Some of Jack’s Dharma

Practice recognition of complete emptiness of all things at all times, under every condition, everywhere, and you will learn by yourself what Buddha preached. Free from Desire: What I really only want, what Ma’s given…

Vexation of Spirit

What is my book but just making history among the fools—the sooner I give up literary attainment the sooner Enlightenment will come to me—If on my deathbed I’m still involved in literary matters I’ll deserve…

Drop Pop Culture, Some Say

Miles Davis–why bother with any of it–Jazz, modern musicians, dope addicts, punks–Monk, crooks, killers, Bud Powell, Dizzy’s razor and Dizzy’s scorn & Al Sublette’s scorn–no. Give me the Bodhi men. Don’t even play the radio…

Friday 9 September 2022

… Later I’m back in New York sitting around with Irwin and Simon and Raphael and Lazarus, and now we’re famous writers more or less, but they wonder why I’m so sunk now, so unexcited…

From a Recent Notebook

Of course, Diane di Prima is in My Canon… Because  she honored Suzuki Roshi’s unprecedented presenceBecause she made  the case for old-school being literally in touchBecause she gave primacy to cosmologyBecause I gifted C. with…

Jack and Allen

This website is indebted in a variety of ways to Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. For example, I’ve gotten a lot of mileage from their one-liners such as “Be in love with yr life” (JK)…

Styron/Kerouac

Recently, I read Jack Kerouac’s novel, Tristessa, which didn’t take long but it was an unpleasant experience.  Not long after, I came across the following prediction in James West’s Conversations with William Styron from 1962: …