An Analysis of Buddhism in the Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac Essay

American history has perpetually been concerned with and based on the idea of seeking personal spirituality and happiness. American society is perceived as a large melting pot of outlets for achieving spirituality and accessing God. However, this was not always the case. One's spiritual needs where not always satisfied and as a result, religious norms did not apply to every American. In Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums, he writes about the struggle to find spirituality in Western religions in the 1950's. In response, he looks Eastwards to the Chinese-based religion of Buddhism. The story is told through the protagonist, Ray Smith's journey to find spirituality and truth. Ray explains that he had not yet "heard anything about 'Dharma Bums' although at this time he was a perfect Dharma Bum himself"(5). Ray goes on define the Dharma Bum as "a religious wanderer"(5) or more specifically a Buddhist wanderer. Explaining about his beliefs, Ray says that "he really believed in the reality of charity and kindness and humility and zeal and neutral tranquillity and wisdom and ecstasy, and he believed that he was an oldtime Bhikku in modern clothes wandering the world in order to turn the wheel of the True Meaning, or Dharma, and gain merit for himself as a future Buddha (Awakener) and as a future Hero in Paradise" (5). This is the first time that Ray discusses some of the tenants of Buddhism and his outlook on life. One can see that Ray feels like a "wanderer", one who does not have a role in American society and can not find security in "modern" or American religious practices. As a result, he turns to Buddhism in his quest to find the "True Meaning". Along his path to "enlightenment", Ray Smith rides the train, or as he calls it "the Midnight Ghost", to San Francisco, and here, he encounters and befriends Japhy Ryder. Japhy Ryder was a "kid from eastern Oregon who learned Chinese and...