Still one of my favorites from good ole Jack. Right up there with Some of The Dharma for its rarefied degree of lucid insight. The closest us poor schlubs can come to the 'beginner's mind' of Zen koan just by reading it!

“Give a gift to your brother, but there's no gift
to compare with the giving of assurance that he
is the golden eternity. The true understanding of
this would bring tears to your eyes. The other
shore is right here, forgive and forget, protect
and reassure. Your tormentors will be purified.
Raise thy diamond hand. Have faith and wait.
The course of your days is a river rumbling over
your rocky back. You're sitting at the bottom of the
world with a head of iron. Religion is thy sad
heart. You're the golden eternity and it must be
done by you. And means one thing: Nothing.
Ever-Happened. This is the golden eternity.”

This is the first Kerouac book I actually enjoyed

Everything. And nothing.

I’m still reading Kerouac when I can! Here he is writing his own Buddhist sutra or sacred text. It’s a wild read.

Seems kinda simple in it's Buddhistic tenements, but that's what I like about it. I think I'll re-read it tomorrow.

"Everything's alright, form is emptiness and emptiness is form, and we're here forever, in one form or another, which is empty. Everything's alright, we're not here, there, or anywhere. Everything's alright, cats sleep."



This is by far the best piece of work that Kerouac ever did. It is an absolutely amazing, rambling, joyous romp through the meaning of life and our place in this world. Ultimately, it was written because a friend recommended he write a sutra and to see how all of his life experiences, meditations, travels, and drug addled adventures led to this gives me hope that we all can discover the Golden Eternity! I highly recommend this one to anyone interested in Kerouac, the beats, spirituality, or just love bending their minds to a new reality. I found it online here: http://www.prahlad.org/disciples/scri... though it is also available in the Collected Works and probably a million other places. Read this one and pass it on! Plus it will take you all of 45 minutes to read and a lifetime to grasp.



"When you've understood this scripture, throw it away. If you cant understand this scripture, throw it away. I insist on your freedom."

"Enlightenment comes when you dont care."

I liked it. It's a very short book on enlightenment.

Deserves a better rating. But I don't feel like giving it more than three. Maybe my expectations from Kerouac are too high.

It leaves you grappling with something mysterious.

Cant really put a finger and say "THIS"

Should read more about Buddhism I guess :)

"Enlightenment comes when you dont [sic] care"

A sutra consisting of 66 zen koans medidating on the golden eternity. What is the golden eternity? Nothing is the golden eternity. And in that nothing, there is everything. Because this review isn't a review. And this book isn't a book. Except they are, because everything is the golden eternity. You have but to look for the sameness in nothingness, which unites all, yet nobody.

That is the golden eternity.

I must not be enlightened enough to appreciate this.

Lo leí de una sentada para mi sorpresa.
Me quedan tres cosas claras:
1. Yanki no se mezcla con Budismo.
2. Estoy harto de los "Imperativos" es libros de poesía que se autovenden como "Meditaciones" de la naturaleza de la consciencia y la existencia, disfrazándose de intelectualidades del "existo, pero no existo".
3. Voy a usar conceptos o nombres del librito choto este para fines perversos en alguna novela (Me las vas a pagar Kerouac).