Interviews with Allen Ginsberg
by Paul Lobo Portugés
Biography
$19.95
108 pages, May 2013
Published by Word Palace Press
Designed by Benjamin Daniel Lawless
On Tibetan Buddhism, Mantras, and Drugs.
“One of the most respected Beat writers and acclaimed American poets of his generation, Allen Ginsberg enjoys a prominent place in post-World War II American culture.”
~ The Poetry Foundation.
“Instead of writing about objects and ideas, the writer is advised to transcribe the workings of their "subconscious" as objects and ideas are grasped intentionally. In "Notes Written on Finally Recording 'Howl'"Allen Ginsberg explains it thus: "Mind is shapely, Art is shapely. Meaning Mind practiced in spontaneity invents forms in its own image–gets to Last Thoughts". The ego is an impediment. Forcing the world through the filter of the "I" reduces externality into easily-manageable representations. It is only through composing with the intentional consciousness that the writer is able to produce authentic work that originates meaning through interaction with the world..”
~ Erik Mortenson, Wayne State University
Allen Ginsberg with Paul Lobo Portugés:
Portugés: So, getting back to meditation techniques, they help you...
Ginsberg: Calm down, consider what would be the best way of communicating the simplest elements of facts—unprejudiced by my own anger and resentments. If you package your information in resentment and accusation, people won’t swallow it as easily as if you package it in some kind of, or maybe even unpackaged, neutral, benevolent, indifferent attention. If you package it in attention, it’s much better than if you package it in inattentive resentment. You’re not taking into account the psychology of the other guy.
Portugés: This sounds like the Buddhist stress on the aspect of compassion...
Ginsberg: ...It’s really compassion toward yourself—that you’re not tearing yourself apart, banging your head against the wall.
