Beat Zen, Square Zen And Zen

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The old Chinese Zen masters were steeped in Taoism. They saw nature in its total interrelatedness, and saw that every creature and every experience is in accord with the Tao of nature just as it is. This enabled them to accept themselves as they were, moment by moment, without the least need to justify anything. They didn't do it to defend themselves or to find an excuse for getting away with murder. They didn't brag about it and set themselves apart as rather special. On the contrary, their Zen was wu-shih, which means approximately "nothing special" or "no fuss." But Zen is "fuss" when it is mixed up with Bohemian affectations, and "fuss" when it is imagined that the only proper way to find it is to run off to a monastery in Japan or to do special exercises in the lotus posture for five hours a day. And I will admit that the very hullabaloo about Zen, even in such an article as this, is also fuss — but a little less so. However, he had discovered something of value—a collection of essays by D.T. Suzuki, Buddhism in the Philosophical Library Series. In this work, Allen read passages on the Zen satori, or enlightenment experience, that greatly interested him (Charters 191). It was in part due to a vision he had almost five years earlier when he experienced a spontaneous poetic elaboration in a visionary experience involving the poet William Blake that left him inspired and confused. The concept of satori in Suzuki’s work matched up perfectly with the nature of his Blake vision and provided a new context with which to pursue his mystical inquiries. Better to ditch that "us" and "them" mentality altogether as it's not really grounds for critical thinking about these subjects with myriad factors. And please remember that I don't even think this change was down to censorship but rather artistic choice. I have 0 problems with the amount of wobble or clothing this character has either way 😂. Edington, Stephen D. The Beat Face of God: The Beat Generation Writers as Spirit Guides. Nashua: Trafford Publishing, 2005.

Schumacher, Michael. Dharma Lion: A Biography of Allen Ginsberg. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992. KundaliniRising333 It's kind of important to choose the right words to get your point across so I'm glad ear_wig followed up with a more detailed reply of their views. Beat Zen is a complex phenomenon. It ranges from a use of Zen for justifying sheer caprice in art, literature, and life to a very forceful social criticism and “digging of the universe” such as one may find in the poetry of Ginsberg and Snyder, and, rather unevenly, in Kerouac. But, as I know it, it is always a share too self-conscious, too subjective, and too strident to have the flavor of Zen. It is all very well for the philosopher, but when the poet (Ginsberg) says— liveRinzai Zen is the form most widely known in the West. There is also Soto Zen which differs somewhat in technique, but is still closer to Hakuin than to Bankei. However, Bankei should not exactly be identified with beat Zen as I have described it, for he was certainly no advocate of the life of undisciplined whimsy despite all that he said about the importance of the uncalculated life and the folly of seeking satori.

The conversations that occurred between the poets in San Francisco during this period often centered on Buddhism and were referred to as “Dharma confrontation” by Ginsberg. These dialogues helped orient the writers in their moral and philosophical positions within Buddhism (Fields 214). This juncture between poets signified an important moment in the lives of the writers from the two coastal literary scenes (Prothero 16). It would be through the friendships established during this period that Buddhism and Beat writing would undergo its most fertile synthesis. Beat Zen is a complex phenomenon. It ranges from a use of Zen for justifying sheer caprice in art, literature, and life to a very forceful social criticism and "digging of the universe" such as one may find in the poetry of Ginsberg and Snyder, and, rather unevenly, in Kerouac. But, as I know it, it is always a shade too self-conscious, too subjective, and too strident to have the flavor of Zen. It is all very well for the philosopher, but when the poet (Ginsberg) says -Zen issue, Chicago Review, 1958Later that year, a Zen issue of The Chicago Review was published featuring a written work of Snyder’s entitled “Spring Sesshin at Sokoju” which described his experiences in a traditional Japanese Zen monastery during the previous years. In addition to Snyder’s contribution, the publication also featured a piece by Kerouac called “Meditation in the Woods” and a poem by Philip Whalen titled “Sourdough Mountain Lookout” (Tonkinson 220). The prose and poems of the Beats ran alongside distinguished Buddhist teachers and scholars, including D.T. Suzuki and Alan Watts, marking the Beats as valid contributors to the changing religious figure of Buddhism in America. Foreign relations can be immensely attractive and highly overrated by those who know little of their own, and especially by those who have not worked through and grown out of their own. This is why the displaced or unconscious Christian can so easily use either beat or square Zen to justify himself. The one wants a philosophy to justify him in doing what he pleases. The other wants a more plausible authoritative salvation than the Church or the psychiatrists seem to be able to provide. Furthermore the atmosphere of Japanese Zen is free from all one’s unpleasant childhood associations with God the Father and Jesus Christ—though I know many young Japanese who feel the same way about their early training in Buddhism. But the true character of Zen remains almost incomprehensible to those who have not surpassed the immaturity of needing to be justified, whether before the Lord God or before a paternalistic society.