Jack Kerouac Dharma Bums
Page: 5
“‘I was very devout in those days and was practicing my religious devotions almost to perfection. Since then I’ve become al little hypocritical about my lip-service and a little tired and cynical. Because now I am grown so old and neutral…. But then I really believed in the reality of charity and kindness and humility and zeal and neutral tranquility and wisdom and ecstasy. ”
I think the comment reflects the innocence of youth and the cynicism of age.
At this point in his life Jack or “Ray” was his own living ideal. He traveled the country free of the worldly ties that he saw as a hindrance to wider society. He lived as spiritually and whim indicated free of any controlling outside force. As he got older he began to realize that he could not live this ideal. There would always be the imperfect world no matter how perfect he tried to be.
Jack Kerouac Dharma Bums
Page: 19
“I simply opened his little door and looked in and saw him at the end of the little shack, sitting cross-legged on a Paisley pillow on the straw mat, with his spectacles on, making him look old and scholarly and wise, with book on lap and little tin teapot and porcelain cup steaming at his side. He looked up very peacefully, saw who it was, said, “Ray, come in,” and bent his eyes again to the script.”
The idle contemplative practitioner most mediators seek to become, it is easy to see why Japhy captures Ray’s interest. Interested in both meditation and Buddhism as a whole Ray would be drawn to those who could help him better understand both. Japhy has the added draws of being poet, intellectual, interesting, counter-culture, and outdoorsy all of which Ray identifies with. For the two of them to form a bond of friendship is both expected and natural.
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