Wake Up: A Life of the Buddha

The main thing I got from this book was that, prior to his descent into alcoholic psychosis, Jack Kerouac was truly persuaded of the doctrines espoused by Gautama, the man we have historically come to call "the Buddha." The book itself is very short--almost 30 pages of introduction by a Buddhist scholar, and about 140 pages by Kerouac. As much as half of Kerouac's writing is a direct lift (in quotation marks) from classical Buddhist texts; there is some unremarked editing by him, but it is hardly noticeable. There is nothing new in this book. According to the scholar who wrote the introduction--and my own reading of several Buddhist texts--this book by Kerouac is in all ways accurate, not distorted by personal prejudices. Accordingly, if you are familiar with the core teachings of Buddhism and its basic texts, this will be a simple presentation of them. For someone who is unfamiliar with Buddhism and wants a quick tour, this book will prove useful.

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 througout 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 nonscholarly, 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 Englightenment experience six years after his wandering began. The Englightenment 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 dre

This is the first Jack Kerouac book that I have ever read, so I am not a follower of his. However, I have read many books on Buddhism, and this is one of the best. It covers the story of Buddha's life and his enlightened teachings in concise, but rich language, much of which is attributed to direct quotes from the Buddha. So even though this book is from a "famous" writer, its value is the remarkable story of the Buddha and his beliefs, and the author's writing skill comes through, but not the writer's beliefs, which aids the clarity of the presentation. A bonus here is the long introduction (22 pages) by noted American Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman. His writing is almost "a book within a book" and points out some key passages in the text, that then become more meaningful when you see them in the body of the book. This book will be a treasure to any spiritual seeker.

ANOTHER "new" Kerouac book...denied publication until now...originally penned in the mid 1950's. Amazing. Make no mistake, this book is great great great and; as a source of enlightenment, unsurpassed. It's every bit as enlightening as his other Buddhist book, "Some of the Dharma," every bit as enlightening as selelcted poems from Mexico City Blues and many other poetry books as well. Kerouac's poetic abilities shine clear & bright as his special talent for expressing ecstatic dharma. Interestingly, I did not find this book in the Kerouac section in a big bookstore...they had it shelved in the Buddhism section! Just as well, I guess. This is no "minor" Kerouac book like, say, Pic or Satori in Paris. It is a treasure of meditative ecstasy. Jack Kerouac was the greatest writer who ever lived.