Crowded by Beauty: The Life and Zen of Poet Philip WhalenPhilip Whalen was an American poet, Zen Buddhist, and key figure in the literary and artistic scene that unfolded in San Francisco in the 1950s and Õ60s.ÊWhen the Beat writers came West, Whalen became a revered, much-loved member of the group.ÊErudite, shy, and profoundly spiritual, his presence not only moved his immediate circle of Beat cohorts, but his powerful, startling, innovative work would come to impact American poetry to the present day. Drawing on WhalenÕs journals and personal correspondenceÑparticularly with Ginsberg, Kerouac, Snyder, Kyger, Welch, and McClure ÑDavid Schneider shows how deeply bonded these intimates were, supporting one another in their art and their spiritual paths. Schneider, himself an ordained priest, provides an insiderÕs view of WhalenÕs struggles and breakthroughs in his thirty years as a Zen monk. When Whalen died in 2002 as the retired Abbot of the Hartford Street Zen Center, his own teacher referred to him as a patriarch of the Western lineage of Buddhism. Crowded by Beauty chronicles the course of WhalenÕs life, focusing on his unique, eccentric, humorous, and literary-religious practice. |
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abbot Allen Ginsberg Anne Waldman Author interview Baker Roshi BANJO EYES beautiful Berkeley BOLINAS BUDDHA RED EARS Buddhist called ceremony Collected Poems continued Dharma Don Allen early feel felt friends Gary Snyder Gary's Hartford Street Zen hike hospice Issan Jack Kerouac Japan Japanese Joanne Kyger Joanne's KALYANAMITRA knew Koller Kyoto later letters Lew Welch lineage literary living Lloyd Reynolds looking meditation Michael McClure mind monk mountains moved Naropa University Naropa University lectures person Philip Whalen Philip wrote Poems of Philip poetry poets practice published Reed College REED'S FINE COLLEGE Richard Baker San Francisco seemed sitting Six Gallery reading sometimes spiritual stay Street Zen Center Sutra talk Tassajara teacher teaching temple THEE WHO PLAY things thought tion told took trying walking Whalen journal Whalen to Ginsberg Whalen to Snyder writing zazen zendo