the Dharma is a door..
by Jack Kerouac

The boys were glad,
and rested up for more,
and Jack cooked mush
in the honor of the door.

The boys was sittin'
in a grove of trees,
listenin' to Buddy
explain the keys.

Boys, sez he,
the Dharma is a door..

Boys, I say the keys,
'cause there's lotsa keys,
but only one door,
one hive for the bees.

So listen to me,|
and I'll try to tell all,
As I hear it long ago,
In the Pure Land Hall.

For you good boys,
with wine-soaked teeth,
that can't understand
these words on a heath,

I'll make it simpler,
like a bottle of wine,
and a good woodfire,
under stars divine.

Now listen to me,
and when you have learned
the Dharma of the Buddhas
of old and yearned

to the dawn of truth,
under a lonesome tree,
in Yuma Arizony,
or anywhere you be.

Don't thank me for tellin'
what was told me,
this is the wheel I'm a turnin'
this is the reason I be.

Mind is the Maker,
for no reason at all,
for all this creation,
created to fall.

- Jack Kerouac
from chapter 13 of
The Dharma Bums

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