In The Dharma Bums, Ray Smith (Jack Kerouac’s autobiographical character) describes his parting with his dear friend Japhy Ryder:
The next day I figured to give Japhy some kind of strange little going-away gift and didn’t have much money or any ideas particularly so I took a little piece of paper about as big as a thumbnail and carefully printed on it: MAY YOU USE THE DIAMONDCUTTER OF MERCY and when I said goodbye to him at the pier I handed it to him, and he read it, put it in his pocket, and said nothing.
Martin Luther said the Gospel was a “little word.” A little word–Mercy–with great power. As Luther wrote in his hymn, A Mighty Fortress, describing the battle the Christian fights with the devil: “…one little word shall fell him.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogfs_aGR4G4&w=600]
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5 responses to “Jack Kerouac and the Diamondcutter of Mercy”
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Great post Aaron. May we all, I pray, be given to use the diamondcutter of mercy! JZ
But Kerouac was talking specifically about the “Diamond Cutter” sutra of Mahayana Buddhism, right?
The context doesn’t say. Kerouac certainly doesn’t tell us. Certainly the book shows Kerouac’s love for Buddhism (and I assume JK knew his sutras), yet the book also clearly shows his love for Christ (Kerouac later said “All I ever write about is Christ!”). In my own view, since the Diamond Cutter sutra is not about mercy per se, I wonder if Kerouac was trying to speak to his friend Japhy (Greg Snyder in real life) about Christ (adding “of mercy” to the phrase, well known to Ryder, “diamond cutter”) in a way that would make sense to him.
What strikes me about this post, and forgive me if I’m missing the intended point, is the power of the ‘small word’ in general. Here, the character’s friend is leaving and he knows not what to do. Finally, he just jots down a small note and gives it to him. There’s nothing particularly elegant about it, it’s a small note that gets put in a pocket. For all intents and purposes it’s a reminder (on two levels, the note is itself a reminder but also the note reminders the holder of the giver). I love the comparison here to the small word of the Gospel, and not just because of the correlation to Mercy, but because the Gospel is as you point out a small word that pierces the darkness, deeply pierces the darkness. It’s a solitary “Yes” to us that pierces through the loquacious lies we hear that tell us “no.” One of the most powerful prayers I know is, “Lord, help me!” or “Lord have mercy!” They’re small, but exact and all consuming. On a horizontally relational level, how powerful a small word, “I love you”, “I know”, “I’m here”, can be between friends. They’re not fancy, but they’re strong. Often in times of leaving or sadness or sorrow or suffering many of us lose the ability to say anything because we can’t think of the exact right thing to say, or how to say it eloquently enough, but really it only takes a small word, the “i love you”, the “yes”, to make the point known.
this is what i see in this post, but as above, i may have missed the point.
Jack was a Christian who got hung up with Buddhism for a while. For him Buddhism was the Thunderbolt in the Dark Void. The dark void being Christianity. He had found the Torch of Illumination. For a while he had.
His variation of “diamond cutter of mercy’ – Cutting Scythe of Mercy.
Buddhism is a ‘way of life’ which proclaims the observer A PERSONAL GOD. You are your own God sitting on a diamond shrine contemplating a sparkling mote of dust on which sits the diamond shrine. Its very poetic. And so was Jack.
Buddhism considers life very precious, even a blood sucking needle nosed mosquito is holy for a true Buddha finder.
Jack’s diamond cutter of mercy was a reminder for Japhy to be diligent. Japhy was Zen in real life and his going to Japan to become a zen monk was used as a backdrop in The Dharma Bums.
Jack or anybody who gets influenced by a boddhi way of life does so because it seems at first a simple and right way of life. i like buddhism. its very poetic and literary for me.
Grass grows because the earth lets it grow. Buddha asked the listener to believe in nothing, no matter where he had read it, no matter who had said it. even if it came from the horse’s (his) mouth. to not believe unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense is a very motivating statement to make. Here you get freedom. To just be.
Christianity sounded like a a bunch of demands and orders in comparison. Burdensome. Eventually, he couldn’t not keep up with the primary Buddhist Precepts. He got drunk and Christianity (could have been any other religion) at a young age had created the idea of guilt in him. He couldn’t keep up and kept runing after one fallen star to the next. Most religions are guilt creating mehtinks. Guilt creates the idea of sin. He studied the Mahayana old age texts. He is said to have rote learned half of the Buddhist Bible by Goddard, the Diamond Sutra and the Lankanvatra Sutra. His cup was too full. Fianlly he lost ability. lost confidence. Now he was living to drink himself to death. Finally he is Saint Raymond of the Dogs.
“The one thing that we yearn for in our living days, that makes us sigh and groan and undergo sweet nauseas of all kinds, is the remembrance of some lost bliss that was probably experienced in the womb and can only be reproduced (though we hate to admit it) in death.”
I might have ranted too. Forgive me for i know not what i do 😉 I am losing touch.
Jack’s the best poet ever.