Jack Kerouac illustrates the concept of a Dharma Bum through Ray, a character who is fully in tune with the joys of life and all the wonders that surround him, as well as the struggles and hardships that life presents. To Kerouac, true Dharma Bums incorporate religious morals and simplicity into their everyday lives, finding enlightenment and bliss, even when they are "down and out" in true Beatnik fashion. The life of a Dharma Bum is not all poetry, wine, wandering, and yabyum. Ray truly embodies a Dharma Bum because he is able to handle the complications and hardships of his life while continually gaining wisdom and moral strength along the way.
Ray defines "Dharma Bum" and identifies with the term even before hearing it from Japhy Ryder. With all of Ray's experiences throughout the novel cast aside, Ray's interpretation of a Dharma Bum at the beginning of the novel is perhaps the most telling definition found in the book: "...But then I really believed in the reality of charity and kindness and humility and zeal and neutral tranquility and wisdom and ecstasy, and I believed that I was an oldtime bhikku in modern clothes wandering the world (usually the immense triangular arc of New York to Mexico City to San Francisco) in order to turn the wheel of the True Meaning, or Dharma, and gain merit for myself as a future Buddha (Awakener) and as a future Hero in Paradise" (Kerouac 5). This quote sets up the rest of the novel because it gives Ray an ultimate goal, to"gain merit for [himself] as a future Buddha (Awakener) and as a future Hero in Paradise", and shapes the way the reader interprets Ray's experiences through the remainder of the text. Ray's wanderings throughout the novel, no matter how aimless they appear to be, take on a purpose because we see that Ray's goal is to reach the ultimate state of enlightenment, no matter how glorious or grim those experiences may be.
Ray carries this attitude into all the situations he finds himself in, and the most perfect example is the scene in which Japhy, Morley, and Ray climb the Matterhorn. It is here that the reader sees the test of Ray's Dharma Bum character because he is put to one of the greatest physical, mental, and spiritual challenges in the text. At many points in that scene, it appears that Ray has reached the highest state of enlightenment, or "Buddha (The Awakener)" because of his intense mental and spiritual connections with nature and with Japhy. He even states, "And I promised myself that I would begin a new life" (77), ultimately allowing himself to fully embrace the Dharma Bum mantra. However, this is countered by the immense fear and self-doubt he is overwhelmed by when he has nearly reached the peak of the Matterhorn. But, even in a time of high anxiety and physical pain, Ray holds onto his religious teachings and the Dharma Bum ways, " ...'Oh what life this is, why do we have to be born in the first place, and only so we can have our poor gentle flesh laid out to such impossible horrors as huge mountains and rock and empty space,' and with horror, I remembered the famous Zen saying, 'When you get to the top of a mountain, keep climbing' " (83-84). Ironically, Ray does not make it to the top of the mountain. While it is clear by his thoughts that he is deeply set on his religious principles and he has the best intentions, Ray never fully becomes "Buddha (The Awakener)". The term Dharma Bum also implies that the person is a wanderer and will forever seek that state of sublime enlightenment. The scene on the mountain shows that Ray, and all the other Dharma Bums, will never be fully exalted and can never attain the wisdom that they so desperately search for.
Question: Would the novel have changed for you if Ray had climbed to the top of the Matterhorn? If so, how?
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