"Mientras buscas la luz puedes ser devorado repentinamente por las tinieblas y encontrar la verdadera luz..."

Kerouac, genio, debe de seguirse riendo de todos los que leemos su sutra y llegamos al aforismo #66...

Reiteramos: maldito Pablo Katchadjian y las lecturas bizarras que nos da para Taller de Narrativa III.

La bibbia

This is pretty much the correct dose of Kerouac. Very short with most of his worst impulses more or less under control.

This book is modeled on a certain kind of Buddhist scripture, and the poems are quite brief and all on basically the same subject: that old Buddhist trope reminding us that everything we think is so urgent at the moment is actually not real at all. Whatever troubles you, whatever does not trouble you...it's all just the Golden Eternity.

For Kerouac, this is a relatively coherent book. His playfulness with language is still here, but not so out of control that he entirely loses the thread as he often does in his other books. I'd say this was probably my most satisfying Kerouac read since On the Road.

While reading this I googled names and terms constantly. I would write info in the margins. I think if I had done more reading into Zen buddhism I wouldn't have needed to do that and would have understood what ol' Jack was getting at. I got the basics though, and I enjoyed the assortment of ideas he presented and the many connections and references provided, but I think I need to do more reading before I reread this text a second time.

Everything eternal and everlasting, everything "so".

"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."

I hadn't known this existed until I saw it at a book sale. It's an small book, a bit quirky, often comforting.

A book of poetry inspired by a vision he had during an unexplained fainting spell, Kerouac explores his Buddhist inclinations and beliefs. The poems range from paragraph-length poems to koans and haiku. Those familiar with the principles he espouses may find value here as well as those interested in Kerouac, but it is not likely to convert those who will find it to be touchy-feely, feel good sentiment.

One wonders how many psychedelics Jack ingested before writing this. That said, it was still an enjoyable read. :)

This is one of my favorite books. All stop, period, end of story.

This is the first poetry book that I ever purchased, at City Lights in San Fran, nonetheless.

The poetry is ok, nothing to write home about. But it is interesting western literature on the subject of Buddhism.

Chose to read this for national poetry month. The right book of poetry for the right time in my life. So much to take in, meditate on, accept or reject. Love it.

Two lines of Kerouac's Buddhist poem seen through the lense of the Beat generation that I found particularly chewable:

It wasn't in a greedy mood that you saw the light that belongs to everybody

While looking for the light, you may suddenly be devoured by the darkness and find the true light