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mguidry74 's review for:
The Dharma Bums
by Jack Kerouac
“Finding Nirvana is like locating silence.”
"O Ray, the career of your life is like a raindrop in the illimitable ocean which is eternal awakenerhood. Why worry ever any more?"
things do not have to be permanent to be valuable
life is not to be taken too seriously
everyone's religion is equally valid and that all are worthy of compassion, differences are trivial and effectively meaningless.
Pragmatism
Ray and his companions effectively get by not by following a hard-and-fast religious doctrine but rather by doing "whatever works."
Absurdity
The truest interpretation of Buddhism, it seems, is not as a solemn and depressing philosophy of futilely struggling against an inevitable descent into nothingness. Rather, as Ray understands in his most lucid moments, it is the assurance that "nothing matters." Ultimately it is a religion that frees its believers from worry and concern because there is nothing to be concerned about.
Spontaneity
Ray's lives a spontaneous and "liquid" lifestyle. He almost never justifies his decisions or shifting beliefs, but rather "rides them out" without considering which path to take or which choice to make.
Simplicity
Ray repeatedly returns to the idea that the frugal lifestyle is not only admirable, but indeed superior to the avaricious lifestyles of most people.
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Definitely lost some impact from the first time I read this in my early twenties, but I can see how the themes presented here were formidable in shaping my outlook in life.
"O Ray, the career of your life is like a raindrop in the illimitable ocean which is eternal awakenerhood. Why worry ever any more?"
things do not have to be permanent to be valuable
life is not to be taken too seriously
everyone's religion is equally valid and that all are worthy of compassion, differences are trivial and effectively meaningless.
Pragmatism
Ray and his companions effectively get by not by following a hard-and-fast religious doctrine but rather by doing "whatever works."
Absurdity
The truest interpretation of Buddhism, it seems, is not as a solemn and depressing philosophy of futilely struggling against an inevitable descent into nothingness. Rather, as Ray understands in his most lucid moments, it is the assurance that "nothing matters." Ultimately it is a religion that frees its believers from worry and concern because there is nothing to be concerned about.
Spontaneity
Ray's lives a spontaneous and "liquid" lifestyle. He almost never justifies his decisions or shifting beliefs, but rather "rides them out" without considering which path to take or which choice to make.
Simplicity
Ray repeatedly returns to the idea that the frugal lifestyle is not only admirable, but indeed superior to the avaricious lifestyles of most people.
---
Definitely lost some impact from the first time I read this in my early twenties, but I can see how the themes presented here were formidable in shaping my outlook in life.