Not only did Snyder preach this, but he also practiced it. The lifestyle that he described the beat poets living was that of a renunciate: renouncing extra desires and luxuries. They had the education to get professional jobs, but they chose to disassociate themselves with professionals, the government, or anyone that had to do with the mainstream system. They lived like bums, with just enough of what they needed, but nothing that they wanted. It reminded me of a Buddhist wanderer, surviving to write poetry.
A line that I reallly liked was in "The Yogin..." and he said, "One of the few modes of speech that gives us access to that other yogic or shamanistic view (in which all are one and all are many, and the many are all precious) is poetry or song." For Snyder, art and imagination are related to the spiritual realm of wildess and chaos that precedes our modern world of organization and logic.
1 comment:
I too enjoyed Snyder's writing. However, I see his outlook on civilization a but differently. You argue that Snyder wants us to "let go of all this civilization." I do agree that Snyder wants to see a human connection with nature, but I think that he would like to see a balance of civilization and nature. I think that Snyder recognizes that we cannot let go of civilization, but instead must regulate our actions and thus our impact on nature.
Post a Comment