Everybody's squinting in Robert Pirsig's classic novel of self-discovery, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." Everybody's trying to see what's ahead, but their vision is blurry as if they're in a fog.
Everybody -- except for the welder.
He sees things clear.
The welder is "an old man in his sixties or seventies," Pirsig recounts. He moves slow, but he welds like a dream: "He sparks the torch, sets a tiny little blue flame and then, it's hard to describe, actually dances the torch and the rod in separate little rhythms over the thin sheet metal, the whole spot a uniform luminous orange-yellow, dropping the torch and the filler rod down at the exact right moment and removing them. No holes. You can hardly see the weld. 'That's beautiful,' I say.
"'One dollar,' he says."
ADVERTISEMENT
In a novel filled with academics searching for fulfillment, only the welder has found a bit of it. He focuses on his trade, and that's enough.
Phil Jackson remembers the welder, we'd guess.
Jackson calls Pirsig's book one of the most important influences on his life. So, what does that story of a father and son on a motorcycle trip to the West Coast have to do with the Jackson's famous triangle offense?
Look to the welder -- the master of his craft. That's Jackson, the winningest coach in pro-basketball history, and a fellow who finds enlightenment by "dancing the torch and rod in separate little rhythms" in a basketball world of his own.
They don't call Jackson "the Zen Master" for nothing.
Today is a special day at UND. That's because Jackson, one of UND's most distinguished graduates, is in town to get an honorary degree and speak at a campus event.
Jackson's appearance is part of UND's 125th anniversary celebration. UND made a special effort to invite him for the anniversary, and Jackson made a special effort to appear. Congratulations to the university for its persistence, and many thanks to Jackson for graciously agreeing to come back to UND.
Jackson, of course, is a basketball legend. He has coached nine teams to NBA championships. He has won the most playoff victories and boasts the highest regular-season winning percentage among career coaches.
ADVERTISEMENT
But as impressive as his victories is how he achieved them. As fans know, Jackson coaches with a blend of Zen lore and American Indian spirituality that's unlike anything else in sports. The game's at its best when it's played in a state of calm awareness, he preaches: "Sitting zazen (in meditative posture), I learned to trust the moment -- to immerse myself in action as mindfully as possible, so that I could react spontaneously to whatever was taking place," Jackson wrote in his autobiography, "Sacred Hoops: Spiritual lessons of a hardwood warrior."
"I discovered that I was far more effective when I became completely immersed in the action, rather than trying to control it and fill my mind with unrealistic expectations."
Completely immersed, like an old man welding thin sheet metal in a book written long ago.
Jackson will appear at two events today that are open to the public. At 2 p.m., he'll receive an honorary doctorate in a convocation ceremony at the Chester Fritz Auditorium. Then at 5 p.m., he'll be the featured guest in one of UND's "Great Conversations" events, also at the Chester Fritz Auditorium.
-- Tom Dennis for the Herald
