The Buddhist practice of "just sitting" while in meditation also emerges in Ginsberg's poem when he writes, "I sit in my house for days on end and stare at the roses in the closet."
The narrator also likens himself to Buddha by saying, "You made me want to be a saint." The Buddha abnegated his wealth to pursue a path of total transcendence. Dissatisfied with asceticism, however, the Buddha pursued a middle path. The narrator in Ginsberg's "America" admits "I smoke marijuana every chance I get." Antithetical to formal Buddhism, which denounces mind-altering substances, the assertion nevertheless echoes the idea that total abstinence is not the spiritual goal. Honesty and respect for human life, on the other hand, are the goals of spiritual practice.
Thus, Buddhism is like communism in their mutually egalitarian philosophies. Both Buddhism and Buddhism affirm similar social values. "No political system, no matter how ideal it may appear to be, can bring about peace and happiness as long as the...
Ginsberg writes about America's burgeoning prison population as well as mental institutions as means of
social control. The Beat poet also mentions the masses of "underprivileged" who live in the
land of plenty.
Fusing
socialism and Buddhism was a core tenet of the Beat Generation. Ginsberg's dissatisfaction with America parallels the Buddha's feelings toward Hinduism when he sought his own spiritual path. The Beat poet mirrors the Buddha's
philosophy in "America," demonstrating profound caring for the physical world and criticizing the materialistic, anti-social course that America took in the
20th century.
Works Cited
Ginsberg, Allen. "America." Retrieved Nov 13, 2007 at http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/america.html
K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera. "Buddhism and
Politics." Buddhist Study and Practice Group. Retrieved Nov 13, 2007 at http://www.budsas.org/ebud/whatbudbeliev/229.htm
