Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Jack Kerouac’s "Scripture of the Golden Eternity" is a sprawling meditation on existence, non-existence, and the illusory nature of self and reality. It is both a poetic scripture and a spiritual declaration, blending Buddhist philosophy with Kerouac’s own idiosyncratic mysticism. The work is a reflection of his deep engagement with Buddhist thought, particularly ideas of emptiness (śūnyatā), non-duality, and the interconnectedness of all things. Yet, it remains rooted in the spontaneous, ecstatic style that defines Kerouac’s literary voice—simultaneously urgent and playful, profound and irreverent.

The text begins with an assertion of radical subjectivity: “Did I create that sky? Yes, for, if it was anything other than a conception in my mind I wouldn’t have said ‘Sky’”. Here, Kerouac invokes a fundamental tenet of Buddhist and Vedantic philosophy—perception and reality are one. There is no objective world separate from consciousness. If something is named, it is already part of the mind, not independent of it. This leads to his grand statement: “That is why I am the golden eternity”. He collapses the distinction between self and universe, echoing the concept of Tathātā—the “suchness” of existence, where all things simply are, without division.

Throughout the poem, Kerouac plays with paradox and negation. The golden eternity is simultaneously everything and nothing, form and formlessness. He writes: “Strictly speaking, there is no me, because all is emptiness. I am empty, I am non-existent. All is bliss”. Here, he aligns himself with Mahāyāna Buddhism’s doctrine of anātman—the idea that the self is an illusion. Yet, this negation does not bring despair but bliss, because it frees one from the burdens of ego and attachment. If there is no self to suffer, suffering itself dissolves.

The scripture oscillates between cosmic declarations and intimate, almost confessional moments. He invokes a wide range of religious imagery, referring to Buddha, Messiah, God, Tathāgata, Allah, Sri Krishna, Brahma, Mazda, and Maitreya. This inclusivity underscores the universality of his vision—names do not matter, only the golden eternity, which transcends all religious divisions. He writes: “In the beginning was the word; before the beginning, in the beginningless infinite never-endingness, was the essence”. This nods to both the Gospel of John and Buddhist metaphysics, suggesting that before all language, before all distinctions, there was only being.

Despite its spiritual tone, "Scripture of the Golden Eternity" is not a detached, impersonal text. It is deeply infused with Kerouac’s own restless energy and personal experience. He recalls a moment of transcendence: “I was smelling flowers in the yard, and when I stood up I took a deep breath and the blood all rushed to my brain and I woke up dead on my back in the grass”. This sudden collapse leads to a vision of absolute stillness, where time ceases to exist: “It was perfect, the golden solitude, the golden emptiness… nothing had ever happened and everything is alright forever and forever and forever”. This passage captures Kerouac’s lifelong struggle between the suffering of temporal life and the deep peace he sometimes glimpsed in states of meditation or altered consciousness.

His language is cyclical and self-canceling, reinforcing the idea that all concepts—including the scripture itself—are ultimately empty. He declares: “When you’ve understood this scripture, throw it away. If you can’t understand this scripture, throw it away. I insist on your freedom”. This recalls the Zen teaching that once a raft has carried you across the river, you must leave it behind. No doctrine is final. No teaching is absolute. Enlightenment is not something that can be grasped—it is the realization that there was never anything to grasp in the first place.

Kerouac also engages in a critique of conventional morality and human constructs. He dismisses sin and virtue as mere concepts: “Are you tightwad and are you mean, those are the true sins… Are you generous and are you kind, those are the true virtues… The golden eternity rests beyond sin and virtue”. This echoes the Tao Te Ching’s idea that morality arises only when people forget their natural state. In the golden eternity, kindness and generosity are not moral imperatives but spontaneous expressions of one’s true nature.

One of the most striking aspects of the text is its refusal to settle on a singular truth. It constantly destabilizes itself, moving between affirmation and negation. He writes: “This is the first teaching from the golden eternity. The second teaching from the golden eternity is that there never was a first teaching from the golden eternity”. This self-erasure mirrors the Buddhist Madhyamaka philosophy, which holds that all statements about ultimate reality must be deconstructed because language itself creates duality.

The final sections of the scripture emphasize playfulness and surrender. He writes: “Perfectly selfless, the beauty of it, the butterfly doesn’t take it as a personal achievement, he just disappears through the trees”. This suggests that true enlightenment is effortless, without ego or striving. Similarly, he notes: “Cats yawn because they realize that there’s nothing to do”. This image of a cat, utterly indifferent to existential concerns, serves as a kind of Zen punchline. The path to liberation is not through struggle but through seeing things as they are—without grasping, without seeking.

Kerouac’s "Scripture of the Golden Eternity" is a unique blend of religious philosophy, personal revelation, and Beat spontaneity. It does not seek to provide fixed answers but to dismantle the very idea of answers. It is a work of contradictions—both serious and humorous, deeply profound and deliberately absurd. At its core, it is a love letter to existence itself, an ecstatic affirmation that everything is already perfect, already free.

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