I was born in southeast Kansas in 1952, and my first awareness of the existence of something called “Buddhism” was in my grade school days, when-reading selections from the work of Arthur Schopenhauer in the “Great Books” series-I encountered his remarks on Buddhism, as found in his 1818 work, The World as Will and Idea. But before I talk about William’s life, I would like to say a few things about my own, in particular the years before I met William, so that you will have some context for my observations My first awareness of Buddhism came from Schopenhauer. I am by no means an “expert” on Buddhism. Let me apologize in advance for any doctrinal or nomenclatural errors I may make. There are many people in Boulder who knew William during those years.
His first visit was for two weeks in 1975, and after he set himself up in “The Bunker” (his New York loft) in late 1978, he continued to make annual visits to Naropa until 1989. William spent a great deal of time in Boulder and was effectively a resident of the town for two years, during 1976 to 1978. Because of this, and because many of his closest friends were Buddhists (see: Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, who often considered him one of their Teachers), Burroughs and his work can be explored within a Buddhist setting. So, since we are all here at a learning institution founded by Buddhists, this is perhaps an interesting way for us to approach his life and work.
But he did have an awareness of the essentials of Buddhism, and in his own way, he was affected by bodhidharma.
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