Kerouacian hobo army of Dharma Bums?

From today's Dilbert (see above) I got the idea that maybe Occupy is really the beginning of a hobo army of Dharma bums taking over the world. And would that really be a bad thing?

Day 22 Kerouaction: On Gifts

Day 22 in The Beat Handbook: 100 Days of Kerouactions is titled, "On Gifts," and references the above passage from The Dharma Bums.

It's one of my favorite passages in all of Jack's work. The paradoxical imagery of using a "diamondcutter of mercy" just slays me. As readers of The Daily Beat know, I got a tattoo of that phrase a couple of weeks ago. Even though I find it to be a gem of a phrase, a Google search reveals very few hits relevant to Jack, and most of them are from this blog! I find that very weird. And cool at the same time.


The point of the entry in my book, though, is about gift-giving. In this case, Jack gave from his heart and gave something that was uniquely his to give: words.

What is it that can uniquely come, that can only come, from you to another? That is something to ponder carefully the next time a gift is in order.

Tomorrow: We leave The Dharma Bums behind and venture into On The Road, which has a total of 78 entries in my book (22 + 78 = 100). If we get damn lucky, the series will still be going when The Movie comes out.

Day 21 Kerouaction: On Impermanence

Day 21 in The Beat Handbook: 100 Days of Kerouactions is titled, "On Impermanence." It references the below passage from The Dharma Bums.



For me, the essence of this passage is a central teaching in Buddhism: the law of impermanence. It is an inescapable, eternal truth. Nothing lasts, neither good nor evil. Click here for a short treatise on the concept which includes the following:

Shoud [sic] we understand and recognize the Law of Impermanence, we could change our perspective toward life. We would admit life as it is, no matter what kind of change or adversity we encounter. That is the teaching of Buddha. We would be brave and wise in any circumstance, and more sympathetic to others. Never again would we cry when facing a mishap, an illness, or even death.

A dangerous misinterpretation of the law of impermanence can lead to a nihilistic view of life. If nothing lasts, then fuck it. Since it's all meaningless, since everyone and everything I care about will be destroyed, why give a shit about anything? On the contrary, understanding the law of impermanence brings great meaning to one's existence; as described above, it allows us to change our perspective and face adversity bravely and wisely and become more sympathetic (I would change that word to empathetic) to others. Understanding the law of impermanence is an important step toward ending our own suffering.

In The Matrix, the Oracle tells Neo: "Everything that has a beginning has an end." That goes for the good stuff and the bad stuff in your life. Knowing this, we can fully appreciate the good stuff while it's happening, and bear the bad stuff because we know it will end.

My mom always said, "This too shall pass." I think she usually said this about bad stuff, but it still sums up the law of impermanence pretty well.

Of course, the concepts of "good" and "bad" emanate from judgments we ourselves make, and if we would simply observe without the "me" involved (see yesterday's post), we'd end conflict right at the source.

Some will say, "If Jack understood all this stuff, why did he end up a disillusioned, bitter alcoholic?" My retort: That says a lot more about the speaker of such a statement than it does about Jack. If you want to change the world, start by changing yourself. If you're going to wait until others are perfect, you'll wait for an eternity. Jack was pointing at the moon, but he wasn't the moon and never claimed to be. He gave us the terrible beauty of the world in his words, and for that, those of us who "get" him are eternally thankful.

Day 20 Kerouaction: On Walking Meditation

Day 20's Kerouaction in The Beat Handbook: 100 Days of Kerouactions is titled, "On Walking Meditation." It references the below passage from The Dharma Bums.



Many Westerners picture "meditation" as something you do sitting in a torturous cross-legged position on a special cushion (it's called a zafu, and if you really want to get comfy, you put the zafu atop a zabuton). On the contrary, meditation is a practice that is available 24/7, regardless of what you are doing. As Japhy points out, you can do it while hiking. Thich Nhat Hanh wrote an entire book on the subject, The Long Road to Joy: A Guide to Walking Meditation. If you Google "walking meditation," you'll get over 1.6 million hits.

I hope you will take the time to read this talk by Jiddu Krishnamurti in Santa Monica in 1974. In it, he says some powerful things about meditation. Among them:

Now here comes our difficulty. Because each one of you, I am quite sure have been corrupted - if I may use that word - by the recent fashion to meditate. The word 'meditation' means, by the dictionary, to ponder over, to consider, to go into, to explore. All that is involved in the word 'meditation' . And the gurus that have come from India with their traditional authority, with their technique, with their assertions, with their absurdities, and the Americans on the whole being rather gullible, have taken to it, paying lots of money and being fed up with the old church and old traditions, take on a new tradition of India and their mysteries and their absurdities. The word 'guru' in Sanskrit means one who resolves ignorance, takes away your ignorance. But generally the gurus impose their ignorance on you, their burden on you for so much money; or they assert they have got enlightenment. Some few years ago a very famous guru came to see us, with a few of his disciples. He was rather pompous, absolutely certain. And he said, 'I have got it, I am enlightened, I have reached, I have attained' - and we asked him what is it that he had attained. 'Oh,' he said, 'I have attained the immeasurable, it is in my heart, in my mind'. And we said, 'Can you hold the sea in your hand, can you hold the heavens in your fist, can you see the whole of the earth in observing one piece of the earth?' He was rather annoyed and left because he never wanted another to question what he had attained. So if you have gurus, and I hope you haven't, ask them what they have got, what their pretensions are. Truth is not something that you get, that you have, that you possess. It is a pathless land, nobody can lead you to it. You have to be a light to yourself from the very beginning so that you yourself stand alone, purified from all the absurdities of man's endeavour, search and explanations. And most of us like to depend on somebody and so the gurus are there to exploit people.

He says much more about meditation in this talk, and I truly think some time spent going into it with an open mind will yield new insights about meditation. It might even motivate you to read more of Krishnamurti's work. Or, perhaps you will watch one of the many videos on-line, such as this talk with Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in which he says, "As long as you are held within a pattern, you must create disorder in the world."

If you watch the video and your mind is blown or confused, that's a good thing. It takes repeated exposure to Krishnamurti to "get" him.

Back to meditation. Go for a walk or a hike and see if you can leave yourself behind! Notice your breathing, feel your feet hitting the ground, smell the air, listen to the birds (or construction equipment or whatever sounds are happening), watch the scenery passing by - all without trying to make it be different from what it is ("I wish the birds were louder."), all without judgment ("Those bulldozers across the street are making too much noise."), all without the "me" involved. When thoughts occur (and they will), you'll know the "me" showed up, and that's okay. Just notice that and go back to experiencing the walk totally, observing everything about it without evaluation, analysis, and judgment.

But remember, you can meditate whenever you wish, whatever you are doing. Here's a great little video with some pointers, but keep in mind that Krishnamurti might call this a "method," and therefore it reinforces the "me." However, if you can get the hang of it by using the tips in this video, you can go beyond a "pattern" of meditation and thus meditate without all the trappings of process.

Namaste.

Day 19 Kerouaction: On Food for the Road

A few days ago we discussed the first in what will be several entries (at least 6) on the "beat diet." If you want to eat beat, you need to eat what Jack's characters ate. On August 11 we discussed the blissful breakfast food, slumgullion. Today's entry in The Beat Handbook: 100 Days of Kerouactions concerns "food for the road." That is, when you're on the move - whether hitchhiking (the best choice) or driving - what should you throw in your rucksack for sustenance along the way? According to the below passage from The Dharma Bums, the answer is Ry-Krisp crackers (yup, they still make them), a wedge of good sharp Cheddar cheese, and a roll of salami.


I know what you're thinking: this stuff should be kept in a cooler of some sort, especially the salami. Wrong! We all know you can keep cheese unrefrigerated, and the crackers are a no-brainer. But what about the salami? Well, two points here. First, Jack didn't refrigerate his, and it didn't kill him. Second, note this article on Salon.com, which explains which foods need to refrigerated and why. Salami has low moisture and it's cured, so it's safe to keep unrefrigerated.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Ry-Krisps, Cheddar cheese, salami. Throw that in your rucksack and go go go!


Tomorrow: On walking meditation.

Kerouac Day 18: On Appearances

Today's Kerouaction in The Beat Handbook is titled, "On Appearances," and references this passage from The Dharma Bums:

...all they really should do is just build or buy an old Jap house and vegetable garden and have a place there for cats to hang out in and be Buddhists, I mean have a real flower of something and not just the usual American middleclass fuggup with appearances.

In this scene, Japhy is talking about his pending "monastery shot" in Japan and how the Americans there who are financing him spend a lot of money on appearances like

elegant scenes of gardens and books and Japanese architecture and all that crap which nobody will like or be able to use anyway but rich American divorcees on Japanese cruises....

He is bemoaning the fact that some Americans - true Dharma Bums - really "get" Buddhism and don't care about appearances. In my book, I say:

Tomorrow, throw out something you have been hanging on to for years. Throw it in the trash and laugh. Or give it to someone! That would be even better for the environment. You won’t miss it and you surely don’t “need” it. What do you need? Little. We all need the same things. Among them are shelter, food, connection, and spirituality. What does that “thing” you are going to throw away have to do with any of that?

Make a list of 10 things you are going to give away (best idea) or sell or throw out and check them off as you do so.

Tomorrow: On food for the road (more on the "beat diet").

Kerouac Day 17: On Breakfast

As Day 17 in The Beat Handbook points out (in reference to the below passage from The Dharma Bums), Jack routinely detailed what his characters ate, and from this we can acertain the "beat diet," which I blogged about on April 2, 2009. Excuse me for not uploading a photo from the actual book, but Facebook is down right now and that is how I get photos from my camera to the 'Net.

Tomorrow morning I'll make you another nice breakfast, slumgullion, d'yever eat good oldfashioned slumgullion boy, 'taint nothin but scrambled eggs and potatoes all scrambled up together.

In this instance, Jack makes "slumgullion" for breakfast. I've tried it, and it's a tasty way to start your day!

Stay tuned for other entries about the "beat diet."

Tomorrow: On Appearances.

By the way, there are only five entries left from The Dharma Bums, and then we'll start working our way through On The Road.

Kerouac Day 16: On Action v. Words

Day 16 in The Beat Handbook is titled, "On Action v. Words," and references the below passage from The Dharma Bums.



As the Suggested Kerouactivity for this entry says, "Words written here would be an abomination."

Do something!

Kerouac Day 14: On Dogs Being Wiser Than Their Masters

Day 14 in The Beat Handbook is titled, "On Dogs Being Wiser Than Their Masters," and references the below passage from The Dharma Bums.



I'm breaking pattern here and have provided the entire entry from my book (between the asterisks). Keep reading, though, I have some more to say.

*******************************************
Day 14
Today’s Kerouaction: On Dogs Being Wiser Than Their Masters
Spiritual teacher and author Eckhart Tolle says in The Power of Now (1999) that he has known several Zen masters in his life: all cats.[18] Likewise, Kerouac points out that our egos and our intellect get in the way of enlightenment. Look to animals for clues on being. Or little children. Hmmmm . . . . Become as little children? A very famous man is credited with saying that a couple thousand years ago. Perhaps he studied the dharma?


Suggested Kerouactivity:
Find a cat or a dog and watch them "be" for 10 minutes without any mental images or comments.



[18] As I edit this page on May 31, 2007, it occurs to me that a couple of days ago a friend, Heidi, gave me a little plaque with this quote on it: "If cats could talk, they wouldn’t." Which reminds me of an interchange credited to Winston Churchill. A woman said to him that if she were his wife, she would poison his coffee. He replied, "If you were my wife, I’d drink it."

*******************************************

Here's the picture referenced in the above footnote. I chose not to bother with graphics in my book (more expense and complication), but nothing prevents me from sharing them here.



Given today's passage, I feel compelled to point out that Jack was really more of a cat person than a dog person. We'll get to that on Day 72. In case I forget to share it 58 days from now, here's a classic picture of Jack.


It graces the cover of an excellent collection of essays about Jack, The Kerouac We Knew by John Montgomery. I paid a pretty penny for my copy and I highly recommend getting your hands on one if you get the chance.

Closing thought: Treat animals well. It's the beat thing to do.

Kerouac Day 13: On The Illusion of Things

Day 13 in The Beat Handbook is titled, "On The Illusion of Things," and references the following passage from The Dharma Bums.


Expounding on this passage would require my mind stuff to interact with your mind stuff, which would ignore its profound meaning. Yes?

Tomorrow: On dogs being wiser than their masters.

Kerouac Day 10: On freedom and materialism

Day 10 in The Beat Handbook is titled, "On Freedom and Materialism." It references the above passage from The Dharma Bums.

As Chuck Palahniuk points out in Fight Club, you are not your job, your car, your clothes, and so on. Possessions are not the secret to enjoying life, as this truck driver learns after talking with hitchhiker Ray (Jack).

One piece of advice from my book continues to resonate (even though I am far from this state of affairs right now): Be able to fit everything you own into a rucksack. Then you are ready to "go go go" at a moment's notice.

Even if you can't do that in actuality, can you do it emotionally? That is, are you attached to your "stuff," or could you walk away from any and all of it at a moment's notice without suffering?

Kerouac Day 9: On freedom

Day 9 in The Beat Handbook is titled, "On Freedom," and references the below passage from The Dharma Bums.


The entry in my book includes a quote from a favorite movie, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man: "It's better to be dead and cool than alive and uncool." The Kerouaction for the day is live free or die (with thanks to New Hampshire), and the suggested Kerouactivity is to get "Live Free or Die" tattooed somewhere on your body. I accomplished that on 12-18-08, courtesy of Wellsboro, PA tattoo artist Chris Killingstad (click here for proof).

On a related note, today I am visiting Hallowell, ME tattoo artist, Kathy Healey of Sinful Addictions, for my latest ink: a Kerouac quote. It's from The Dharma Bums, so there's your connection to today's post. Pictures anon (after the pain).

Live free or die. Get a tattoo if that's your wish. What or who is stopping you?

"Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it."
~Uncle Argyle in Braveheart

FREEDOM!

Kerouac Day 8: On watching television

Day 8 in The Beat Handbook is titled, "On Watching Television." It references the below passage from The Dharma Bums.

Indeed, I watch entirely too much television, despite my agreement with Jack that disconnecting from the "Master Switch" is important. But, as I say in my book, this is about you, not me. If Jack's plea resonates, do something about it. If not, don't.

It's up to you.

Kerouac Day 7: On finding a mate

Day 7 in The Beat Handbook is titled, "On Finding a Mate," and references the below passage in The Dharma Bums.

I find the passage fairly self-explanatory. Suffice to say that Jack was steering us clear of high maintenance types. I think this advice translates across gender, sexual orientation, and what-have-you, and I bet Jack would agree.

Day 6 in The Beat Handbook is titled, "On Materialism." The entry mentions backpacks, mountains, Fight Club, cars, jobs, baldness, erectile dysfunction, and poetry - all related to the above passage from The Dharma Bums.

This is a critical passage in Bums in which Kerouac predicts a "rucksack revolution" led by "Zen Lunatics." I wrote about rucksacks on March 25, 2009, even sharing a picture of Jack's canvas rucksack as well as a lead on where to get buy a decent replica today (heavens, there we go with more materialism).

But on to what I said yesterday about needing to revisit this post. From time to time I look around at all of the "stuff" I've amassed over the years, and my initial reaction is to feel frustrated. It really is quite a lot. However, if I remember to do it, I remind myself to do a mental "check-in" on whether I identify with it. Is my new truck about me, does it define me, or is it about function and meeting particular needs I've identified at this time? The answer to that question is important. Having "stuff" isn't the problem. It's only a problem when the "stuff" controls you, when you'd feel less valuable without it, when you obsess over it. In short, when you think you "need" it.

Let's put it this way. Regarding any particular material possession you "own" (I put that in quotes because we don't really "own" anything - we borrow it for a spell): Could you give it away right now without angst? Regarding situations (e.g., jobs): Could you walk away from them right now and not look back?

Attachment (to things, situations, locations, people, even ideas) is the source of suffering. And you don't have to be a wandering vagabond with no possessions or relationships - which are indeed important - to live in that space where you know you're not "attached" to them.

Please don't misunderstand. I am all for loyalty and commitment to partners, spouses, children, pets, jobs, causes, etc.* But if they define you, if your value as a human being comes from those things, then you are on a dangerous path because sooner or later, everything gets taken away. So be free of them now. Eckhart Tolle says everything is honored, but nothing matters.

As Jack said, "That nothin' means nothin' is the saddest thing I know."

Grab that rucksack and go be a Zen Lunatic.


Tomorrow: On finding a mate.


*Intentionally omitted from this list are religion and politics, including nationalism. Loyalty and commitment to those "concepts" is the biggest cause of evil on this planet. It is very difficult to avoid attachment to these, to avoid being "conditioned" (as Krishnamurti would say) by them. So, I am explicitly not going to endorse them. At the same time, if you're hardcore into such things, great - as long as you step back once in a while and examine how your attachment to them actually manifests as compassion and not mischief.

Kerouac Day 5: Fresh air, the dharma, & drinking

Day 5 in The Beat Handbook deals with the above passage from The Dharma Bums. You'll have to read Bums or my book to find out what The Place is (if you don't already know). Hopefully you'll do both, since the latter is a companion to the former.

To your health....


Tomorrow: Materialism. Man, do I need to revisit that one.

Crap according to Kerouac: Day 4

Day 4 in The Beat Handbook is titled, "On Crap," and starts out with a simple Kerouaction: "Go take a shit in the woods once in a while." It is based on the following passage from The Dharma Bums:


Tomorrow: Fresh air, the dharma, and drinking.

College according to Kerouac: Day 3

Day 3 in The Beat Handbook is titled, "On College." Since I'm a college professor, this entry in my book rather startled some of my colleagues, but remember: I'm simply channeling Jack Kerouac through his novels.

My entry starts out: "Don't go to college." It references the following passage in The Dharma Bums,

which includes the phrase:

"...grooming schools for the middle-class non-identity."

Ouch.

Tomorrow: On crap.

Sex as meditation according to Kerouac: Day 2

Day 2 in The Beat Handbook is titled "On Sex as Meditation," and references the above passage from The Dharma Bums.

Yabyum, indeed.

Tomorrow: "On College."

Dharma Bum Books

The following is from Town Topics, Princeton's weekly community newspaper, on this date:

Dharma Bum Books, named after the novel The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, is currently taking shape at a storefront at 45 West Broad Street in Hopewell [NJ]. The store will carry works by Kerouac, Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, and other literary giants of the Beat Generation. Gombar sees the shop not as a money-maker, but rather as an antidote to big-box stores and a refuge for people who share his nostalgia for an era gone by and his love for the printed word.

Click here for more details. The store will open officially in September.

Alas, there goes one name I was considering for the bookstore I'm going to open some day. Damn.

I wonder if Mr. Gombar got permission from the appropriate source(s) (Penguin? The Kerouac estate?). Not trying to cause trouble, but I know what would happen if I opened a business with a Kerouac novel's title in its name. Sue city, and we're not talking Iowa.