Alan Watts writes in Zen and The Beat Way that although the Beat writers are known for their "colourful social chaos", it is important to remember that the Beat movement was originally "a way of life with connections to Zen, and from Zen to Hinduism, and from Hinduism back to the dawn of human culture”.
Whilst trying to find new paths to follow, Kerouac and other writers such as Ginsberg looked to the East for inspiration. The first traces of this can be seen in Kerouac’s On The Road when he writes that “the earth is an Indian thing”. In this statement he means the Native American way of life which is rooted in the environment.
A Religious Generation
The importance of nature can be seen in Zen, which is a fusion of Buddhism and Taoism and combines the basic Buddhist philosophy with the emphasis that Tao places on nature. Importance is placed on contemplation and awakening, of being awake to the here and now, but especially the sacredness of nature.
Kerouac was the first of the Beats to discover Buddhism, mainly through Alan Watts, and introduced his circle of friends to its philosophies. Zen became the religion that the Beats were known for, primarily due to Kerouac’s novel The Dharma Bums. As Kerouac stated, “the Beat Generation is a religious generation”.
Although Zen was, to an extent, understood and ingested by the Beat writers, it was Gary Snyder in particular who took on board the necessity of caring for the earth. Kerouac still stuck to his Christian roots and Ginsberg became a Tibetan Buddhist, but it was Snyder who felt the deepest affinity with Zen, later on in life spending time in a Zen Buddhist monastery.
Watts and the Beat Writers
Watts criticised most of the Beat writers for twisting Buddhist philosophies to suit their own purposes, picking bits out of various religions which they felt were the relevant parts, but Snyder avoided criticism as his “green” Buddhism showed that he realised the connection between protecting the environment and gaining human enlightenment. In This is IT and Other Essays on Zen and Spiritual Experience, Watts writes that “Snyder is, in the best sense, a bum”.
Watts clarifies the differences between “Beat Zen, Square Zen, and Zen”, explaining that to practise true Zen one must “understand his own culture so thoroughly that he is no longer swayed by its premises unconsciously. He must be free of the itch to justify himself”. Failing this, someone is either “Beat Zen”, which is described as “a revolt from culture and social order” or “Square Zen”- a “new form of stuffiness and respectability”.
