We have probably all heard of the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert M Persig, 1974). It is an intriguing title, isn’t it – the spiritual philosophy of Zen Buddhism linked with the secular hands-on activity of motorcycle maintenance. The two would not normally appear in the same space. The duality of the Western way of thinking “the sacred and the profane” has held a strong influence over our societies for hundreds and hundreds of years.
Duality has its problems, and one aspect the book deals with are the disconnects we have as a society with the things that we depend on. We depend on our planet for our continuing existence, but since the rise of the industrial age into the Western post-industrial age, we have become increasingly disconnected from it.
I find duality to be an unhelpful way of perceiving our reality. I have been exercised by the need to seek other ways of “seeing”. For a very long time, I have felt more at home with the spiritual perceptions of the indigenous peoples of North America. A sense of interconnectedness of life and wholeness, not “that and this”.
Since the Earthcare Gathering in October 2025, I have been working on changing the way I interact with and relate to my allotment plot. I no longer see the activity as profane, but rather as sacred as the hour in Meeting for Worship. I am endeavouring to bring a spiritual practice to my time on the plot that will lead, in time, to a growing sense of respect, gratitude, and thanksgiving; being aware of the needs of other co-existers and sharing with them in that space. (Ubuntu – I am because you are.)
At our recent Living Witness Trustees residential meeting, we recognised that, after over sixty years of relative stability for our Quakerism and wider society, we now find ourselves in a time of instability and anxiety. We wondered what spiritual practices might offer us all: a deepening of our worship and a flowing out into our lived experiences? Bringing a simple spiritual practice to my allotment maintenance certainly is being transformative, at its best bringing wholeness and respect, doing away with domination and control.
Kathryn May