogue? How much time do you think that you have lost to meaningless technology-fueled commotion? Do you think that suspicion and paranoia are inescapable features of contemporary society? To what extent do you take personal responsibility for the maintenance of the motorcycle that is your self? What motorbike would make a great contemporary homage to the original Zen-bikes?

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Thank you for visiting Zensylvania: It's a State of Mind

In this episode, Eric continues to examine the first pages of Chapter One of Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and a wide variety of sources, meanings and intentions that the author may have had. In this episode...Is much of your life…just more tv? Are there significant portions of your life where the frame is gone? Are you focused on good or are you focused on the time? Do you tell truth to go away when it knocks on the door? Is the course of contemporary society producing lost children? Do you think you are a lost child? Do you have the ability and the courage to dead reckon a way forward in your life?

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Thank you for visiting Zensylvania: It's a State of Mind

In this episode, Eric talks about the first few paragraphs of Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and a wide variety of sources, meanings and intentions that the author may have had. The motorcycle as metaphor for the self, riding as a metaphor for living, weather as a metaphor for the conditions and events of our lives, the road as a metaphor for the ideological paths we may choose. Did Eric really compare Pirsig's introduction to Tolstoy and Dickens? And more...

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Thank you for visiting Zensylvania: It's a State of Mind

Having read Meik Wiking's "Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well" and Olga Mecking's " Niksen: The Dutch Art of Doing Nothing", Eric Adriaans talks about the ideas in these books and how they may relate to choosing comfort and contentment as a life goals rather than happiness.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://ericadriaans.com/2021/03/15/footnotes-to-niksen-an-inquiry-into-doing-nothing/

Do you have thoughts to share? Leave a voice message for the Zensylvania Podcast and we may include it in this or a future episode: https://anchor.fm/zensylvania/message 

You can support the Zenyslvania at: www.patreon.com/zensylvaniapodcast 

Thank you for visiting Zensylvania: It's a State of Mind.

On this episode of Zensylvania, Eric Adriaans talks about beginning a daily morning practice of Tai Chi as a method to engage environmental adversity, considers a study of health benefits associated with Tai Chi and muses on how that relates to Townes Van Zandt's  song Highway Kind as well as a certain passage in Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://ericadriaans.com/2020/11/25/tai-chi-in-the-morning/

Do you have thoughts to share? Leave a voice message for the Zensylvania Podcast and we may include it in this or a future episode: https://anchor.fm/zensylvania/message

You can support the Zenyslvania at: www.patreon.com/zensylvaniapodcast

Thank you for visiting Zensylvania: It's a State of Mind.

Happy Hallowe'en. In this episode of the Zensylvania Podcast, I present a new story for the haunted holiday. 

The story begins to investigate questions about what separates fear from horror, what separates heroes from monsters and what separates an individual from a collective experience of these concepts. The stories major themes and influences include the epic Old English poem, Beowulf and   an archetypal  "body snatcher" or "possession" kind of monster.

Since this is a Hallowe'en story, I recommend that you, the listener, employ personal judgement whether a story containing creepy, unsettling "horror" themes are for you. While the story may be mild compared to any number of horror entertainments available to you - only you know whether you're interested to engage.  

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Thank you for visiting Zensylvania: It's a State of Mind. 

As I begin the Zensylvania Podcast, it occurs to me that listeners might find it interesting and/or useful to have a “meta” version of the podcast where I talk about my experience with launching this new project. So welcome to the first edition of the Zensylvania Meta-Cast where I chronicle the trials and triumphs of launching a podcast for the first time. I hope you're inspired to launch a creative project of your own. This month, I expand on topics I began talking about in the first Meta-Cast.

Do you have thoughts to share? Leave a voice message for the Zensylvania Podcast and we may include it in this episode or a future episode:  https://anchor.fm/zensylvania/message

You can support the Zenyslvania Podcast at: www.patreon.com/zensylvaniapodcast

Thank you for visiting Zensylvania: It's a State of Mind

In this episode, Eric talks about why so many of the essays in Zensylvania are titled as "footnotes" to something and reveals that the footnotes are actually a kind of footprint. The primary essay of the episode is an introduction to several reasons why Eric has decided to devote so much time to Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle. In this essay, we look at the title and the author's note.

Do you have thoughts to share? Leave a voice message for the Zensylvania Podcast and we may include it in this or a future episode: https://anchor.fm/zensylvania/message

Thank you for visiting Zensylvania: It's a State of Mind

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://ericadriaans.com/2021/02/21/footnotes-to-zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance-one-title-and-the-authors-note/

Have you ever faced a time in your life when events were not in your control and the only certainty seemed to be...well, uncertainty? In Zensylvania, we've found that adopting the right state of mind is an essential tool to maintaining a grounded and resilient response to those difficult and uncertain times. A key part of making it though the challenging parts of your life might just be an open and resilient attitude toward learning a leisure activity like riding a motorcycle or practicing Tai Chi.

The original version of this episode was released as a text-to-voice episode. Following listener feedback, we've replaced the text-to voice version of the essay with a complete reading. So here is the non-text-to-voice edition of "Learning".

Do you have thoughts to share? Leave a voice message for the Zensylvania Podcast and we may include it in this episode or a future episode:  https://anchor.fm/zensylvania/message

Thank you for visiting Zensylvania: It's a State of Mind

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://zensylvania.com/2021/08/05/learning/

As I begin the Zensylvania Podcast, it occurs to me that listeners might find it interesting and/or useful to have a “meta” version of the podcast where I talk about my experience with launching this new project. So welcome to the first edition of the Zensylvania Meta-Cast where I chronicle the trials and triumphs of launching a podcast for the first time. I hope you're inspired to launch a creative project of your own.