General-Zod wrote:

> Will Dockery wrote:

>> General Zod wrote:
>>> Michael Pendragon wrote:
>>> > On Friday, February 24, 2023 at 12:37:38 AM UTC-5, Will Dockery wrote:
>>> >
>>> > > > > > > I consider myself a latter day Dharma Bum............
>>> > > > > > >
>>> > > > > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dharma_Bums
>>> > > > > > >
>>> > > > > > > ***************The character Japhy drives Ray Smith's story, whose penchant for simplicity and Zen Buddhism influenced Kerouac on the eve of the sudden and unpredicted success of On the Road. The action shifts between the events of Smith and Ryder's "city life," such as three-day parties and enactments of the Buddhist "Yab-Yum" rituals, to the sublime and peaceful imagery where Kerouac seeks a type of transcendence. The novel concludes with a change in narrative style, with Kerouac working alone as a fire lookout on Desolation Peak (adjacent to Hozomeen Mountain), in what would soon be declared North Cascades National Park (see also Kerouac's novel Desolation Angels). His summer on Desolation Peak was desperately lonely. "Many's the time I thought I'd die of boredom or jump off the mountain," he wrote in ''Desolation Angels.''[2] Yet in the more eloquent ''Dharma Bums," Kerouac described the experience in elegiac prose.
>>> > > > > > >
>>> > > > > > > Down on the lake rosy reflections of celestial vapor appeared, and I said 'God, I love you' and looked up to the sky and really meant it.. 'I have fallen in love with you, God. Take care of us all, one way or the other.'
>>> > > > > > >
>>> > > > > > > The blend of narrative with prose-poetry places The Dharma Bums at a critical juncture foreshadowing the consciousness-probing works of several authors in the 1960s such as Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey.[citation needed]
>>> > > > > > >
>>> > > > > > > One episode in the book features Smith, Ryder, and Henry Morley (based on real-life friend John Montgomery) climbing Matterhorn Peak in California. It relates Kerouac's introduction to this type of mountaineering and inspired him to spend the following summer as a fire lookout for the United States Forest Service on Desolation Peak in Washington.
>>> > > > > > >
>>> > > > > > > The novel also gives an account of the legendary 1955 Six Gallery reading, where Allen Ginsberg gave a debut presentation of his poem "Howl" (changed to "Wail" in the book). At the event, other authors including Snyder, Kenneth Rexroth, Michael McClure, and Philip Whalen also performed**********
>>> > > >
>>> > > > Where does the "dharma" come into your existence
>>> > >
>>> > > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>>> > > >
>>> > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Thomas_Idlet#Later_years
>>> > > >
>>> > > > Thomas met his fourth wife, the poet Philomene Long in 1983 at a poetry reading.[5] The couple were inseparable in his last years, and Thomas dedicated his final poems to her.[6]
>>> > > >
>>> > > > He said she "resurrected him." They lived together on the edge of American society, maintaining a lifestyle of "living poor" based on the ancient Zen recluse poets. "I would feel uncomfortable and irritable living any other way. I have Philomene, a pen, a pad, shirt and pants. If you start wanting more, it fills you up, leading to a poverty of the heart and mind."[citation needed]
>>> > > >
>>> > > > Thomas spent the sunset days of his life in his house in Venice Beach and reading while sitting under a sweet gum tree on the grounds of the Zen Center of Los Angeles.
>>> > > >
>>> > > > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=++
>>> > >
>>> > > The above description fits Zod quite closely.
>>> >
>>> > Dharma is a concept of moral living that appears in various Eastern religions including Hinduism and Buddhism. The Zen recluse poets adopted an impoverished lifestyle because it allowed them to focus on the spiritual aspects of life.
>>>
>>> Indeed.......!!

>> True, that sounds about right.

>>

> Indeed so...!

> I daresay...!

Good evening, my friend.

🙂