Zen/Eastern Philosophy in Dylans writings

I made this topic at the old board, not long after I joined.



It seems to me, that many of Dylans ideas/feelings are similar to Zen-Buddhism and eastern philosophy in general.

- He wrote, that he felt not human and that he hates his human side and all-day-life. In his own words:"Humans are zombies, they scratch for acceptance & greed & kill themselves thru each other"
That reminds me of the buddhistic ideas towards society, which says, that only mind/god can create bliss and that social comforts are just an illusion.

- He wrote, that he felt like "some god". Compared to Eric, he seems not focused on power and to be fitter, better and so on, to feel godlike. But he writed about his "infintive memories, thoughts and perceivations (?) of purity (...)", and that his godlike thinking status will lead him to halcyons.
When he wrote, that he had "initive memories", than perhaps he wanted to say, that in his godlike-status, he felt no time. That is very similar to some sectors of Zen, which says, that humanity is an illusion and that inside your mind is a timeless awareness, who is directly linked to the everything/god/cosmos.
Even the words, Dylan used are similar to the concepts of Zen.

I could write many more like this, because there are a LOT OF common senses, between Dylans writings and Eastern Philosophy.
Perhaps, I will do it in the future.

What I want to ask is: Are there any evidences, that Dylan was ever interested in Zen/Eastern Philosophy? Because it would be very strange when all this was originaly created in his own mind.

Hale-Bopp wrote:

I made this topic at the old board, not long after I joined.



It seems to me, that many of Dylans ideas/feelings are similar to Zen-Buddhism and eastern philosophy in general.

- He wrote, that he felt not human and that he hates his human side and all-day-life. In his own words:"Humans are zombies, they scratch for acceptance & greed & kill themselves thru each other"
That reminds me of the buddhistic ideas towards society, which says, that only mind/god can create bliss and that social comforts are just an illusion.

- He wrote, that he felt like "some god". Compared to Eric, he seems not focused on power and to be fitter, better and so on, to feel godlike. But he writed about his "infintive memories, thoughts and perceivations (?) of purity (...)", and that his godlike thinking status will lead him to halcyons.
When he wrote, that he had "initive memories", than perhaps he wanted to say, that in his godlike-status, he felt no time. That is very similar to some sectors of Zen, which says, that humanity is an illusion and that inside your mind is a timeless awareness, who is directly linked to the everything/god/cosmos.
Even the words, Dylan used are similar to the concepts of Zen.

I could write many more like this, because there are a LOT OF common senses, between Dylans writings and Eastern Philosophy.
Perhaps, I will do it in the future.

What I want to ask is: Are there any evidences, that Dylan was ever interested in Zen/Eastern Philosophy? Because it would be very strange when all this was originaly created in his own mind.

Hi Hale-Bopp ,i find your writings intriguing and very interesting. I would love to know more !

I don't know of anywhere that it has been said that Dylan was interested in any kind of Eastern philosophy of any kind. I agree though, his writing does have a similar feel. I actually tend to get bored with Dylan's journal because it seems so abstract to me sometimes. I'm sure that there was at least some small amount of study of these subjects in some of his classes at times, although I can't say for sure.

Wideawake wrote:

I don't know of anywhere that it has been said that Dylan was interested in any kind of Eastern philosophy of any kind. I agree though, his writing does have a similar feel. I actually tend to get bored with Dylan's journal because it seems so abstract to me sometimes. I'm sure that there was at least some small amount of study of these subjects in some of his classes at times, although I can't say for sure.

I remember reading in one article, that Eric and Dylan were interested in Taoism, which contains ideas from a similar nature as Zen and other spartes of Buddhism. I'm not sure, if they really studied it, however. There are not much sources, who say something about E+D interested in Taoism.

Wasn't the test Eric missed for NBK meant to be about Chinese philosophy?

Didn't Dylan drop Philosophy while Eric and Brooks stuck with it?  However, they all stayed in Psychology class.  Too much juicy information for Eric and Dylan to glean about how to emulate schizos and psychos. ;) 

Don't know if there is much eastern philosophy as opposed to occult philosophy. A lot of occult symbols and ideas. The talk he describes with his ''soul'', higher self type of being is interesting also.

JayJay wrote:

Don't know if there is much eastern philosophy as opposed to occult philosophy. A lot of occult symbols and ideas. The talk he describes with his ''soul'', higher self type of being is interesting also.

Well, seen from a western perspective, eastern philosophy is basically a type of occultism/esoteric.

Hale-Bopp wrote:

When he wrote, that he had "initive memories", than perhaps he wanted to say, that in his godlike-status, he felt no time. That is very similar to some sectors of Zen, which says, that humanity is an illusion and that inside your mind is a timeless awareness, who is directly linked to the everything/god/cosmos.
Even the words, Dylan used are similar to the concepts of Zen.

What I want to ask is: Are there any evidences, that Dylan was ever interested in Zen/Eastern Philosophy? Because it would be very strange when all this was originaly created in his own mind.

Just rereading some of this.

Dylan's writings are very much all over the place and it's not easy trying to make sense of it. I'm not aware if he was ever interested in Zen/Eastern philosophy. He dropped out of that philo class during the last term so, maybe he was not really all that interested in the subject? However, he seemed to have been influenced by some spiritual ideas and by science (maybe quantum physics?). It seems Time and Space holds an important place in his thinking. Like you wrote, he does seem to think the physical world is not the real world, that there's more to it and that he can reach it in his thoughts. Is that the everything he is writing about, the existence encompassing the ''boxes'' but that also go beyond the ''boxes''? Or the idea of the hall of existence with all its rooms. Whatever he thought it was, there was something ''beyond'' this reality and he wanted to escape to it.

What has me thinking is the Hypnosis Place part. The entry where he talks about this beautiful, sunny place where he converses with a being as though it's his soul. It's a truly mystical experience he describes. In occult literature, it is called conversing with its Higher Self or Holy Guardian Angel.

Others would say he's slowly unraveling (and he probably is, as well), that he may have been pre-szhizophrenic or schizoid or psychotic, and those writings are all it is about. Talk of being god-like, having access to special knowledge, mystical experiences, all recounted in a rambling fashion, are the hallmarks of a psychotic episode.

But who can dismiss the beauty of such passages as: ''Existence is a great hall, life is one of the [scribble] rooms, death is passing thru the doors, & the ever-existant compulsion of everything is the curiosity to keep moving down the hall, thru the doors, exploring rooms, down this never-ending hall. Questions make answers, answers conceive questions, and at long last he is content.'' ?

That's a 16 year-old's mind at work for ya.

We know from his coining the word ''transciever of the everything'' that Dylan saw himself as some kind of channel, both ''transmitting'' and ''receiving''. What was he getting? Thoughts, messages, impressions, something Evil taking over?

JayJay wrote:

Hale-Bopp wrote:

When he wrote, that he had "initive memories", than perhaps he wanted to say, that in his godlike-status, he felt no time. That is very similar to some sectors of Zen, which says, that humanity is an illusion and that inside your mind is a timeless awareness, who is directly linked to the everything/god/cosmos.
Even the words, Dylan used are similar to the concepts of Zen.

What I want to ask is: Are there any evidences, that Dylan was ever interested in Zen/Eastern Philosophy? Because it would be very strange when all this was originaly created in his own mind.

Just rereading some of this.

Dylan's writings are very much all over the place and it's not easy trying to make sense of it. I'm not aware if he was ever interested in Zen/Eastern philosophy. He dropped out of that philo class during last term so, maybe he was not really all that interested in the subject. However, he seemed to have been influenced by some spiritual ideas and by science (maybe quantum physics?). It seems Time and Space holds an important place in his thinking. Like you wrote, he does seem to think the physical world is not the real world, that there's more to it and that he can reach it in his thoughts. Is that the everything he is writing about, the existence encompassing the ''boxes'' but that also go beyond the ''boxes''? Or the idea of the hall of existence with all its rooms. Whatever he thought it was, there was something ''beyond'' this reality and he wanted to escape to it.

What has me thinking is the Hypnosis Place part. The entry where he talks about this beautiful, sunny place where he talks with a being as though it's his soul. It's a truly mystical experience he describes. Others would say he's slowly unraveling (and he probably is, as well), pre-szhizophrenic or schizoid or psychotic, and those writings are all it is about. We know from his coining the word ''transciever of the everything'' that Dylan saw himself as some kind of channel, both ''transmitting'' and ''receiving''.

I agree with every single word you said about Dylan. His thoughts (and maybe emotions) were kind of a channel for him, so he got able to have experiences with an another reality. The outside world, however, is not only not real but also evil and torturous. An incomprehensible and incoherent fake reality, in which however he was trapped and lost, unable to really get into the real world of beauty, love and wisdom. Thus, there appeared two ways for Dylan to consider: Either just to completely leave the fake reality (suicide) or even to attack and destroy it. He chose the second solution.

Quote :

What was he getting? Thoughts, messages, impressions, something Evil taking over?

Hmm...good question. Isn't it strange how the outside world was the evil and dark thing for him, while the outside world itself had to fear and was threatened by the things, floating from another world into Dylans soul?