Download The Scripture of the Golden Eternity Jack Kerouac 9781684222865 Books

Product details Paperback 24 pages Publisher Martino Fine Books (December 11, 2018) Language English ISBN-10 1684222869

The Scripture of the Golden Eternity Jack Kerouac 9781684222865 Books Reviews

• At the insistence of his friend Gary Snyder, Jack Kerouac spent the spring of 1956 in a small cottage in Mill Valley California to make some final revisions to "On the Road" and to begin new projects in a setting free from distraction. According to Kerouac, Snider told him "All right, Kerouac, it's about time for you to write sutra." The result was Kerouac's small book "The Scripture of the Golden Eternity", first published by LeRoy Jones in 1960. In his novel "The Dharma Bums", Kerouac describes the time he spent with Snyder.
  
  Kerouac is known for his method of "spontaneous prose" which sometimes makes for disjointed, impenetrable reading. He did not write spontaneously in "The Scripture of the Golden Eternity". Rather, this book is carefully and beautifully written and edited. Kerouac seriously thought through the vision he wanted to convey.
  
  The book is a short work in 66 numbered paragraphs which straddles the line between poetry and prose. Kerouac does nothing less than attempt to explain his spiritual vision and outlook on life. The book is eclectic in its sources, drawing heavily on Kerouac's engagement with Buddhism and on Catholicism as well. In addition to the extensive quotations and references, the book relies heavily on Kerouac's own experiences and thoughts.
  
  Kerouac is moving in expressing difficult concepts. The spiritual vision expressed in this book is one of mysticism, shared in a loose way with mystic writers from many traditions and times. Kerouac offers a vision of a unitary, timeless view of the world and of the individual's place in it. He frequently describes individuals and discrete activities in space-time as "illusory", a seemingly paradoxical view shared by some other writers of his overall view, and one which may need to be interpreted. There are elements of pantheism in the book, although I suspect Kerouac might reject the term. The book is also heavily influenced by Buddhist teachings on emptyness and by the Diamond Sutra.
  
  Some of the paragraphs in the book are lengthy and seem to present arguments while others are short and aphoristic. Here is paragraph 10, which seems to me to capture well what Kerouac is trying to convey.
  
  "This world is the movie of what everything is, it is one movie, made of the same stuff throughout, belonging to nobody, which is what everything is."
  
  An important aphoristic passage is offered in paragraph 30
  
  "Sociability is a big smile, and a big smile is nothing but teeth. Rest and be kind."
  
  Kerouac conveys the mystic's sense of rest and unity in all things in paragraph 36.
  
  "Give a gift to your brother, but there's no gift to compare with the giving of assurance that he is the golden eternity. The true understanding of this world brings tears to your eyes..... Religion is thy sad heart."
  
  Kerouac fought losing battles with drugs, sexuality, and alcohol througout his life. It is too easy to put aside a book such as "The Scripture of the Golden Eternity" based on the troubles and shortcomings of the author. This would be to ignore the voice that comes through the book if not through the life. There is a felt spirituality in this book that informs Kerouac's other writings. Together with other spiritual works similar to this book, Kerouac has difficulty with differentiation and in thinking about evil. This form of spirituality might be viewed as condoning virtually any behavior, as might be suggested by several passages here taken in isolation. But the penultimate paragraph of this book describes the 64 earlier paragraphs as "the first teaching from the golden eternity" while the final paragraph concludes" [t]he second teaching from the golden eternity is that there never was a first teaching from the golden eternity. So be sure."
  
  "The Scripture of the Golden Eternity" is an example of what is frequently described as "the perennial philosophy". It is a way of thinking about spirituality that may be found in other seemingly unlikely sources in addition to Kerouac. The text is available in a short single volume and in a valuable new collection of Kerouac's Collected Poems published by the Library of America. The quote in the first paragraph of this review is drawn from the LOA volume.
  
  Robin Friedman
• Good
• Very insightful and beautiful primer into Zen spirituality and the mind of Jack Kerouac himself. The Scripture Of The Golden eternity provokes existential thought, and the poetry and mantras contained within increase with value and meaning with study. An absolute must buy for any follower of the author's other works.
• I know Kerouac had some deep philosophical thoughts behind some of this highly inspired by his experimentations and dabblings into Buddhism, but many of these seemed the ramblings of an alcoholic mind.
• Those of us who loved Kerouac should be pleased here.he is an acquired taste.a taste I've had since the sixties.every time I read him I just bloom.where else is there to go,but on the road with him!
• I was truly impressed with this book. A profound expression of the enlightened mind. Universal in scope. Definitely something to meditate on.
• i was very excited about my purchase, when it finally arrived.. the cover to the book was scratched as if it had been dragged on the floor and stepped on😔😢 it is a gift for someone! so i'm very sad at the presentation. i intend to purchase the same book again.. for myself! hopefully that book will be new and unharmed! ❤️ thank you for the delivery.. although a day late and harmed. i'm still grateful..❤️
• _When I first read this little book I thought that it was primarily Buddhist in essence. When I read it again a while later, I said, no, the spirit of this book is definately Taoist. When I read it next I said, this is a true Gnostic creation- who but a gnostic would have the audacity to compose an original scripture? Of course I was right all along, for this book cuts to the mystic heart of all true paths. This is the teaching that we are all one, for we are all emanations of the one Source, call it the Golden Eternity, the Tao, Spirit, or Self. It could be the "dazzling darkness" of Dionysis. It is the core truth of the one appearing as many that it may come to know itself. This was the unnamed IT that the Beats were waiting for, it is the perennial lesson for all true mystics.
  
  _Oh yes, the book is a small one. perfect books are often like that- take a look at the Tao te Ching....
  
  _A man that can write a book like this doesn't have to hang around this old world too long- he's already paid his dues and learned his lessons. Like Lao Tze it is time to depart, for your work is done, and the decline of the country is painful and tiring to witness....