Eastern Thought in the Works of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg
In the late 1950's and throughout the 1960's, a fascination with Eastern thought developed, concentrating on Zen Buddhism and Daoism. This attraction can be explained in part by the complete strangeness of these thought forms to Western ideals. Buddhism's denial of reality and Daoism's wu-wei or flowing with life were revolutionary ideas to the people of the late '50's who had been brought up with consumerism, patriotism, Christianity, and suburbia. As people began rebelling from this cookie-cutter society, Eastern thought became a tool for the revolution, denying previously indubitable truths such as reality, attachment and God. This polar opposite belief-system, though it worked well as a slap in the face for conservative America, had difficulty being accepted in it's purest totality. Many aspects were too strict, too foreign and even too conservative to fit properly with the atmosphere of revolution and freedom. Thus began the process of "domestication". In order for these belief-systems to be embraced by the revolutionaries, a sort of depurification had to take place. Writers like Kerouac and Ginsberg combined Zen Buddhism, Daoism, and forms of Tibetan mysticism with parts of Western religions to create a medley of traditions much more liberal in practice than any of it's component belief systems. This "corruption" of Eastern thought began with the inclusion of sex, drugs and even facets of Christianity and other modes of Western thought to produce a hybrid of spirituality, and ended as an accepted mode of belief among the revolutionaries in a way the purest forms of these religions never could have. Jack Kerouac in his book, The Dharma Bums, and Allen...
... middle of paper ...
...beliefs with their own, or tracing the traditions to their purest roots and taking the religion from there. It was a long road, but the sincerity of the Dharma Bums and the other poets and writers of the 1960's left a legacy of religious freedom, breaking out of the barriers of middle-American Christianity and setting out for the new frontier. Kerouac muses over this in The Dharma Bums, "'Yes, Coughlin, it's a shining now-ness and we've done it, carried America like a shining blanket into that brighter nowhere Already'" (138).
Works Cited
Allen, Donald ed. The New American Poetry 1945-1960. Berkeley: U of CA, 1999.
Ginsberg, Allen. "Kaddish". Allen, pp. 194-201
Ginsberg, Allen. "Sunflower Sutra". Allen, pp. 179-180.
Ginsberg, Allen. "A Supermarket in California". Allen pp. 181-182.
Kerouac, Jack. The Dharma Bums. New York: Penguin, 1986.
Moore investigates the attitudes, behavior, and perception of Americans regarding their respective individual sacred and secular lives. He is interested in the roles of popular culture and religion and in addition, how popular culture affected the shift in boundaries between sacredness and secularism, particularly how these practices shape American religion. We live in a complex society and social structure that is structured with norms and values that they themselves structure the way we interpret and interact with others.
Roof, Wade Clark. "Contemporary Conflicts: Tradition vs. Transformation." Contemporary American Religion. Vol. 1. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. 226-27. Print.
Gaustad, Edwin S. The Religious History of America: The Heart of the American Story from Colonial Times to Today. N.p.: HarperOne, 2004. Print.
89-106. Gilmore, Michael T. "Revolt Against Nature: The Problematic Modernism of The Awakening. " Martin 59-84. Giorcelli, Cristina.
A very well known and unusual poet of the early 1960's Allen Ginsberg captured many supporters and friends with his literary works. Allen Ginsberg led a very atypical life, and his poems reflect his lifestyle and the lifestyle of those who influenced him. Allen's work is a reflection of his life experiences, the vast influences of his family and friends formed him into the superior poet he was.
Omelas is described as a city in a fairy tale. It is a city towered by sea and encircled by mountains and has a cheerful sweetness of the air. It has beautiful public buildings and spacious private homes with red roof and painted walls, magnificent farmer markets, green parks and avenues of trees. Omelas is a very prosperous city. It has every bit of luxury, comfort and exuberance that it can offer its residents. Even in the text it is urged to imagine Omelas: “O miracle! but I wish I could describe it better. I wish I could convince you. Omelas sounds in my words like a city in a fairy tale, long ago and far away, once upon a time. Perhaps it would be best if you imagined it as your own fancy bids, assuming it will rise to the occasion, for certainly I cannot suit you all” (Le Guin; Page-2). People from other towns come to Omelas during festivals. It is a centre of attraction to all. The people in Omelas are happy people. They are religious but not dogmatic. They are independent and have freedom to do whatever they want. They do not use swords or keep slaves. They have the sense of victory and celebration of courage. As a whole Omelas is descri...
Buddhism is a religion from the East that has spread to many different countries all over the world. It has spread to the West, and has had a great influence and impact, especially in America. However, the Buddhism that is practiced in the United States is not exactly the same as the one that is practiced in Asian countries. If Buddhism differs between the different traditions of the Asian countries themselves, it is obvious that it will differ greatly in America as well. However, even though there are obvious differences, it is important to maintain the core values and fundamental principles the same. This research explores how the three different types of Buddhist practitioners have adopted Buddhism in America, and it describes some differences
Omelas begins amidst a festival in the seemingly utopian city of Omelas. People are in a holiday spirit on this day, as they are every other day in Omelas. Mirth and good cheer seems to be the moods of all of the citizens. Though blissful, these people are by no means ignorant: They were not simple folks, you see, though they were happy...They were not less complex than us. The seemingly perfect city offers something to please every taste: festivals, good-natured orgies, drugs that aren’t habit-forming, beer, and so on. The citizens of Omelas have a complete love of life. There is no war, no hunger, no strife; in short, Omelas seems like the pinnacle of perfection.
Niles, Patricia. “The Enlightenment.” Novaonline. Niles and C.T. Evans, 7 May 2011. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. .
I find many Americans searching for a higher spirituality than traditional western religions, and they can find what they are searching for in Asian religions. Alan Watts was the type of a person who refused western religions and their thinking and in his search he formed “his own hybrid spirituality a between Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism, with a certain leaning towards Vedanta and Catholicism, or rather the Orthodox Church of Eastern Europe.
Homosexuality as a whole has been and is still a very controversial topic globally. There are many different kinds of discussions about the LGBT community, such as gays and lesbians being parents. Some critics tend to believe that homosexual parenting is bad for kids, as if a person’s sexuality determines whether or not they are a good parent.. There is no definite proof that being homosexual makes you a good or bad parent. So, there is no way of being one-hundred percent sure that homosexual parenting results in gender role confusion, psychological harm, or a child being homosexual themselves.
While many people have different perspectives to whether gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to adopt children, we have to keep in mind that it’s not all about what society says and what they think. It’s about the personal life of the child that will be affected. As humans we have grown up knowing that a family consists of a mother and a father, not both of the same sexes. That being said every child should have the privilege to have both a mother and father like everyone else. In “Growing up with Gay Parents” the 3 year old son of Jen Bleakley and Nina Jacobson asked his lesbian mothers if he had a father. It shouldn’t be like that, yes a mother can step in and try to take the fatherly image but never will it be the same, to the little boy who sees other boys out and about with their fathers. In t...
In an attempt to synthesize my own personal academic area of interest, that is: the history of the psychedelic movement in twentieth century America, with the content of the Asian Religions course, I have elected to study the relationship between the influx of Buddhist philosophy and the psychedelic counter-culture movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s. The subject, although highly specific, has nonetheless generated intellectual interest substantial enough to warrant a sub-field of study, in terms of Buddhist/American History examination. This paper will focus on the thought of the main harbingers of this movement, specifically Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts, and Dr. Timothy Leary. This study will also examine the corruptions of classical Buddhist philosophy wrought by these intellectuals concerned with integrating the psychedelic experience in an Eastern context. The connection between Buddhism and psychedelics in the American experience is a subject of contention because of the controversial associations of chemically altered perception as compared to traditional Bodhicitta, or the mind of enlightenment. The author Emma Layman, in her book Buddhism in America, asserts:
...inly Christian population of the time. It also came as a shock because women were welcomed to join. America was in a chaotic state during the 1960s. The country was basically torn apart, and highly tormented by the controversy over the Vietnam war. People were breached by the traditional American ideals of serving the country, and heroic nationalism, and new ideologies and beliefs systems. More Americans were open to try different things. The Hippie era, trials of free love, and experimenting with fresh cultural aspects, all probably led to a sort of flourishing of spiritual awareness. As the cultures' curiosity and confusion led to a blossoming of new religious forms, or at least new to the Americana. Zen Buddhism was among these ideas, that was grasped at by Americans seeking new spiritual enlightenment. Zen went from India to China to Japan to Western civilization, and made a variable impact in each place it traveled to. The ideas, customs, beliefs, and philosophies of the Zen Buddhist religion spread globally due to its universality. From politics to poets, Zen impacts all aspects of life, and forms ethics through guideline, and basic philosophies of human nature and spirit.
Jack Kerouac does not fit stereotypical aspects that one might think a normal author might have. To most an author is a calm person who works on his or her book, developing new ideas and puts time and passion into writing their novel. To put it in perspective our idea of insanity is Jack Kerouac’s idea of normal. Throughout Kerouac’s many adventures across America he finds out what type of person he is shaping himself into. The person that he becomes as he has these experiences and adventures is one who is a very independent thinker, a Buddhist, and an alcohol/drug abuser. As said by Jack Hicks “Their experiments in sexuality, with drugs, with the many and often frightening potentialities of psychic and social order and disorder, their bold and often naive desires to re-awaken dormant chords in American life and writing—these have rarely been met with balanced opinions.”(2). Everything that Hicks has analyzed about Kerouac is apparent through his writing today. Kerouac’s novels, such as On the Road and The Dharma Bums, contain individualistic themes, which question American literature and the cultural norms that are found in such writing.