''The Scripture of the Golden Eternity'' is a book of 66
prose poems written by American
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...
and
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
Jack Kerouac, first published in 1960 by
Corinth Books,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. The book is Kerouac’s
sutra on
Buddhist philosophy
Buddhist philosophy refers to the philosophical investigations and systems of inquiry that developed among various schools of Buddhism in India following the parinirvana of The Buddha and later spread throughout Asia. The Buddhist path combin ...
, in which he describes a "Golden Eternity" that is paradoxically everything and nothing.
[''The Scripture of the Golden Eternity'' by Jack Kerouac ]
The 66 prose poems or "meditations" deal mainly with the nature of consciousness and the impermanence of existence. The main influence is
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
, but the use of the word "scripture" in the title alludes to Kerouac's
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
upbringing and influences, evident in this work and others.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scripture Of The Golden Eternity, The
1960 poetry books
Books by Jack Kerouac
American poetry collections