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Wake Up: A Life of the Buddha
In the mid-1950s, a lifelong Catholic Jack Kerouac became fascinated with Buddhism, an interest that had a profound impact on his ideas of spirituality and later found expression in such works as Mexico City Blues and The Dharma Bums. Originally written in 1955, Wake Up is Kerouac's retelling of the life of Prince Siddhartha Gotama, who as a young man abandoned his wealthy family and comfortable home for a lifelong search for enlightenment. Distilled from a wide variety of canonical scriptures, Wake Up serves as both a penetrating account of the Buddha's life and a concise primer on the principal teachings of Buddhism. This edition includes an insightful introduction by Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman addressing Kerouac's engagement with Buddhism in his work and his life.
224 pages, Paperback
First published August 28, 2008
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About the author
Jack Kerouac
363 books11.6k 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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November 12, 2025
Kerouac's Biography Of The Buddha
In the early 1950s, Jack Kerouac (1922 -- 1969)became fascinated with Buddhism. In 1955, he wrote this short, highly personalized biography of the Buddha, "Wake Up". The biography was serialized in 1993 in the Buddhist magazine "Tricycle" but it has never before appeared in book form. The book was published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Kerouac's most overtly Buddhist novel, "The Dharma Bums" which has also appeared in a new commemorative edition this year.
"Wake up" is a small gem. The writing is a passionate mixture of Kerouac and Buddhist texts. The book shows fervor and commitment and explains what Kerouac found valuable in Buddhism. The Buddha is treated as almost an Asian equivalent of Jesus. Kerouac never left the Catholicism in which he was raised. He was among the first of a long generation of Americans that have tried to combine the insights of the Buddha with a western religion.
For an American in the 1950s Kerouac had read widely if unsystematically in Buddhism. Thus this biography draws on texts from different Buddhist traditions which are not fully consistent with each other. In much of the book, Kerouac drew on a book called "The Buddhist Bible" in which an earlier American writer, Dwight Goddard, who likewise was attracted to both Buddhism and Christianity, translated some basic Buddhist texts. Kerouac had great problems with alcohol, drugs, and sex throughout his life. As often is the case, the writer was wiser than the man. "Wake up" evidences an excellent lay understanding of the Buddhism which so inspired Kerouac. While this book is introductory, informal and non-scholarly, Kerouac had a sympathetic grasp of his subject.
Kerouac describes the purpose of his book at the outset: "I have designed this to be a handbook of the ancient Law. The purpose is to convert." But this, Kerouac meant to transform the reader by showing the life-changing character of Buddhist teachings.
Here is how Kerouac begins his biography.
"Buddha means the awakened one. Until recently most people thought of Buddha as a big fat rococo sitting figure with his belly out, laughing, as represented in millions of tourist trinkets and dime store statuettes here in the western world... This man was no slob-like figure of mirth , but a serious and tragic prophet, the Jesus Christ of India and almost all Asia." (p7) Kerouac describes how the Buddha grew disillusioned with his life of luxury, his dancing girls, and even his lovely wife when, at the age of 29, he was confronted with the facts of aging, sickness and death. He left the life of a prince and became a wanderer in search of understanding human suffering for the purpose of alleviating it."
Kerouac loosely follows the story of Buddha's life, focusing upon his Enlightenment experience six years after his wandering began. The Enlightenment is described in a mixture of Buddhist texts and Kerouac's inimitable prose. As Kerouac describes it in part:
"Ho there! Wake up! the river in your dream may seem pleasant, but below it is a lake with rapids and crocodiles, the river is evil desire, the lake is the sensual life, its waves are anger, its rapids are lust, and the crocodiles are the women-folk."(p44) Earlier, Kerouac quotes an "eminent writer" who said that in looking for the cause of human unhappiness Gotama had "sought for it in man and nature, and found it not, and lo! it was in his own heart!" (p.21)
Kerouac leads the reader through the Buddha's ministry, his disciples, and his teachings including the famous "fire sermon" with a focus on the difficult Buddhist teachings of dependent origination and emptiness, which he explains well. Near the end of the book, Kerouac offers a long metaphysical discussion of the nature of reality and emptiness based upon a text known as the Surangama Sutra, which Kerouac knew from the translation in Goddard. The book closes with a Sutra-based account of the Buddha's death in which Kerouac writes
"The moon paled, the river sobbed, a mental breeze bowed down the trees.".... Voluntarily enduring infinite trials through numberless ages and births, that he might deliver mankind and all life, foregoing the right to enter Nirvana and casting himself again and again into Sangsara's stream of life and destiny for the sole purpose of teaching the way of liberation from sorrow and suffering, this is Buddha who is everyone and everything." (pp 145-146)
The book features an introduction by the noted American Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman which discusses Kerouac's understanding of Buddhism as it appears in "Wake Up" and in "The Dharma Bums" and which explores Kerouac's understanding of the relationship between Buddhism and the Catholicism to which he was born.
Readers interested in Buddhism or in Kerouac will enjoy this little-known book.
Robin Friedman
In the early 1950s, Jack Kerouac (1922 -- 1969)became fascinated with Buddhism. In 1955, he wrote this short, highly personalized biography of the Buddha, "Wake Up". The biography was serialized in 1993 in the Buddhist magazine "Tricycle" but it has never before appeared in book form. The book was published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Kerouac's most overtly Buddhist novel, "The Dharma Bums" which has also appeared in a new commemorative edition this year.
"Wake up" is a small gem. The writing is a passionate mixture of Kerouac and Buddhist texts. The book shows fervor and commitment and explains what Kerouac found valuable in Buddhism. The Buddha is treated as almost an Asian equivalent of Jesus. Kerouac never left the Catholicism in which he was raised. He was among the first of a long generation of Americans that have tried to combine the insights of the Buddha with a western religion.
For an American in the 1950s Kerouac had read widely if unsystematically in Buddhism. Thus this biography draws on texts from different Buddhist traditions which are not fully consistent with each other. In much of the book, Kerouac drew on a book called "The Buddhist Bible" in which an earlier American writer, Dwight Goddard, who likewise was attracted to both Buddhism and Christianity, translated some basic Buddhist texts. Kerouac had great problems with alcohol, drugs, and sex throughout his life. As often is the case, the writer was wiser than the man. "Wake up" evidences an excellent lay understanding of the Buddhism which so inspired Kerouac. While this book is introductory, informal and non-scholarly, Kerouac had a sympathetic grasp of his subject.
Kerouac describes the purpose of his book at the outset: "I have designed this to be a handbook of the ancient Law. The purpose is to convert." But this, Kerouac meant to transform the reader by showing the life-changing character of Buddhist teachings.
Here is how Kerouac begins his biography.
"Buddha means the awakened one. Until recently most people thought of Buddha as a big fat rococo sitting figure with his belly out, laughing, as represented in millions of tourist trinkets and dime store statuettes here in the western world... This man was no slob-like figure of mirth , but a serious and tragic prophet, the Jesus Christ of India and almost all Asia." (p7) Kerouac describes how the Buddha grew disillusioned with his life of luxury, his dancing girls, and even his lovely wife when, at the age of 29, he was confronted with the facts of aging, sickness and death. He left the life of a prince and became a wanderer in search of understanding human suffering for the purpose of alleviating it."
Kerouac loosely follows the story of Buddha's life, focusing upon his Enlightenment experience six years after his wandering began. The Enlightenment is described in a mixture of Buddhist texts and Kerouac's inimitable prose. As Kerouac describes it in part:
"Ho there! Wake up! the river in your dream may seem pleasant, but below it is a lake with rapids and crocodiles, the river is evil desire, the lake is the sensual life, its waves are anger, its rapids are lust, and the crocodiles are the women-folk."(p44) Earlier, Kerouac quotes an "eminent writer" who said that in looking for the cause of human unhappiness Gotama had "sought for it in man and nature, and found it not, and lo! it was in his own heart!" (p.21)
Kerouac leads the reader through the Buddha's ministry, his disciples, and his teachings including the famous "fire sermon" with a focus on the difficult Buddhist teachings of dependent origination and emptiness, which he explains well. Near the end of the book, Kerouac offers a long metaphysical discussion of the nature of reality and emptiness based upon a text known as the Surangama Sutra, which Kerouac knew from the translation in Goddard. The book closes with a Sutra-based account of the Buddha's death in which Kerouac writes
"The moon paled, the river sobbed, a mental breeze bowed down the trees.".... Voluntarily enduring infinite trials through numberless ages and births, that he might deliver mankind and all life, foregoing the right to enter Nirvana and casting himself again and again into Sangsara's stream of life and destiny for the sole purpose of teaching the way of liberation from sorrow and suffering, this is Buddha who is everyone and everything." (pp 145-146)
The book features an introduction by the noted American Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman which discusses Kerouac's understanding of Buddhism as it appears in "Wake Up" and in "The Dharma Bums" and which explores Kerouac's understanding of the relationship between Buddhism and the Catholicism to which he was born.
Readers interested in Buddhism or in Kerouac will enjoy this little-known book.
Robin Friedman
April 18, 2010
I really have no idea what I just read.
August 11, 2019
I've never read Kerouac before. I am reading this because I want to understand Buddhism better and it was in the library. Unlike other reviewers, I find this book more of what I was expecting in a "life of Buddha" than I found reading Siddhartha.
It is helping me to better understand traditional Buddhist concepts that I have been trying to grasp. However, I was not expecting to find inherent misogyny. Even that I found understandable in the context of history and the traditional, not western, Buddhist philosophy. I was still disturbed, being a woman myself.
In this view, women are a distraction and an impediment to enlightenment. They use tricks and "magic" to tempt men away from a life seeking nirvana. Their karma is to participate in and perpetuate the birth/suffering/death cycle which full buddhist adherents are trying to escape. The monks were advised to think of what a woman would look like when she is fifty or eighty, when he is tempted to form an attachment to a beautiful woman. It would be extremely insulting if I was not reading it as history.
This book helps confirm my major issues with traditional Buddhism. I don't believe in karma or rebirth. I also don't think nirvana is all it's said to be. It seems to me that the way of the buddhist monk, which purports to be a middle way between extremes of indulgence and asceticism, is still an extremist lifestyle. Renouncing the world seems to me to be a form of escapism, and it depends on the charity of others who provide the necessities of life for the monks. The others often being women, which is obvious to me when reading that the Buddha was against women giving up their household duties.
I've read enough modern Buddhist stuff lately to see that Buddhist practioners are by no means immune from attachment and suffering. A person who could achieve the level of detachment necessary to be completely free from emotional suffering would not be very human. Perhaps that is the point. However, I prefer the modern Buddhism that is more of a philosophy which helps us reduce and ease the suffering we all carry, by helping us gently reframe our worldview and adjust our lifestyle to be more in harmony with ultimate reality and each other.
Final words: I skipped most of the conversation with Ananda because it was tedious. All the stuff about the essential mind is useless. Science has shown us that the mind is what the brain does. They Are not separate.
It is helping me to better understand traditional Buddhist concepts that I have been trying to grasp. However, I was not expecting to find inherent misogyny. Even that I found understandable in the context of history and the traditional, not western, Buddhist philosophy. I was still disturbed, being a woman myself.
In this view, women are a distraction and an impediment to enlightenment. They use tricks and "magic" to tempt men away from a life seeking nirvana. Their karma is to participate in and perpetuate the birth/suffering/death cycle which full buddhist adherents are trying to escape. The monks were advised to think of what a woman would look like when she is fifty or eighty, when he is tempted to form an attachment to a beautiful woman. It would be extremely insulting if I was not reading it as history.
This book helps confirm my major issues with traditional Buddhism. I don't believe in karma or rebirth. I also don't think nirvana is all it's said to be. It seems to me that the way of the buddhist monk, which purports to be a middle way between extremes of indulgence and asceticism, is still an extremist lifestyle. Renouncing the world seems to me to be a form of escapism, and it depends on the charity of others who provide the necessities of life for the monks. The others often being women, which is obvious to me when reading that the Buddha was against women giving up their household duties.
I've read enough modern Buddhist stuff lately to see that Buddhist practioners are by no means immune from attachment and suffering. A person who could achieve the level of detachment necessary to be completely free from emotional suffering would not be very human. Perhaps that is the point. However, I prefer the modern Buddhism that is more of a philosophy which helps us reduce and ease the suffering we all carry, by helping us gently reframe our worldview and adjust our lifestyle to be more in harmony with ultimate reality and each other.
Final words: I skipped most of the conversation with Ananda because it was tedious. All the stuff about the essential mind is useless. Science has shown us that the mind is what the brain does. They Are not separate.
October 21, 2012
Not Kerouac's best but still follows in line with his trail writing and extreme deal. Not a book i would pick up to learn about buddhism but a book i would pick up to understand the mind and thoughts of Kerouac.
February 9, 2017
Passionless as a Buddhist text should be perhaps, this biography of Buddha has one merit: it is a place to begin. In comparison to this, the fictionalized biography of Gautama by Hesse is true enlightenment. So, if you want the doctrine written up in intelligible language - that's Kerouac; if you're after satori - that's Hesse.
April 20, 2014
Started off great, finished well but the middle part lost me. Some parts were beautifully brilliant and elegantly written but other parts came across as disappointing buddhist bunk. far from Kerouac's best but still worth a read
March 10, 2019
Part simple and precise introduction to Theravada Buddhism, part insight into Kerouacs personal beliefs and philosophies. A good companion to a deeper understanding to the Dharma Bums.
June 24, 2013
This small tome is Kerouac's retelling of the story of the life of Shakyamuni Buddha. As such, Kerouac acts more as an interpreter than storyteller.
Certain phrases and passages bother me. For instance the oft-repeated phrase 'the ten quarters of the universe' rubs me the wrong way -- how can there be more than four quarters? Is this pseudo-mysticism or a bad translation, or what?
However it's a small quick read, I'm over halfway through and I expect to finish it.
---
As it happens I got to page 135 before I saw an entirely different perspective on Buddha's little speeches. My 21st century western education was slightly blinding me to the awesomeness of his jams. His voice as he considers the nature of the five elements [speaking about the inadequacy of human perception] is like a jazz saxophone, improvising using the words and knowledge of his day. I can totally see what Kerouac liked about him.
Small formal things about the text still rub me the wrong way -- referring to himself as 'The Tathagata' seems a little pretentious. But he does lay down some nice jams and I can dig it.
I suppose I should answer the obvious question -- no, this book has not converted me to Buddhism. I remain a nature-loving atheist in my personal life. But I can appreciate certain aspects of religion and admire the compassion part.
Certain phrases and passages bother me. For instance the oft-repeated phrase 'the ten quarters of the universe' rubs me the wrong way -- how can there be more than four quarters? Is this pseudo-mysticism or a bad translation, or what?
However it's a small quick read, I'm over halfway through and I expect to finish it.
---
As it happens I got to page 135 before I saw an entirely different perspective on Buddha's little speeches. My 21st century western education was slightly blinding me to the awesomeness of his jams. His voice as he considers the nature of the five elements [speaking about the inadequacy of human perception] is like a jazz saxophone, improvising using the words and knowledge of his day. I can totally see what Kerouac liked about him.
Small formal things about the text still rub me the wrong way -- referring to himself as 'The Tathagata' seems a little pretentious. But he does lay down some nice jams and I can dig it.
I suppose I should answer the obvious question -- no, this book has not converted me to Buddhism. I remain a nature-loving atheist in my personal life. But I can appreciate certain aspects of religion and admire the compassion part.
May 25, 2012
I couldn't even finish it... just a money-maker book using Kerouc's notes and notoriety!
January 31, 2015
To niby tylko historia niezwykłego człowieka, ale jest tam kilka teorii, których człowiek zachodu nie znajdzie nigdzie indziej.
December 31, 2018
"Bouddha signifie l'éveillé. Jusqu'à une date récente, la plupart des gens s'imaginent Bouddha sous la forme d'un être obèse plutôt rococo, la bouche étirée par un sourire, assis, la panse à l'air, tel que le représentent dans le monde occidental des millions de babioles pour touristes et de statuettes de bazar".
Ce sont les deux premières phrases de Réveille-toi, et l'unique irrévérence que contient le texte de Jack Kerouac. L'entièreté du récit est empreint d'un profond respect, multipliant les scènes canoniques avec une vraie volonté de rendre le discours de Siddharta Gautama pédagogique et limpide, sans jamais omettre la profondeur du message. Au fur et à mesure du récit, on plonge dans des sermons de plus en plus pointus et philosophiques. Je ne m'attendais pas à autant d'érudition et ai avancé lentement dans le texte (les concepts bouddhistes sont assez éloignés de nos sphères judéo-chrétiennes je trouve, même si on retrouve le message de compassion et d'amour).
Je suis complètement novice sur le bouddhisme et ne connait pas les sources originelles mais il m'a semblé que Réveille-toi est une excellente entrée en matière dans cette spiritualité, la préface éclairée (et enthousiaste) d'un bouddhiste aguerri en atteste. La construction du texte est plaisante, didactique mais appuyée par une plume juste et lyrique.
La profondeur de la pensée bouddhiste va me suivre quelques temps, je trouve toujours aussi incroyable ces intuitions philosophiques (sur l'impermanence, l'irréalité de toute chose, les différenciations erronées que causent nos perceptions...) qu'on retrouve à des époques et des lieux différents (coucou Platon).
Ce sont les deux premières phrases de Réveille-toi, et l'unique irrévérence que contient le texte de Jack Kerouac. L'entièreté du récit est empreint d'un profond respect, multipliant les scènes canoniques avec une vraie volonté de rendre le discours de Siddharta Gautama pédagogique et limpide, sans jamais omettre la profondeur du message. Au fur et à mesure du récit, on plonge dans des sermons de plus en plus pointus et philosophiques. Je ne m'attendais pas à autant d'érudition et ai avancé lentement dans le texte (les concepts bouddhistes sont assez éloignés de nos sphères judéo-chrétiennes je trouve, même si on retrouve le message de compassion et d'amour).
Je suis complètement novice sur le bouddhisme et ne connait pas les sources originelles mais il m'a semblé que Réveille-toi est une excellente entrée en matière dans cette spiritualité, la préface éclairée (et enthousiaste) d'un bouddhiste aguerri en atteste. La construction du texte est plaisante, didactique mais appuyée par une plume juste et lyrique.
La profondeur de la pensée bouddhiste va me suivre quelques temps, je trouve toujours aussi incroyable ces intuitions philosophiques (sur l'impermanence, l'irréalité de toute chose, les différenciations erronées que causent nos perceptions...) qu'on retrouve à des époques et des lieux différents (coucou Platon).
July 7, 2025
Very compelling, but wouldn't recommend to anyone new to Buddhism because of its dense language. There were several lines that I liked and highlighted, including: "The restless busy nature of the world, this I declare at the root of pain." "As one forgets the true nature of Mind, so he mistakes the ripple-like objects on its illimitable bosom as being his whole mind.." "In likeness you have abandoned all the great, pure, calm oceans of water, and clung to one ripple which you not accept but which you regard as the whole body of water in all the hundreds of thousands of seas."
July 22, 2025
Very difficult read. No doubt this guy writes majestically, but the content and the way it is presented is very preachy and hard to follow…poor Ananda, constantly berated and spoken at rather than with. Maybe this is best read by people already familiar with the particulars of the religion. The historical part of Buddha history in the beginning of the book is a way more interesting read than what follows.
April 9, 2019
Good, but pretty dry for Kerouac. Didn't seem much different than Siddhartha.
July 17, 2021
Kerouac's dense eulogy of Siddhartha Gautama, this book sums up everything I love and hate about religion; magic, conceit, blind trust, naïveté, misogyny, group think, battles between good and evil, philosophical musings on the nature of the cosmos, and the eventual hope of deliverance which promises a simple answer to the question: How should I live my life?
Judging from his demeanor on these pages the Buddha would not last 5 minutes in today's woke reality scape. The dramatic assassination attempts on his life by his jealous cousin was news to me, though, as were the sobering images of him walking the neighboring villages cupping his begging bowl.
The book climaxes in a heated exchange between the Buddha and (the good cousin) Ananda, who is reprimanded for meandering on the Way with long winded arguments on the nature of everything.
Kerouac has written far better books than this, and anyone semi-versed in the life of the Buddha will find little, if anything, new here. I recommend going to the Dharma Bums instead, since at least there we find bubbles of life, people, imperfection, doubt, insecurity, hope, silliness - the beat of life, rather than the beat of the thumping heart in a silent forest - and last, but not least, Kerouac's own frail attempts at portraying a wretched life lived to its fullest in the puzzling turmoil of existence.
Judging from his demeanor on these pages the Buddha would not last 5 minutes in today's woke reality scape. The dramatic assassination attempts on his life by his jealous cousin was news to me, though, as were the sobering images of him walking the neighboring villages cupping his begging bowl.
The book climaxes in a heated exchange between the Buddha and (the good cousin) Ananda, who is reprimanded for meandering on the Way with long winded arguments on the nature of everything.
Kerouac has written far better books than this, and anyone semi-versed in the life of the Buddha will find little, if anything, new here. I recommend going to the Dharma Bums instead, since at least there we find bubbles of life, people, imperfection, doubt, insecurity, hope, silliness - the beat of life, rather than the beat of the thumping heart in a silent forest - and last, but not least, Kerouac's own frail attempts at portraying a wretched life lived to its fullest in the puzzling turmoil of existence.
May 25, 2018
My second attempt at Kerouak. And a second gigantic fail. Years ago I'd tried, bullied by backpackers peer pressure - and failed - reading 'On the road'. About half way through it I decided that life was far too short.
When I came across 'Wake up: A life of the Buddha' I thought that maybe Kerouak' Beat style may sit well with the subject. I was thinking: spontaneity, non-conformity, and hoping for not too much self-indulgence.
I was wrong. No spontaneity, or conformity. And some self-indulgence but, to be fair, only in the irritating introduction from Robert Thurman.
The blurb states that 'this fresh and accessible biography ... is a valuable introduction to the world of Buddhism'.
Someone, out there, was having a laugh.
If you are looking for an introduction to Buddhism, beware: 'Wake up' may put you off it for the rest of your life, and possibly for few or your next lives too.
Kerouak writes a 14o-pages-long-single-chapter on the life of the Buddha, copying and pasting from a number of suttas (recorded discourses of the Buddha) almost at random. The result is a excruciatingly simplistic, pointless, boring exercise.
I was going to elaborate a bit more; but then - again - I thought: life is too short.
When I came across 'Wake up: A life of the Buddha' I thought that maybe Kerouak' Beat style may sit well with the subject. I was thinking: spontaneity, non-conformity, and hoping for not too much self-indulgence.
I was wrong. No spontaneity, or conformity. And some self-indulgence but, to be fair, only in the irritating introduction from Robert Thurman.
The blurb states that 'this fresh and accessible biography ... is a valuable introduction to the world of Buddhism'.
Someone, out there, was having a laugh.
If you are looking for an introduction to Buddhism, beware: 'Wake up' may put you off it for the rest of your life, and possibly for few or your next lives too.
Kerouak writes a 14o-pages-long-single-chapter on the life of the Buddha, copying and pasting from a number of suttas (recorded discourses of the Buddha) almost at random. The result is a excruciatingly simplistic, pointless, boring exercise.
I was going to elaborate a bit more; but then - again - I thought: life is too short.
January 10, 2014
There's no way I understood even half of this book. It was a great read if you're in the mindset, and you want buddhism broken down. But, at the same time, it didn't carry a lot of weight with me. I've never been religious, and I've barely been spiritual, so I take the real world as it is in a lot of instances. So, to me, things are obvious. I don't wonder about what things mean on a deeper level. My five sense are my five senses, and beyond that isn't a mystery. It's science. It's not a question of consciousness to me. I appreciate spiritual philosophy because I believe it makes good people better. It amazes the mind to wonder. It warms the soul to be in awe. But it's not often what I'm pursuing. To me, that's working backward in some ways. It's definitely not, and I know it's not, but I don't always have the patience with myself to be set free. Still, though, it's incredible to me that Kerouac wrote this (even if it's an adaptation of a whole lot of other people's text from centuries past. It just makes the world more open when you let it. But that ain't me, babe.
August 23, 2024
Gibberish. I’m guessing there was an expectation to have a strong background knowledge of Buddhism. I was lost through most of this book. This is not the book to read if you are wanting an understanding of Buddhism.
I’ve never read anything else by Kerouac and now I’m reluctant to try anything else.
The introduction was enough to keep me from reading the book, but I was determined to give it a try. Ugh!!! I’m just glad it was a short book.
I’ve never read anything else by Kerouac and now I’m reluctant to try anything else.
The introduction was enough to keep me from reading the book, but I was determined to give it a try. Ugh!!! I’m just glad it was a short book.
November 21, 2020
Cu un limbaj un pic greoi, "Cartea trezirii.Viata lui Budha" descrie întemeierea budismului si viata lui Budha, avand niste similitudini cu viata lui Hristos si întemeierea crestinismului. Punctul lor comun este iubirea dar si pericolele care le intimpina fiecare..... si totuși .... cartea este un pic greoaie, cu fraze intortocheate si idei greu de inteles daca este primul tau contact cu o astfel de doctrina ! Mi-a placut ca Budha a plecat de la dorinta de a gasi o cale pentru înfrângerea suferintei, care este inutila in cele mai multe cazuri ...... dar a gasit si o explicatie logica pentru karma (stiati ca si crestinismul recunoaste tacit reincarnarea ?) dar si pentru iluziile care ne inconjoara.... si mi-a placut ca recunostea ca unele lucruri sunt greu de indeplinit pentru oamenii de rand si atunci acestia trebuie sa aleaga o cale de mijloc ....iubirea ramanand in centru.
O carte dificila dar .... care mi-a placut ..... am mai inteles si eu unele chestii !
O carte dificila dar .... care mi-a placut ..... am mai inteles si eu unele chestii !
November 30, 2018
🐭 Kaip ten sakoma: “Kuo giliau į mišką, tuo daugiau medžių”, tai su Jack Kerouac kūryba man kažkas panašaus: kuo daugiau skaitau, tuo mažiau suprantu ir... tuo mažiau mėgaujuosi. Tiesą pasakius jo kūrinys “Pabusk. Budos gyvenimas” buvo tas, per kurį vos neįsivariau skaitymo bloko 😞. Tiesiog verčiau puslapį po puslapio, skaičiau sakinį po sakinio ir toks jausmas, kad eičiau per kokią pelkę - klampu, sunku, kojos smenga. Kelis kartus jau buvau apsisprendusi mesti šią knygą, bet vis kažkaip nesiryžau.
Budizmo filosofija man visada atrodė kietas riešutėlis, o šioje knygoje ji persipynusi su rašytojo fantazija ir interpretacija, tai dažnai suprasdavau, kad nieko nesuprantu.
Pagal planą laukia paskutinė Jack Ketouac knyga “Big suras”. Šį kartą sakiau pamėginsiu paskaityt ir jei nepatiks tai ir nebesikankinsiu. Gal vis dėlto Jack Kerouac ne mano rašytojas?...🤷♀️
Budizmo filosofija man visada atrodė kietas riešutėlis, o šioje knygoje ji persipynusi su rašytojo fantazija ir interpretacija, tai dažnai suprasdavau, kad nieko nesuprantu.
Pagal planą laukia paskutinė Jack Ketouac knyga “Big suras”. Šį kartą sakiau pamėginsiu paskaityt ir jei nepatiks tai ir nebesikankinsiu. Gal vis dėlto Jack Kerouac ne mano rašytojas?...🤷♀️
October 9, 2017
Was this my favorite book? No. Was it enlightening? Yes. Also, I'm always appreciative of a book that I can start and finish in the same day. However, this did have more going for it than that.
There were parts toward the middle and end that I felt really struck a chord. I read them and found myself thinking, "so that's what [insert wise person] has been getting at this whole time." Everything before those moments, however, not so much... I powered through because I needed an appointment with words, but it was a bit tedious. At least, that was my perception. And, what does that even mean?! #mindfuck
There were parts toward the middle and end that I felt really struck a chord. I read them and found myself thinking, "so that's what [insert wise person] has been getting at this whole time." Everything before those moments, however, not so much... I powered through because I needed an appointment with words, but it was a bit tedious. At least, that was my perception. And, what does that even mean?! #mindfuck
October 29, 2021
Kerouaco akimis perteiktas princo Sidhartos gyvenimas ir nušvitimas.
Labai jau budistiškas, labai.
Labai jau budistiškas, labai.
September 6, 2024
I liked the idea of it, the life-long Catholic fascinated with Buddhism, which I identify with, but this was so esoteric and wordy, that I only got a little past the foreward.
September 22, 2018
A biography of the founder of Buddhism.
I found some of the points made in this book very interesting but overall I found it quite dry / difficult to get into.
Overall rating 3.5
I found some of the points made in this book very interesting but overall I found it quite dry / difficult to get into.
Overall rating 3.5
January 10, 2026
I was absolutely amazed at the in-depth knowledge Kerouac presented about the life of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. The is fairly easy to read compared to much of Kerouac as it at least follows a time line of sorts.
I was so pleased with this book that I resumed reading Kerouac's Some of the Dharma. I had started Some of the Dharma many years ago because it was just such a difficult book to read do to the complexity of the material and the style in which the material is presented. I have a more through knowledge of Buddhism than I did at that time but Some of the Dharma is still a slow read.
I was so pleased with this book that I resumed reading Kerouac's Some of the Dharma. I had started Some of the Dharma many years ago because it was just such a difficult book to read do to the complexity of the material and the style in which the material is presented. I have a more through knowledge of Buddhism than I did at that time but Some of the Dharma is still a slow read.
October 19, 2020
I began reading this book back in 2016 but it was out of my depth back then and is only now something I can appreciate after much reading and research. Jack Kerouac has been a bit hit-and-miss for me. I loved On the Road and I didn't like Doctor Sax so much. But this biography of Gotama Buddha was as surprising for me as it was for Robert Thurman who penned the introduction to this Penguin Modern Classic.
I didn't know what to expect and although I had it bookmarked well into the main text, it had been so long I had forgotten everything I'd read so I had to start over. I find it interesting that some books, Like Tolstoy's War and Peace, I can pick up at any time and continue on as if I hadn't put it down so long ago. (Of course, one can do this for years it is so bloody long!) But this one I had completely forgotten so I began it all over again.
I was surprised by the style of the introduction by Thurman. It is very thorough, but he also doesn't hold back on his sense of surprise and wonder at Kerouac's expertise. I, too, am in awe. (Especially after reading Doctor Sax, one of Kerouac's less than appealing attempts at stream of consciousness writing!)
I have read some works that cover the basics, such as the Dalai Lama's How to Practise, Herman Hesse's Siddhartha (yes I know it is a fictional history of one of Gotama's contemporaries), and also to some extent Osho's Empty Boat, but I did not expect to receive so much "direct knowledge" from Kerouac!
I was introduced to Taoism and Buddhism by a friend in Shanghai in early 2019. I was fascinated by the similarities with Stoicism but also with Confucius' teachings. After commencing the Shiva Sutras and Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, I have also had some discussions with a colleague about Hinduism. He refers to Buddhism as "the daughter of Hinduism". This is an appropriate description, as I am learning while reading Karen Armstrong's Buddha right now.
What I find most interesting is the concept of "perception" which appears equally important in Stoicism. The bottom line is that our ability to perceive is based on our senses which are subjective and we perceive objects according to our pre-programming. Transcending this knowledge requires other types of knowledge if we are to be at peace with oneself.
While I am still grappling with many of these ideas, I found the following helpful from Kerouac (2008, p. 88):
Perception is our Essential Mind; the sun's brightness or the dim moon's darkness are the conditional ripples on its surface... the phenomena that the sense-organs perceive does not originate in our Essential Mind but in the senses themselves.
The senses are changeable in that we can see space or a wall, lightness or darkness. But our Essential Mind is "neither changeable nor fixed" (p. 90). And from p. 91:
Do not be disturbed by what has been taught, but ponder upon it seriously and never give yourself up either to sadness or delight.
I am grappling with the idea of perceptions from the senses in that this empirical knowledge is an illusion, like ripples on the sea, but our Essential Mind is pure. Or (p. 92):
...it is the eyes, not the intrinsic perception of Mind, that is subject to false mistakes.
So what is this Essential Mind? It is not any one perception of our individual senses, but some kind of whole:
There is neither Truth nor Non-Truth, there is only the essence. And when we intuit the essence of all, we call it Essential Mind.
I have many more notes on this work, but it has enlightened me to much of Buddhism that I did not know. In particular, the sense of individualism was surprising (p. 137):
...prepare quietly a quiet place, be not moved by others' way of thinking, do not compromise to agree with the ignorance of others, go thou alone, make solitude thy paradise...
And to echo James Allen's idea of conquering oneself, Kerouac writes of the Buddha:
As I am a conqueror amid conquerors, so he who conquers 'self' is one with me.
If I am learning anything from my philosophical and theological studies over the last three decades, it is that I am increasingly a Transcendentalist in the fashion of Ralph Waldo Emerson and his "Self-Reliance", and also his idea of finding one's "nature".
But all of the philosophies and religions I am familiar with have, outside of the theological questions they address and the answers they provide, a requirement for self-knowledge. Kerouac's biography of Gotama Buddha demonstrates just how difficult that can be. If only we could "Wake Up".
September 10, 2017
"Only in Nirvana is there joy, providing lasting escape, for to escape from the prison, was why the prison was made." The world is so big and Jack Kerouac does his part in Wake Up to expand it even further.
For anyone looking to explore the purpose, the background, the history of Buddhism, this is the book I recommend. A forward by Robert Thurman, (that's Uma's father), chair of religious studies at Columbia University explains how Kerouac struggled with the same thing many of us Americans or Westerners do- how to fit the study of Buddhism into our own backgrounds of mostly Christian denominations. It would take a more studied mind on this subject than me to summarize the history of Buddhism as Kerouac does here, but then again that is the joy I found in this book- he does the work for us who want to learn more about it. He writes with an ease of conversation and a trust that the reader has an open and curious mind. He doesn't condescend to the reader but offers a truly personal account of his own studies, faith, and ultimate search for Enlightenment, including all of his own flaws and personal failings the fans of the "beatnik" Kerouac might already be aware of, such as his alcoholism. I checked this book out at the public library, but I believe it belongs in a homes as permanent fixture, right next the Bible, right next to our bed, ready to take our minds out of Western dogma and into another journey both past and present.
For anyone looking to explore the purpose, the background, the history of Buddhism, this is the book I recommend. A forward by Robert Thurman, (that's Uma's father), chair of religious studies at Columbia University explains how Kerouac struggled with the same thing many of us Americans or Westerners do- how to fit the study of Buddhism into our own backgrounds of mostly Christian denominations. It would take a more studied mind on this subject than me to summarize the history of Buddhism as Kerouac does here, but then again that is the joy I found in this book- he does the work for us who want to learn more about it. He writes with an ease of conversation and a trust that the reader has an open and curious mind. He doesn't condescend to the reader but offers a truly personal account of his own studies, faith, and ultimate search for Enlightenment, including all of his own flaws and personal failings the fans of the "beatnik" Kerouac might already be aware of, such as his alcoholism. I checked this book out at the public library, but I believe it belongs in a homes as permanent fixture, right next the Bible, right next to our bed, ready to take our minds out of Western dogma and into another journey both past and present.
October 10, 2017
I used to think that even a poor Kerouac story was better than most writer's best works. I haven't felt that way in some time, and this book certainly didn't help.
If you've ready much Kerouac (and you have if you're reading this book) then the fact that this is perhaps the most Catholic Buddhist story ever written will not surprise you at all. What might shock you is the lack of substance or depth. Most of the short story is filled with surface rewrites of Buddhist tales without any sort of analysis or vision. A typical run on sentence (without the dashes, making me think this is a work where Kerouac was still working out his spontaneous prose) reads like this (completely made up, don't expect to read this in the novelette): Saintly Buddha the knower of all things unknowing who truly understands that surface is depth and depth surface stood in front of his saintly disciples and explained listening is simply the illusion of a sickly ear given to work out his cosmic karma in this here earthly orb...you get the point.
Don't get this collection until you've first read all of Kerouac's work published while he was alive and then the rest of his unpublished material that has come out since the '90's. This is a completest's book at best.
If you've ready much Kerouac (and you have if you're reading this book) then the fact that this is perhaps the most Catholic Buddhist story ever written will not surprise you at all. What might shock you is the lack of substance or depth. Most of the short story is filled with surface rewrites of Buddhist tales without any sort of analysis or vision. A typical run on sentence (without the dashes, making me think this is a work where Kerouac was still working out his spontaneous prose) reads like this (completely made up, don't expect to read this in the novelette): Saintly Buddha the knower of all things unknowing who truly understands that surface is depth and depth surface stood in front of his saintly disciples and explained listening is simply the illusion of a sickly ear given to work out his cosmic karma in this here earthly orb...you get the point.
Don't get this collection until you've first read all of Kerouac's work published while he was alive and then the rest of his unpublished material that has come out since the '90's. This is a completest's book at best.
Currently reading
January 8, 2010An interesting spin on the life of the Buddha. Although I am doubtful that he was a "golden-haired" prince.
I wish I could find poetry in the long sentences but, instead, have so far found them rambling. For example:
"In the ears of the Buddha as he thus sat in brilliant and sparkling craft of intuition, so that light like Transcendental Milk dazzled in the invisible dimness of his closed eyelids, was heard the unvarying pure hush of the sighing sea of hearing, seething, receding, as he more or less recalled the consciousness of the sound, though in itself it was always the same steady sound, only his consciousness of it varied and receded, like low tide flats and the salty water sizzling and sinking in the sand, the sound neither outside nor within the ear but everywhere, the pure sea of hearing, the Transcendental Sound of Nirvana heard by children in cribs and on the moon and in the heart of howling storms, and in which the young Buddha now heard a teaching going on, a ceaseless instruction wise and clear from all the Buddhas of Old that had come before him and all the Buddhas a-Coming."
I wish I could find poetry in the long sentences but, instead, have so far found them rambling. For example:
"In the ears of the Buddha as he thus sat in brilliant and sparkling craft of intuition, so that light like Transcendental Milk dazzled in the invisible dimness of his closed eyelids, was heard the unvarying pure hush of the sighing sea of hearing, seething, receding, as he more or less recalled the consciousness of the sound, though in itself it was always the same steady sound, only his consciousness of it varied and receded, like low tide flats and the salty water sizzling and sinking in the sand, the sound neither outside nor within the ear but everywhere, the pure sea of hearing, the Transcendental Sound of Nirvana heard by children in cribs and on the moon and in the heart of howling storms, and in which the young Buddha now heard a teaching going on, a ceaseless instruction wise and clear from all the Buddhas of Old that had come before him and all the Buddhas a-Coming."
July 14, 2013
The one star might not be a true reflection on the writing or Kerouac's efforts to tell a story of the Buddha, but it is a reflection of my enjoyment of the book.
When I first picked up this story - about a year ago - I was intrigued about both the story of Gautama and also Kerouac's take on retelling the story of the Buddha.
When I first picked up the story I had not yet read Hesse's Siddhartha nor had I yet had an opportunity to discuss Buddhist concepts with practicing Buddhists.
Over the last year, both of this changed, and having picked up the book again this weekend to finish, it just no longer held my interest.
When I first picked up this story - about a year ago - I was intrigued about both the story of Gautama and also Kerouac's take on retelling the story of the Buddha.
When I first picked up the story I had not yet read Hesse's Siddhartha nor had I yet had an opportunity to discuss Buddhist concepts with practicing Buddhists.
Over the last year, both of this changed, and having picked up the book again this weekend to finish, it just no longer held my interest.
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