Clear Communication

A few years ago I finally had a chance to read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

I enjoyed the book immensely with the exception of a relatively large section given almost exclusively to discussion on the meaning of the word 'quality'.

I hadn't a lot of experience reading philosophy and felt this was a waste of time and resources in an otherwise interesting read.

Flash forward several years to the present and a discussion I was having with a friend which touched on religion. The friend made the claim that she wasn't religious, didn't quite believe in God, but subscribed to her own spirituality.

We discussed this point for a while where I was trying to understand what she meant by spirituality. Now spirituality is a fairly broad term, but once a person adopts the term regarding themselves, it becomes as important and specific a word to them as religion becomes to either a Catholic or a Muslim.

Comparatively I could make the statement that I subscribe to the life-concept of tree. We couldn't even begin to discuss this matter until I'd managed to properly communicate what I meant by life-concept of tree. This is made more difficult by me using words which have prescribed meaning in our language, but I'm obviously using them in a sense that is very personal and relevant only to myself.

My friend was either unwilling or unable to communicate the particular meaning she had ascribed to spirituality. It's also possible that I was the problem, just not getting it, or attempting to convert her meaning to terms more familiar to myself and failing.

It was at this moment that I understood what I had missed in my reading of Zen...Maintenance. The concept of Quality helps to build a core point in the book, but how does one properly communicate a point before making absolute sure that one's audience is completely understanding the definition of what is being discussed.

We do this so often in our lives, with large and small items. Find ourselves in discussions and disagreeing because we aren't properly defining what is being discussed. We don't take the time to communicate clearly. We have abandoned the idea of proper debate and replaced it with a single-minded attempt to make our own points and feelings known. On so many occasions half-way through a discussion i've had a flash of realization that I have been discussing something slightly different to the other person. The effect, at times, has been a complete reversal of stance on an issue.

We take so much of our own world view for granted that we overlook that others perspectives and definitions can differ, due to their own experiences. Conflicts in our lives, in our offices, in our homes and in our world tend to come from these minor misunderstandings more often than we care to admit.

I don't know how the conversation about spirituality, should we ever pick it up again, will end. But I now have a better idea of where it should start.