Greetings from Hanoi, Vietnam

[Kimmism]

Bet I'm the first one here, from such an exotic land . If not, shout out. I need to know there are some/any kindred spirit around.

I was born in Vietnam but left for the UK when I was in my early teen. Somewhere along the way my culture lost hold of me and I became somewhat of a hippie/anarchist/outlaw/freedom lover. Anyway, David Cameron was a bit of a dick so I left the UK.

I did Psychology most of my life. I stumbled into Critical Psychology while I was doing my Master and discovered that the mainstream doesn't have to be the absolute. I also got introduced to Permaculture and spent a year in Laos (best time of my life) studying and practicing it. Unfortunately my funding was running low so I had to go back to Hanoi. Since then I had barely worked as I detested the system and the working culture in Vietnam (it's developing rapidly, so I guess there's no surprise here). I have been able to survive working now and then as a translator and living as frugally as possible. I'm probably the only one who still rides a bicycle!

I spent the entire year being stuck and depressed, hating the mainstream but wasn't sure what to do about it. Except for reading. My 'bible' is 'Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'. Doesn't exactly provide a practical solution but I have never read anything that resonates with me to that degree. Then I got introduced to 'How To Be Idle' by Tom Hodgkinson. It's probably then that I started to contemplate the possibility of an alternative way of living.

Anyway, reading books has its limitation. I feel like now is the time to actually make the decision and start taking real concrete actions. I feel like I need a community. With real people (ha), real life experiences to remind me that this is possible.

So I'm here. Hello everyone.

[Ydobon]

David Cameron was a bit of a dick so I left the UK.

Love it - you should get a gig ghost writing his biography

[SimpleLife]

Care to summarize 'Zen and The Art of of Motorcycle Maintenance'? I read it when I was maybe 18, but it didn't really resonate with me so well. Now that I'm a little bit older and a burned out IT pro, it might, though I just don't have the time to read it between grad school, rental business and full time work.

Maybe I should read it again, but I'm dying to hear what your summary of the book is. Did that guy actually find meaning in life?

[Kimmism]

Care to summarize 'Zen and The Art of of Motorcycle Maintenance'? I read it when I was maybe 18, but it didn't really resonate with me so well. Now that I'm a little bit older and a burned out IT pro, it might, though I just don't have the time to read it between grad school, rental business and full time work.

Maybe I should read it again, but I'm dying to hear what your summary of the book is. Did that guy actually find meaning in life?

Hi SimpleLife,

Apologises for getting back so late. To summarise a book like Zen is a tremendously difficult task, for me at least. But I'll try to summarise it the best way I know how anyway.

The book is about Robert Pirsig's motorbicycle journey with his son- his effort to be closer to his son. But mostly Robert considered it a chautauqua, where he examined his past self and the many questions that his past self had about the nature of (scientific) knowledge and the journey that had led him there. The journey led him to examine and ponder over topics such as rhetorics, philosophy, spirituality and he had tried to gap the bridge, or at least make senses to himself, the Western scientific rational perspective and the more spiritual Eastern perspective. He started by explaining the reasons that started the questions in him and by the end of the book he digged deeper and looked at the origin of knowledge and reasoning. He finally ended up with the metaphysics of Quality, the origin of all experiences, perception and knowledge.

It's a slow and hard book to read if you like reading stories with plots. The book is more of a wander. You read from one topic to another and you have to stop countless times to think about, maybe just a paragraph, an idea. I've read the book about 3 times now and still want to read it again for this reason. The book is a stimulator, it made me ask so many questions I nearly went insane like Robert did . Haha, answering your questions really makes me want to read it again. I guess that's why I consider this book my bible. It doesn't give me the answers. It makes me question.

Did the guy actually find meaning in life?
I think the guy had found meaning in life the whole time while he was searching for his answer. That was the meaning of his life.

[nmirela]

Hi there,

I've joined the forum for the same reason as you did... I somehow needed the "safety net" of a community with "real people" [yeah, I too felt the irony of that!]. My worries are more to the practical side though - day to day struggles with how to keep/make money when your paycheck is always less than your most frugal lifestyle requirements. You seem more inclined to the philosophical

I also have the problem with my "exotic" location. [Although it's in Europe... few people know what Romania is all about].

So, how is life in Hanoi? How do you get by financially without having a steady job?