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The Scripture of the Golden Eternity
2018 Reprint of 1960 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition software. The Scripture of the Golden Eternity is a book of 66 prose poems written by Kerouac and first published in 1960 by Corinth Books, New York City. The book is Kerouac’s sutra on Buddhist philosophy, in which he describes a "Golden Eternity" that is paradoxically everything and nothing. The 66 prose poems or "meditations" deal mainly with the nature of consciousness and the impermanence of existence. The main influence is Buddhism, but the use of the word "scripture" in the title alludes to Kerouac's Catholic upbringing and influences, evident in this work and others.
24 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
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About the author
Jack Kerouac
473 books11.5k followersJean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac, known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation.
Of French-Canadian ancestry, Kerouac was raised in a French-speaking home in Lowell, Massachusetts. He "learned English at age six and spoke with a marked accent into his late teens." During World War II, he served in the United States Merchant Marine; he completed his first novel at the time, which was published more than 40 years after his death. His first published book was The Town and the City (1950), and he achieved widespread fame and notoriety with his second, On the Road, in 1957. It made him a beat icon, and he went on to publish 12 more novels and numerous poetry volumes.
Kerouac is recognized for his style of stream of consciousness spontaneous prose. Thematically, his work covers topics such as his Catholic spirituality, jazz, travel, promiscuity, life in New York City, Buddhism, drugs, and poverty. He became an underground celebrity and, with other Beats, a progenitor of the hippie movement, although he remained antagonistic toward some of its politically radical elements. He has a lasting legacy, greatly influencing many of the cultural icons of the 1960s, including Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Jerry Garcia and The Doors.
In 1969, at the age of 47, Kerouac died from an abdominal hemorrhage caused by a lifetime of heavy drinking. Since then, his literary prestige has grown, and several previously unseen works have been published.
Of French-Canadian ancestry, Kerouac was raised in a French-speaking home in Lowell, Massachusetts. He "learned English at age six and spoke with a marked accent into his late teens." During World War II, he served in the United States Merchant Marine; he completed his first novel at the time, which was published more than 40 years after his death. His first published book was The Town and the City (1950), and he achieved widespread fame and notoriety with his second, On the Road, in 1957. It made him a beat icon, and he went on to publish 12 more novels and numerous poetry volumes.
Kerouac is recognized for his style of stream of consciousness spontaneous prose. Thematically, his work covers topics such as his Catholic spirituality, jazz, travel, promiscuity, life in New York City, Buddhism, drugs, and poverty. He became an underground celebrity and, with other Beats, a progenitor of the hippie movement, although he remained antagonistic toward some of its politically radical elements. He has a lasting legacy, greatly influencing many of the cultural icons of the 1960s, including Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Jerry Garcia and The Doors.
In 1969, at the age of 47, Kerouac died from an abdominal hemorrhage caused by a lifetime of heavy drinking. Since then, his literary prestige has grown, and several previously unseen works have been published.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
November 27, 2024
Dharma gems polished by a master. I still find it amazing how the poems of JK have not caught on - I often encounter people who are unaware that he wrote poetry. There was something old and longing in the writing of JK; he had seen enough to identify the evils of the world, but he still was hoping for a better tomorrow. Take this book on your next camping trip - read it as you settle into nature.
January 6, 2018
[Κρατήσου, Τζακ, προσπέρασε τα πάντα, και τα πάντα είναι ένα όνειρο, ένα φαινόμενο, μια λάμψη, ένα θλιμμένο μάτι, ένα κρυστάλλινο φωτεινό μυστήριο, μια λέξη - Κράτα καλά, άνθρωπέ μου, ξανακέρδισε την αγάπη σου για τη ζωή και κατέβα από τούτο το βουνό και απλά να είσαι - να είσαι - να είσαι τα άπειρα γεννήματα ενός μυαλού του απείρου, μην κάνεις σχόλια, παράπονα, κριτική, εκτιμήσεις, ομολογίες, αναφορές, της σκέψης διάττοντας, απλά κύλα, κύλα, να είσαι όλος, να είσαι αυτός που είσαι, αυτό που πάντοτε μόνο είναι - Η Ελπίδα είναι μια λέξη σαν το χιόνι που λιώνει – Αυτή είναι η Απόλυτη Γνώση, αυτή είναι η Αφύπνιση, Αυτή είναι η Κενότητα - Βούλωσ’ το λοιπόν, ζήσε, ταξίδεψε, έχε περιπέτειες, ευλόγησε και μη λυπάσαι].
Αυτό. Και το διαρκές πηγαινέλα από το ονειροπόλημα και την αφυπνισμένη φαντασία («τα όνειρά μου δεν είναι διόλου όνειρα, παρά δημιουργήματα της αφυπνισμένης φαντασίας μου») στην αληθινή ζωή, αυτός ο αιώνιος διάπλους της μαύρης θάλασσας του χρόνου και της αιωνιότητας.
Αυτό. Και το διαρκές πηγαινέλα από το ονειροπόλημα και την αφυπνισμένη φαντασία («τα όνειρά μου δεν είναι διόλου όνειρα, παρά δημιουργήματα της αφυπνισμένης φαντασίας μου») στην αληθινή ζωή, αυτός ο αιώνιος διάπλους της μαύρης θάλασσας του χρόνου και της αιωνιότητας.
March 22, 2025
Kerouac's Spiritual Vision
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
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
January 26, 2018
Ίσως αυτό το βιβλίο να αποτελεί μια βιωματική καταγραφή των σκέψεών του. Ο Kerouac ονειροπολεί ξεκάθαρα στην απομόνωσή του. Γραμμένο σε σχεδόν ημερολογιακή μορφή, τον βλέπουμε να γίνεται παρατηρητής. Του εαυτού του, των συνηθειών και των επιθυμιών του καταγράφοντας έτσι το παρόν και το παρελθόν του ώστε όλα αυτά μαζί να προδιαγράφουν το μέλλον του.
Έχει ενδιαφέρουσα γραφή που αποπνέει σαφή πνευματικότητα, ωστόσο δεν κατάφερε να με συνεπάρει στη διαδρομή του.
Έχει ενδιαφέρουσα γραφή που αποπνέει σαφή πνευματικότητα, ωστόσο δεν κατάφερε να με συνεπάρει στη διαδρομή του.
September 10, 2020
Still one of my favorites from good ole Jack. Right up there with Some of The Dharma for its rarefied degree of lucid insight. The closest us poor schlubs can come to the 'beginner's mind' of Zen koan just by reading it!
Read
March 30, 2018«Η γενιά μου», ψιθύρισε, «θυσιάζεται. Υποφέρει. Μόνο μέσα από τα βάσανα κερδίζει κανείς την αγάπη και την πλήρωση. Νομίζω πως μιλάω σωστά. Η γενιά μου, ο κόσμος μου, δεν είναι τίποτα χαμένο».
Ολόκληρο το απόσπασμα εδώ
Ολόκληρο το απόσπασμα εδώ
March 14, 2013
“While looking for the light, you/may suddenly be devoured by the darkness/and find the true light.”
I needed this book! And I found it just at the right time. I have had writer’s block for a while and have been struggling to organize my work and put words down on a page. My mind felt cluttered and chaotic. This book was a new discovery for me, a book that helped me clear my mind and simultaneously expand my consciousness. It seemed to me as though I was meant to discover this book and the universe just threw it at me. I was doing research for an article and I came across this work online. Then, the ideas from the work were thrown at me while reading a Dylan interview, and the book (which I had never heard of before this day) was found on a new arrival shelf at my favorite used bookstore that same day. I have read a couple of Kerouac’s novels – "On the Road" (which is a favorite) and "Dharma Bums" – and I’d read his haikus in "Scattered Poems," but this was like a rediscovery of Kerouac for me, the first I’ve been really excited about his work since the first time I read "On the Road."
The ideas in this work are clear and simple, a philosophy espoused in his other literary works, but with more clarity and specificity here. Apparently, these poems were written at the advice of Kerouac pal Gary Snyder: “All right Kerouac, it’s about time for you to write sutra.” I began this year by re-reading the "Bhagavad Gita," a work that I was tremendously influenced by the first time I encountered it, but was not so moved by on my rereading. This gave me a renewed appreciation for that work and its central concept – the oneness of all life with the universe, Kerouac’s “golden eternity.” At times, the work seemed a bit tongue in cheek, reminiscent of Ferlinghetti’s "Poetry as Insurgent Art": “When you’ve understood this scripture, throw it/away. If you cant understand this scripture,/throw it away. I insist on your freedom,” but at its root it has a simplistic beauty, a philosophy of eternal truth, of peace, of universality. It is a beautiful collection that deserves to be reread again and again, an understanding of the Beat’s quest for meaning in this oftentimes chaotic world.
I needed this book! And I found it just at the right time. I have had writer’s block for a while and have been struggling to organize my work and put words down on a page. My mind felt cluttered and chaotic. This book was a new discovery for me, a book that helped me clear my mind and simultaneously expand my consciousness. It seemed to me as though I was meant to discover this book and the universe just threw it at me. I was doing research for an article and I came across this work online. Then, the ideas from the work were thrown at me while reading a Dylan interview, and the book (which I had never heard of before this day) was found on a new arrival shelf at my favorite used bookstore that same day. I have read a couple of Kerouac’s novels – "On the Road" (which is a favorite) and "Dharma Bums" – and I’d read his haikus in "Scattered Poems," but this was like a rediscovery of Kerouac for me, the first I’ve been really excited about his work since the first time I read "On the Road."
The ideas in this work are clear and simple, a philosophy espoused in his other literary works, but with more clarity and specificity here. Apparently, these poems were written at the advice of Kerouac pal Gary Snyder: “All right Kerouac, it’s about time for you to write sutra.” I began this year by re-reading the "Bhagavad Gita," a work that I was tremendously influenced by the first time I encountered it, but was not so moved by on my rereading. This gave me a renewed appreciation for that work and its central concept – the oneness of all life with the universe, Kerouac’s “golden eternity.” At times, the work seemed a bit tongue in cheek, reminiscent of Ferlinghetti’s "Poetry as Insurgent Art": “When you’ve understood this scripture, throw it/away. If you cant understand this scripture,/throw it away. I insist on your freedom,” but at its root it has a simplistic beauty, a philosophy of eternal truth, of peace, of universality. It is a beautiful collection that deserves to be reread again and again, an understanding of the Beat’s quest for meaning in this oftentimes chaotic world.
August 2, 2011
"Everything's alright, form is emptiness and emptiness is form, and we're here forever, in one form or another, which is empty. Everything's alright, we're not here, there, or anywhere. Everything's alright, cats sleep."
This is by far the best piece of work that Kerouac ever did. It is an absolutely amazing, rambling, joyous romp through the meaning of life and our place in this world. Ultimately, it was written because a friend recommended he write a sutra and to see how all of his life experiences, meditations, travels, and drug addled adventures led to this gives me hope that we all can discover the Golden Eternity! I highly recommend this one to anyone interested in Kerouac, the beats, spirituality, or just love bending their minds to a new reality. I found it online here: http://www.prahlad.org/disciples/scri... though it is also available in the Collected Works and probably a million other places. Read this one and pass it on! Plus it will take you all of 45 minutes to read and a lifetime to grasp.
"When you've understood this scripture, throw it away. If you cant understand this scripture, throw it away. I insist on your freedom."
This is by far the best piece of work that Kerouac ever did. It is an absolutely amazing, rambling, joyous romp through the meaning of life and our place in this world. Ultimately, it was written because a friend recommended he write a sutra and to see how all of his life experiences, meditations, travels, and drug addled adventures led to this gives me hope that we all can discover the Golden Eternity! I highly recommend this one to anyone interested in Kerouac, the beats, spirituality, or just love bending their minds to a new reality. I found it online here: http://www.prahlad.org/disciples/scri... though it is also available in the Collected Works and probably a million other places. Read this one and pass it on! Plus it will take you all of 45 minutes to read and a lifetime to grasp.
"When you've understood this scripture, throw it away. If you cant understand this scripture, throw it away. I insist on your freedom."
February 8, 2014
You just have to love a book that contains the word "blissstuff" (52). And that says "I love you because you're me. I love you because there's nothing else to do. It's just the natural golden eternity." (48)
I shall definitely have to come back to this one.
I shall definitely have to come back to this one.
March 24, 2016
While looking for the light, you
may suddenly be devoured by the darkness
and find the true light.
*
Roaring dreams take place in a perfectly silent mind.
*
Men are just making imaginary judgments both ways,
*
[...] the words are used to point at the endless nothingness of reality.
may suddenly be devoured by the darkness
and find the true light.
*
Roaring dreams take place in a perfectly silent mind.
*
Men are just making imaginary judgments both ways,
*
[...] the words are used to point at the endless nothingness of reality.
September 13, 2012
“Close your eyes, let your hands and nerve-ends drop, stop breathing for 3 seconds, listen to the silence inside the illusion of the world."
June 8, 2020
Sinceramente me pareció puro caos, en los pequeños instantes que podía ver algo que tuviera un mínimo sentido se sepultaba rápidamente por la verborragia de palabras. Me terminó aturdiendo.
September 12, 2012
Read this all in one sitting in the poetry room at City Lights after a few Manhattans at Vesuvio's. Amazing.
January 17, 2025
I don't know. I think it was written in good conscience and it referred to religions etc etc yet it sounded like badly (sorry, Jack - you are better than that) written bullsh*t.
April 23, 2018
Chose to read this for national poetry month. The right book of poetry for the right time in my life. So much to take in, meditate on, accept or reject. Love it.
Two lines of Kerouac's Buddhist poem seen through the lense of the Beat generation that I found particularly chewable:
It wasn't in a greedy mood that you saw the light that belongs to everybody
While looking for the light, you may suddenly be devoured by the darkness and find the true light
Two lines of Kerouac's Buddhist poem seen through the lense of the Beat generation that I found particularly chewable:
It wasn't in a greedy mood that you saw the light that belongs to everybody
While looking for the light, you may suddenly be devoured by the darkness and find the true light
June 21, 2020
“The universe is fully known because it is ignored. Enlightenment comes when you dont care. This is a good tree stump I'm sitting on. You cant even grasp your own pain let alone your eternal reward. I love you because you're me. I love you because there's nothing else to do.”
September 28, 2008
An uplifting read. I will reread many times.
January 31, 2009
This book blow my mind. Its been ten years since I read it so I need to read it again soon.
March 29, 2023
This volume is everything and nothing and the same time, it is a buddhist modern mantra that leads you to "golden eternity." Whatever that means, this volume contains:
Some sensical non-sense(?):
"The form of emptiness
which is emptiness having taken the form of form,
is what you see and hear and feel right now, and
what you taste and smell and think as you read
this."
Some positivity(?):
"There is a blessedness surely to be believed,
and that is that everything abides in
eternal ecstasy, now and forever."
Some advice(?):
"Stare deep into the world before you as if it were
the void: innumerable holy ghosts, buddhies,
and savior gods there hide, smiling."
Some neuroscience(?):
"Discard such definite imaginations of phenomena
as your own self"
Some theology(?):
"sin is only a conception of ours,
due to long habit."
Some science(?):
"All things are different forms of the same thing."
Some philosophy(?):
"the emptiness of everything has no beginning
and no end and at present it is infinite."
Some truth(?):
"the world is undisciplined
Nature endlessly in every direction inward
to your body and outward into space."
Some poetry(?):
"Do you think the emptiness of the sky will ever
crumble away?"
Some manners(?):
"Even in dreams be kind, because anyway there is
no time, no space, no mind."
Some wisdom(?):
"When you’ve understood this scripture, throw it
away. If you cant understand this scripture,
throw it away. I insist on your freedom."
Some psychology (?):
"You cant even grasp your own pain let alone
your eternal reward."
Some humor(?):
"Everything’s alright, cats sleep. [...] Cats yawn because they realize
that there’s nothing to do."
Anyway, note 64 is the essence of this volume and the best of all of them...
Some sensical non-sense(?):
"The form of emptiness
which is emptiness having taken the form of form,
is what you see and hear and feel right now, and
what you taste and smell and think as you read
this."
Some positivity(?):
"There is a blessedness surely to be believed,
and that is that everything abides in
eternal ecstasy, now and forever."
Some advice(?):
"Stare deep into the world before you as if it were
the void: innumerable holy ghosts, buddhies,
and savior gods there hide, smiling."
Some neuroscience(?):
"Discard such definite imaginations of phenomena
as your own self"
Some theology(?):
"sin is only a conception of ours,
due to long habit."
Some science(?):
"All things are different forms of the same thing."
Some philosophy(?):
"the emptiness of everything has no beginning
and no end and at present it is infinite."
Some truth(?):
"the world is undisciplined
Nature endlessly in every direction inward
to your body and outward into space."
Some poetry(?):
"Do you think the emptiness of the sky will ever
crumble away?"
Some manners(?):
"Even in dreams be kind, because anyway there is
no time, no space, no mind."
Some wisdom(?):
"When you’ve understood this scripture, throw it
away. If you cant understand this scripture,
throw it away. I insist on your freedom."
Some psychology (?):
"You cant even grasp your own pain let alone
your eternal reward."
Some humor(?):
"Everything’s alright, cats sleep. [...] Cats yawn because they realize
that there’s nothing to do."
Anyway, note 64 is the essence of this volume and the best of all of them...
January 18, 2023
“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 would bring tears to your eyes. The other
shore is right here, forgive and forget, protect
and reassure. Your tormentors will be purified.
Raise thy diamond hand. Have faith and wait.
The course of your days is a river rumbling over
your rocky back. You're sitting at the bottom of the
world with a head of iron. Religion is thy sad
heart. You're the golden eternity and it must be
done by you. And means one thing: Nothing.
Ever-Happened. This is the golden eternity.”
to compare with the giving of assurance that he
is the golden eternity. The true understanding of
this would bring tears to your eyes. The other
shore is right here, forgive and forget, protect
and reassure. Your tormentors will be purified.
Raise thy diamond hand. Have faith and wait.
The course of your days is a river rumbling over
your rocky back. You're sitting at the bottom of the
world with a head of iron. Religion is thy sad
heart. You're the golden eternity and it must be
done by you. And means one thing: Nothing.
Ever-Happened. This is the golden eternity.”
Read
March 18, 2020"Everything's alright, form is emptiness and emptiness is form, and we're here forever, in one form or another, which is empty. Everything's alright, we're not here, there, or anywhere. Everything's alright, cats sleep."
May 12, 2022
Reiteramos: maldito Pablo Katchadjian y las lecturas bizarras que nos da para Taller de Narrativa III.
July 16, 2024
That was a a whole lot of nothing ;)
February 12, 2025
I like Jack Kerouac. But this one was a bit different. Not the best but not the worst I’ve read.
July 31, 2022
..maz man saprašana par visu šo, bet izlasīju, jo Keruaks ir labs.
August 3, 2020
Conventional wisdom has it that Kerouac managed to trot out a couple of decent novels, and one classic (and that only with the help of some shrewd professional editing), before success and a resulting lack of discipline would lead him to lose it all, mooching down well-trodden whiskey-sodden paths. I would contend the opposite. His best books are his last--the ones where his syncretic blending of Buddhist and Catholic registers connect with an intuition of a universe that is only 'a golden eternity'. If the implicit ethics of the work read like a Diamond sutra written by a Spinoza, then the golden eternity itself is like a vision of immanence straight out of Deleuze's last essays. A favourite riff? Number 26.
"All these selfnesses have already vanished. Einstein measured that this present universe is an expanding bubble, and you know what that means."
"All these selfnesses have already vanished. Einstein measured that this present universe is an expanding bubble, and you know what that means."
March 1, 2018
As someone who's been in awe for a long time at Jack Kerouac's Some of the Dharma, I was really disappointed with The Scripture of the Golden Eternity. Both are Buddhist-themed collections of meditations, but whereas Some of the Dharma is an enormous and heterogeneous juxtaposition of all kinds of writing, the The Scripture of the Golden Eternity was practically a pamphlet. It stays on message throughout — that message being that everything is the golden eternity, simple radiance — and, there almost isn't even enough to say about that to fill a pamphlet.
I imagine that those who think Buddhism is world-negating would have a field day with Jack Kerouac. Did Kerouac understand Buddhism? If The Dharma Bums is any evidence, then no: The Dharma Bums' charm, for me at least, was all about how its characters, especially its author-stand-in narrator Ray Smith, keep getting it wrong. But The Scripture of the Golden Eternity is one of Smith's disastrous (and, in The Dharma Bums' context, temporary) oversimplifications made authoritative. It's also quite boring. The golden eternity is the real "common mind of which we are all parts, a pool of generalised spirituality to which we can all flow" that C.S. Lewis mocks in Miracles in contrast to a living God. And although I'm not a Christian, I'm on Lewis's side here. The golden eternity makes no demands of us. There's no possibility of a dialogue with the golden eternity, even in one's mind. It in itself isn't interesting in the least.
After that, though, why did I give The Scripture of the Golden Eternity even two stars, instead of one? Well, I think it's because there is something, at bottom, comforting about it:
53. Everything's alright, form is emptiness and emptiness is form, and we're here forever, in one form or another, which is empty. Everything's alright, we're not here, there or anywhere. Everything's alright, cats sleep.
I'm not even saying I don't agree with The Scripture of the Golden Eternity at bottom. All the stuff we need about being moral and just (and kind, which actually shows up in The Scripture and which seems like a weird tangent there) can ultimately stack on top of Kerouac's metaphysical foundation. But: what about just rewriting the whole thing as The Aphorism of the Golden Eternity?
I imagine that those who think Buddhism is world-negating would have a field day with Jack Kerouac. Did Kerouac understand Buddhism? If The Dharma Bums is any evidence, then no: The Dharma Bums' charm, for me at least, was all about how its characters, especially its author-stand-in narrator Ray Smith, keep getting it wrong. But The Scripture of the Golden Eternity is one of Smith's disastrous (and, in The Dharma Bums' context, temporary) oversimplifications made authoritative. It's also quite boring. The golden eternity is the real "common mind of which we are all parts, a pool of generalised spirituality to which we can all flow" that C.S. Lewis mocks in Miracles in contrast to a living God. And although I'm not a Christian, I'm on Lewis's side here. The golden eternity makes no demands of us. There's no possibility of a dialogue with the golden eternity, even in one's mind. It in itself isn't interesting in the least.
After that, though, why did I give The Scripture of the Golden Eternity even two stars, instead of one? Well, I think it's because there is something, at bottom, comforting about it:
53. Everything's alright, form is emptiness and emptiness is form, and we're here forever, in one form or another, which is empty. Everything's alright, we're not here, there or anywhere. Everything's alright, cats sleep.
I'm not even saying I don't agree with The Scripture of the Golden Eternity at bottom. All the stuff we need about being moral and just (and kind, which actually shows up in The Scripture and which seems like a weird tangent there) can ultimately stack on top of Kerouac's metaphysical foundation. But: what about just rewriting the whole thing as The Aphorism of the Golden Eternity?
November 15, 2011
This was an interesting collection. After reading almost all of Kerouac's novels and letters, I finally tried his poetry and was blown away. I think "Golden Eternity" was my favorite because of its prose poetry and haikus, a form which Kerouac worked in quite extensively. For example, the haikus in particular are just lovely and so delicate. It is interesting to read them against an education in beat literature, as they are an obvious departure from the writer's style, and yet so wonderful in their own right. Although I possess no noteworthy proficiency in writing haikus, I do believe that practicing in this form has taught me a great deal about my prose writing. Like many writers, when I first began I had a tendency towards over-elaboration and exposition. I took so much time with the set up, that when it came to the punchline I tended to fall a bit flat. It's really something I still struggle with. Haikus are wonderful because in writing them, one is forced to say what one has to say in restrictive boundaries, which can serve as an important reminder about economy and concision.
April 5, 2016
Emptiness and fullness. Life and death. Nothing and everything. The Scripture of the Golden Eternity by Jack Kerouac is all of those things, and of course none of those things. The book was inspired by a fainting spell, but through sixty-six prose poems, Kerouac tries to explore the vast nothingness of the universe.
This collection, like some of Kerouac's other work, is deeply influenced by Buddhism and other religions. It lets the reader go with Kerouac on an exploration of what our place in this world is, and how everything can be so vast and so small at the same time.
Anyone who enjoys any of Kerouac's other work will be interested in reading this. It's better to approach this book while in a contemplative mood, so if your ready for a spiritual adventure, get on board.
*Received a copy of this book through NetGalley
This collection, like some of Kerouac's other work, is deeply influenced by Buddhism and other religions. It lets the reader go with Kerouac on an exploration of what our place in this world is, and how everything can be so vast and so small at the same time.
Anyone who enjoys any of Kerouac's other work will be interested in reading this. It's better to approach this book while in a contemplative mood, so if your ready for a spiritual adventure, get on board.
*Received a copy of this book through NetGalley
November 27, 2016
Jack Kerouac's writing is always so interesting. This poetry was a little abstract at times (you are everything and nothing, we are all the golden eternity). But there were some really thoughtful passages... making you think about the world, energy and higher beings, our purpose. One of my favorites:
Wait awhile, close your eyes, let your
breathing stop three seconds or so, listen to
the inside silence in the womb of the world, let
your hands and nerve-ends drop, re-recognize
the bliss you forgot, the emptiness and
essence and ecstasy of every having been and
ever to be the golden eternity. This is
the lesson you forgot.
I also really appreciated the Publisher's Note, explaining how they formatted the ebook so it would still help capture the poetry in the way it was meant to be read. Enjoyable read for National Poetry Month!
Thanks to the publisher for a free copy!
Wait awhile, close your eyes, let your
breathing stop three seconds or so, listen to
the inside silence in the womb of the world, let
your hands and nerve-ends drop, re-recognize
the bliss you forgot, the emptiness and
essence and ecstasy of every having been and
ever to be the golden eternity. This is
the lesson you forgot.
I also really appreciated the Publisher's Note, explaining how they formatted the ebook so it would still help capture the poetry in the way it was meant to be read. Enjoyable read for National Poetry Month!
Thanks to the publisher for a free copy!
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