Messages 2009
Jack Kerouac’s Religious Identity.
September 28th, 2009
Santa Cruz, California
Received by FAB
I am here, Jack Kerouac.
I want to explain to you how I saw myself as a Catholic. I inherited much from the Catholic tradition, and there were many aspects of Catholic culture and belief that I never rejected. They coincided, and not always uncomfortably, with my Buddhist beliefs.
As you know from your Jewish roots, a religion is often more than a specific faith. It is also a social and a cultural identity. I know it sounds confusing. How could I have identified with two separate religions? Well, they occupied different places in my life and my soul. This was based on whatever need was being met. But as you very well know, I didn’t practice either one.
The only time a religious belief possessed my entire life and soul was when I was praying mightily for the Divine Love when I, as a spirit, had my back to the wall. My situation was unbearable. I didn’t turn to the cross because there was no cross. I didn’t turn to the blood of Jesus because there was no blood. I turned to my own soul. I had to.
I know you have trouble understanding how people can participate in a religion over a lifetime and yet never get it. But many mortals who consider themselves religious are completely blind to the essence. I had flashes of that essence, and put that in some of my books.
As I see it now, I didn’t let any religion, Buddhism or Catholicism, change my life the way it should have. Had I taken either religion seriously, I would have taken concrete steps to repair the damage my behavior caused, and I would have made a serious attempt to stop drinking.
I have talked to spirits who were alcoholics, who told me that they had succeeded in arresting the destructive growth of alcoholism in their lives. They told me they used religious principles to do this. So I knew it wasn’t impossible. It is not possible to have imagined my original state as a spirit. But as I have told you, this did not last long. I learned from my beloved Angel guide how to pray for the Divine Love. I saw that I had ruined my earth life: I didn’t want to ruin my spirit life as well. I had certain aspirations going back to childhood that got drowned in alcohol. But these aspirations were in me. My Angel guide directed my attention to this, and told me that this had been observed. The way I was spoken to indicated to me that this Angel knew all about me!
That was like a mighty stimulus. I had tangible proof that I had always been cared for, and this gave me the courage and the energy to try. I persisted in a way that I didn’t know I was capable of. But it was as if my deepest hopes were coming up, and this glad face of hope energized me. Finally, a different feeling entered my soul. It was a quiet, sweet feeling of peace. It didn’t last long, but there it was.
So, one thing led to another, and finally, I overcame. I was told that it was rare for a dark spirit to have advanced to light so rapidly. I wasn’t Jack Kerouac the mystic for nothing.