The Dharma Bums

by

Jack Kerouac

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Zen Buddhism Term Analysis

Zen Buddhism is a school of East Asian Buddhism that emphasizes personal meditation practices (often under the oversight of a teacher) over study and knowledge of scripture. Japhy specifically reveres and follows Zen Buddhism, while Ray spends more time reading the sūtras and studying the broader Mahayana Buddhism tradition, of which Zen forms just one part.

Zen Buddhism Quotes in The Dharma Bums

The The Dharma Bums quotes below are all either spoken by Zen Buddhism or refer to Zen Buddhism. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Enlightenment and Nature Theme Icon
).
Chapter 13 Quotes

“I've been reading Whitman, know what he says, Cheer up slaves, and horrify foreign despots, he means that's the attitude for the Bard, the Zen Lunacy bard of old desert paths, see the whole thing is a world full of rucksack wander­ers, Dharma Bums refusing to subscribe to the general de­mand that they consume production and therefore have to work for the privilege of consuming, all that crap they didn't really want anyway such as refrigerators, TV sets, cars, at least new fancy cars, certain hair oils and deodorants and general junk you finally always see a week later in the garbage anyway, all of them imprisoned in a system of work, produce, consume, work, produce, consume, I see a vision of a great rucksack revolution thousands or even millions of young Americans wandering around with rucksacks, going up to mountains to pray, making children laugh and old men glad, making young girls happy and old girls happier, all of 'em.”

Related Characters: Japhy Ryder (speaker)
Related Symbols: Mountains
Page Number: 97-98
Explanation and Analysis:
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Zen Buddhism Term Timeline in The Dharma Bums

The timeline below shows where the term Zen Buddhism appears in The Dharma Bums. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
Enlightenment and Nature Theme Icon
Counterculture and Freedom Theme Icon
Friendship Theme Icon
Literature and Authenticity Theme Icon
...“Dharma Bum.” Japhy grew up in the woods in Oregon, studied American Indian mythology and Zen Buddhist philosophy in college. At the same time, he was also interested in anarchism and... (full context)
Enlightenment and Nature Theme Icon
Friendship Theme Icon
...like a goat, or a “mudface.” Ray says that he’s more into Mahayana Buddhism than Zen Buddhism, which he considers a cruel intellectual game. But over the course of a long,... (full context)
Enlightenment and Nature Theme Icon
Friendship Theme Icon
Inclusion, Exclusion, and Community Theme Icon
...the restaurant’s cook about Buddhism, but the cook doesn’t care, which Japhy says is perfectly Zen. (full context)
Chapter 9
Enlightenment and Nature Theme Icon
Literature and Authenticity Theme Icon
...Ray admires how gracefully Japhy moves, and Japhy tells Ray that climbing is just like Zen Buddhism: it should be automatic and subconscious. They make their way up, slowly exhausting themselves... (full context)
Chapter 10
Enlightenment and Nature Theme Icon
...with a Cherokee trucker in Texas. Reading the star map, Japhy looks like a Chinese Zen Buddhist master. He and Ray eat chocolate pudding and then part ways for to meditate... (full context)
Chapter 11
Enlightenment and Nature Theme Icon
Friendship Theme Icon
Literature and Authenticity Theme Icon
...survive. He waits briefly on a ledge to contemplate the suffering of existence and the Zen Buddhist aphorism “When you get to the top of a mountain, keep climbing,” which horrifies... (full context)
Chapter 13
Enlightenment and Nature Theme Icon
Literature and Authenticity Theme Icon
Japhy recites a poem about wandering to Japan in search of the Zen master Hakuyu, who supposedly lives in a cave in the mountains and has special teachings... (full context)
Counterculture and Freedom Theme Icon
Before falling asleep, Ray reflects on his newfound buddies, the “Zen Lunatics,” and ponders the absurdity of suburban American life: everybody spends all day glued to... (full context)
Chapter 16
Enlightenment and Nature Theme Icon
Inclusion, Exclusion, and Community Theme Icon
...it. But it’s a traditional Chinese Buddhist temple, so Japhy is uninterested—he only cares about Zen Buddhism. The preacher tells them that God will reward their devotion, and they part ways. (full context)