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The Dreamweaver And The Mystic: Gary Snyder Turns Zen Buddhism Into The Art Of Tradition

© Robert Edward Bell

The Dreamweaver And The Mystic: Gary Snyder Turns Zen Buddhism Into The Art Of Translation

Mystical enchanted journeys, experiments into realms of the mind, new directions in ever changing lifestyles that would later emerge in the seventies, a questioning of political, as well as, environmental issues helped to give the Beat literary movement a sense of modernity boardering around the avant-guard that still; even though the passing of the orginal Beat era has been fifty years, helped to shape the image of the literary artist to the present day. Resembling the English romantics in style and fashion, the Beats, whether accidentally or on purpose created an image for themselves that would help to define the role of the artist in the literary world. Their poetry carried mystical almost experimental undertones in the styles and themes that the poetry, stories, and essays addressed. The artists themselves led rebellious lives, breaking the societal mores of the day. Many of them carried the banner for a variety of political and environmental issues that were often unpopular with the general majority in the country. Many of them tended to lean towards Democratic socialist ideals; although this was not always the case. Kerouac may have been slipping closer into the liberatarian political spectrum later in life. They gained a great deal of respect; not only because of their unique style of writing, well written prose, and aesthetic poetry, but their individual expression of themselves.

One of the strengths from the Beat era in literature that was rarely mentioned, and often unnoticed was the diversity inherent with-in the movement. Of each of the original beats, Gary Snyder exemplified this characteristic of taking literature into the pages of the "noir". He did so with style, grace, and beauty. A feeling of dignity flows through his writings, mainly because of the influence of his personal studies in Zen Buddhism. Although Snyder would never admit to being part of the original Beat movement, claiming that he was part of the later Beat Renaissance in San Francisco, he definitely inhabits a role as part of the orginal pioneers attending the orginal reading of the now famous poetry reading at the old Gallery Six on October 13th, l955.

October 13th, cold and musty on the dark streets of San Francisco. Allen Ginsberg will read his now famous poem "Howl" for the first time in public. The four major writers of the Beat movement: Gregory Corso, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William S. Burroughs will be present. Gary Snyder will also attend, the event; being careful not to attach himself with a label of being part of the Beat movement. He will later say in interviews that he was a younger San Francisco Renaissance Poet; someone