The following quotations from a pair of biographical essays about Ashton Smith have long intrigued me:

Quote:

A lifelong free thinker and free spirit, Smith recoiled from conventional religious thought. Having read extensively in Eastern mysticism, he leaned toward Zen Buddhism and, as a result, rejected most material values".

"Clark Ashton Smith, Ill-Fated Master of Fantasy", Hal Rubin

Quote:

"Early in our acquaintance I had sent him my copy of Robert Payne's incredibly beautiful prose poem on the life of Buddha The Lord Comes (American edition titled The Yellow Robe). He wrote me on March 5, 1954: "Thanks so much for the loan of The Yellow Robe (I think I prefer the English title). I read the book with so much interest that it set me to rereading all that I have on the life and doctrine of Buddha, as well as some stuff on Brahmanism and East Indian mythology. The book is beautifully written and I liked especially some of the passages you specified." Later when I sent copies of books by Alan W. Watts, the great exponent of Zen, Klarkash-Ton replied: "My belated shanks [sic] for The Wisdom of Insecurity, which expresses the philosophy toward which I have been tending a long time pass [sic]".

"As I Remember Klarkash-Ton", George F. Haas



What do others here feel about the affinities between the work and thought of Clark Ashton Smith and Eastern philosophies/religions, such as Zen? The parallels seem quite rich, to me, and, as evidence, one can adduce such poems as the "Nirvana", or the superb "Transcendence". In addition, the ending of a tale such as "The Seven Geases" seems to me to invite the reply, "Buddha smiles". Is there other biographical evidence of Ashton Smith's interest in these matters? References in unpublished letters? Any essays written about this theme in CAS's work and thought? In any case, it seems to me a fascinating area for exploration.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 27 Jan 05 | 10:56AM by Kyberean.

CAS alludes to, perhaps found convergence with, several aspects of cultures east of Suez, including Islamic and Indian, as well as Japanese, examples.

Questions:

Do Smith's Oriental references represent knowledge or sympathies more profound than Romantic exoticism?

What is the background to his "experiments" in haiku?

dr. mef

> What do others here feel about the affinities
> between the work and thought of Clark Ashton Smith
> and Eastern philosophies/religions, such as Zen?
> The parallels seem quite rich, to me...

> it encapsulated hypocrisy and self-contradiction
> about as well as one could hope

The Ethical Precepts and Philosophical Tenets of Zen Buddhism

"Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am determined to speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence, joy, and hope. I will not spread news that I do not know to be certain and will not criticize or condemn things of which I am not sure. I will refrain from uttering words that can cause division or discord, or that can cause the family or the community to break. I am determined to make all efforts to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small."

Buddha smiles

"Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others,

> I haven't even read this person's latest replies,
> nor do I intend to do so...

> I've lately been avoiding all subject headings that
> have anything "fishy" about them...

I am committed to cultivating loving speech

> Now, the little dear is calling for an end to the
> thread, which is more amusing, still.

> the poor creature's bruised
> and battered ego simply wouldn't allow it to stop.

> > And you really think that this analogy applies to,
> > say, horror literature versus Literature with a
> > capital "L"? Lol. If so, then there's really no
> > need for further discussion.
> >
> oh we are smug [Shame on you, Mr Pearson!].

and deep listening

> I haven't even read this person's latest replies,
> nor do I intend to do so.

> I've lately been avoiding all subject headings that
> have anything "fishy" about them

in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am determined to speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence, joy, and hope.

> I know; quite funny, isn't it? Of course, Ghoti
> replies to posts not addressed to
> him/her/it (lusus naturae? ;-) ), too,
> and completely fails to address substantive
> arguments, but none of that matters.

etc.

I will not spread news that I do not know to be certain and will not criticize or condemn things of which I am not sure. I will refrain from uttering words that can cause division or discord,

> Someone proposed a work by Lewis or Tolkien, to which
> the professor replied, "Those Christian apologetics give me the
> creeps". Amen to that!

etc.

or that can cause the family or the community to break. I am determined to make all efforts to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small."

Vide supra.

Quote:

Do Smith's Oriental references represent knowledge or sympathies more profound than Romantic exoticism?

That's a very interesting question. Given the evidence of his juvenalia, it's obviously a subject that interested him from his early youth. On the other hand, much of that seems to reflect the East as seen through the lens of Beckford. The later poems to which I referred suggest a much deeper understanding of the essence of the subject. Then, it appears that the books on Zen tailored to Western audiences engaged his interest later in life. So, the subject appears to be one that held a tenacious grip on his imagination at some level throughout his life. I'm going to re-read the letters in search of further references, and also many of the poems with this idea in mind. I, too, would be interested in knowing more about the background to the haiku experiments.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 1 Feb 05 | 09:57AM by Kyberean.

Ghoti23:

I read your contribution to this thread under the mistaken impression that you were going to make a substantive contribution to it. I ought to have known better. I thank you, though, for once again demonstrating your greater maturity and your moral superiority by hijacking my thread for the sole purpose of making digs at me. You may have impressed your hero by so doing, but I doubt that anyone else would find what you did to be very clever, including, if he were here to read it, CAS.

By the way, your barbs would have much more thrust to them if I had ever claimed to be a Buddhist of any sorts, myself, which I am not. The aspects of Zen that interest me have nothing to do with the moralizing examples that you cite, but that's really no concern of yours.

Now, it's time to follow mef's wise advice and resume ignoring you in earnest.

> I read your contribution to this thread under the
> mistaken impression that you were going to make a
> substantive contribution to it. I ought to have
> known better. I thank you, though, for once again
> demonstrating your greater maturity and your moral
> superiority by hijacking my thread for the sole
> purpose of making digs at me.

The "digs" seem to have had some effect, if the change in your tone here and elsewhere is anything to judge by. I never thought you were a Buddhist either, and if you were uncertain about my sex, I was never uncertain about yours. If you're not male too, I'd be very surprised.

> You may have
> impressed your hero by so doing, but I doubt that
> anyone else would find what you did to be very
> clever, including, if he were here to read it,
> CAS.

If you think your past behaviour would have impressed CAS, you can't understand him very well.

> The aspects of
> Zen that interest me have nothing to do with the
> moralizing examples that you cite, but that's
> really no concern of yours.

You call them "moralizing" but, as I said, they seem to have influenced your behaviour. I think they would be good rules to govern the forum, though some people (not me) were already following them.

> Now, it's time to follow mef's wise advice and
> resume ignoring you in earnest.

I'll live with that somehow. Behave like adults, and I'll happily return the compliment.

Could this private conversation be continued elsewhere, please? I'm actually more interested in the topic under discussion.

Returning to which: CAS also encountered eastern thought via the influence of theosophy; I don't know whether there is evidence that this was direct, but its certainly there via references to Madame Blavatsky's 'Book of Dzyan' etc. in Lovecraft's fiction. We can see this in CAS's 'cosmic' work, eg 'Ubbo Sathla' and also in the 'lost worlds' of Hyperborea, Atlantis, etc.

Whilst this link may seem tenuous - it does tie in with the early wave of interest in the West - the Buddhist Society in London, for example, began life as the Buddhist Lodge of the Theosophical Society.

Saying that, I do feel that these influences are more to with plot devices and themes - I don't feel a strong eastern influence coming across in terms of a spiritual 'message'. Do reincarnation or karma feature in any CAS stories? I am not aware of it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 9 Feb 05 | 07:13AM by Mikey_C.

Quote:

Could this private conversation be continued elsewhere, please?

There is no private conversation, just a failed hijacking attempt by a person under the bizarre delusion that embodying the qualities he affects to despise somehow demonstrates his greater maturity. (It seems that, if someone else provokes this individual to "childish" behavior, then his responses in kind are perfectly justified, but that standard does not apply to anyone else.) Anyway, I'll be glad to discuss further the subject at hand.

Quote:

CAS also encountered eastern thought via the influence of theosophy; I don't know whether there is evidence that this was direct [...]

That's an interesting question; one, however, that I cannot answer, because I do not know how deep CAS's reading was in this area. It's certainly something to keep in mind when considering the question of influences, though.

Quote:

Saying that, I do feel that these influences are more to with plot devices and themes -I don't feel a strong eastern influence coming across in terms of a spiritual 'message'. Do reincarnation or karma feature in any CAS stories? I am not aware of it

.
I'm as interested in the poetry as I am in the tales, if not more so, and there are at least two poems (see my post initiating this thread) that offer serious "messages" of Eastern thought.

I wouldn't say that the ideas of reincarnation and karma pur et dur appear in his work, but notions very similar to them do. For instance (and this is just off the top of my head, as I'm at work, and need to keep this brief), the notion of reincarnation arises both in the poem "The Infinite Quest" and in the tale "The Planet of the Dead", albeit with some very characteristic CAS twists; namely, the theme of cosmic exile.

As for karma, I think that the bad end of many of the protagonists who transgress against CAS's dark gods and cosmic forces (see, for instance, "The Charnel God"), suggest this idea, albeit, again, not in the rigorous sense of the term.