question remains whether or not psychedelics or other substances undermine
the validity of the spiritual experience. One thing is certain, and Pendell
says it best, “the salient feature of entheogens in American Buddhism at
present is memorial: that many Americans were attracted to Buddhism in
the fi rst place because of psychedelic revelations” (231).19
Trendy Zen
Pendellʼs analysis makes Zen seem more like a fad than a serious
spiritual path; however, and perhaps unfortunately, it is undeniable that
Buddhism has become a trendy hallmark of American society. Asian culture
is assimilating into American culture on a grand scale. Asian diets have
become especially trendy and yoga is taught at virtually every gym across
America. Most decent-sized cities have meditation centers, and Barnes and
Noble bookstores even have a section dedicated to Eastern spirituality. Asian
infl uence is permeating the West.
Even though popular America is in the process of Asianization, Zen has
been a cornerstone in the American counterculture for half a century. This
can be largely attributed to the writers and artists of the Beat Generation.
When the Beats haphazardly stumbled upon Buddhism and brought its
ideals to the forefront of their writings, little did they know that they were
profoundly impacting the American literary tradition. Schelling writes in
the preface to his anthology, “One canʼt overstate the impact Ginsberg
and Cage had on bringing Buddhist practice and thought into authentic
discussions of modern poetry. Their infl uence compelled not only poets but
academic critics and book reviewers to recognize Buddhist ideas as central
18 Hinton, David. Preface. The Selected Poems of Li Po. Trans. Hinton.
New York: New Directions, 1996.
19 Pendell, Dale. “The Neuropharmacology of Nirvana.” The Wisdom
Anthology of North American Buddhist Poetry. Ed. Andrew Schelling. Boston:
Wisdom Publications, 2005.
61
to American poetry” (xiv). Nor can one forget Ginsbergʼs good friend Jack
Kerouac and his revolutionary impact on American Zen writing.
Ginsberg and Kerouac accidentally found themselves on the Zen path
after fortuitous mistakes in public libraries. Rick Fields describes their
experiences in How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of
Buddhism in America. According to Fields, Ginsberg happened upon a
book about Buddhism in the New York Public Library and felt a strong
connection with its teachings. From then onward, he pursued studies of
Eastern spirituality. Similarly, Kerouac fell in love with Zen in a public
library. He went to the library with the intention to read Thoreau, planning
to “cut out from civilization, and go back and live in the woods” after
writing his semi-autobiographical novel The Subterraneans, chronicling a
desperate love affair (Fields 210).20 As he read, he noticed that Thoreau was
constantly referencing Hindu philosophy. So he put down Thoreau to fi nd a
book on Hinduism but instead unexpectedly happened upon a book called
The Life of Buddha. With a newfound, shared interest in Buddhist thought,
Ginsberg and Kerouac corresponded by mail, writing back and forth about
what they were thinking and what they had learned. These writings can be
found in the collection Some of the Dharma.
In March of 1955, Ginsberg read his most famous poem, “Howl,” at the
Six Gallery in San Francisco. Here, he met Kenneth Rexroth, a self-taught
translator of Chinese and Japanese poetry, who introduced him to Gary
Snyder, a student at Berkeley and a forerunner in the backwoods, naturalistic
style of Zen poetry. In turn, Ginsberg introduced Kerouac to Snyder, and
a community of Zen poets and friends was born on the West Coast of
America. In the spring of 1956, Kerouac lived with Snyder in San Francisco
and documented their experiences together in the semi-fi ctional novel The
Dharma Bums, which popularized Zen, particularly with the American
bohemian counterculture. After the San Francisco Renaissance, Zen became
associated with underground artistic and intellectual communities.
Watts draws the distinction between this trendy form of Zen, which he
calls “Beat Zen,” and true Zen. The American counterculture associated
Zen with the rebellion against American conformity as demonstrated by the
Beats. Therefore, Zen became a license for them to exercise their disdain for
the political and social milieu of America, a confusion of spirituality with
politics, art, and society in which the true identity of Zen became distorted.
Watts says that “the Bohemian way of life … is … a symptom of creative
changes in manners and morals which at fi rst seem as reprehensible to
20 Fields, Rick. How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of
Buddhism in America. 3rd ed. Boston: Shambala Publications, 1992.
Zen Buddhism
The University of Alabama McNair Journal
62
conservatives as new forms in art” (99). He contends that this resulted in a