Notes on Kerouac Sanga
It seems to me that Jack Kerouac spent a great deal of time
and energy trying to reconcile his fondness for Buddhism and it's lack of
an external divinity, with his upbringing in a Catholic catechism. Many Western
followers of the Buddha's teachings (the sanga) encounter this delemma. Although
Kerouac studied mostly Zen (Cha'an) Buddhism, I have put in my portrayal
a Tibetan guardian of Buddhism to represent the positive and negative psychological
forces produced in trying to reconcile the concepts of Buddhism with the
Western religious traditions.
The Holy Light...............is all there is to see.
The Holy Silence............is all there is to hear.
The Holy Odor...............is all there is to smell
The Holy Emptiness.......is all there is to taste.
The Holy Ecstasy...........is all there is to think.
Jack Kerouac, Desolation Angels