THE ORIENTAL ELEMENT IN HENRY MILLER

 

DR. RANGANATH NANDYAL

 

Literature knows no racial or national boundaries. Oriental literatures – which are basically idealistic and spiritualistic – have been attracting the eclectic and the receptive American minds for about two centuries. The great transcendentalists – Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman – derived not only information and in­spiration but also illumination from Oriental thought. Hundreds of American thinkers toed the line of the sage of Concord and joined the tradition of transcendentalism. Henry Miller also belonged to this great tradition.

 

Miller was essentially a Satyanveshi, a seeker of Truth. In fact his entire life was a search – a search for Peace, Truth, and Self-realization. He asked himself: Where did I come from? Where do I go? Is life an empty and meaningless accident? Has life got any purpose? He looked for answers As an in­veterate reader and haunter of libraries, he nourished himself on the ideas and ideals of the prophets of past. He heard the music of the ancient wisdom of the Orient; he thoroughly absorbed it. He studied not only books but life also; he passed through many phases and experiences; he become a vagabond, a bohemian, an outsider; and ultimately he reached the stage of a sage.

 

A writer’s creative work is like a mirror which reflects his own mind. In all his writings, Miller’s sympathy and admiration for Oriental scriptures, Oriental personalities and Oriental concepts are clearly reflected. A serious study of his life and writings ­with regard to the Oriental influence on Miller–would be fascinating and revealing.

 

Regarding Miller’s attitude towards sex, the influence of ancient Indian thought on Miller is unmistakable. Like ancient Indians, he too believed that sex was neither immoral nor moral, but it was amoral; and what was fundamental and justified in life was also fundamental and justified in art. That is why, as in the case of ancient Indian sculpture and literature, discussions of sex and sexual activities and descriptions of male and female anatomies are rampant in some of the works of Miller. His knowledge of Kamasutra and Ananga Ranga seemed to have come to his help while describing some of the scenes of love-­play in the Tropics as well as The Rosy Crucifixion. Like the Tantriks, Miller too believed that Bhoga (pleasure) and Yoga are complementary; as also body and spinto Also, like the Tantriks, who employed the Panchatava as to eradicate the poisons in the human system, Miller too used obscenity in his writings as a form of medication and catharsis.

 

Miller too, like Indian thinkers, gave paramount importance to truth and sincerity; and tried to be sincere in executing his duties as a writer: He reported what he believed was the whole truth about the nature of man – however unpleasant the truth might be. He, too, neither condemned nor looked down upon the sinner for there was no individual who was utterly evil and God manifested through evil as well as good. Undoubtedly Indian thinkers like Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, and J. Krishnamurti influenced Miller regarding his attitude towards morality.

 

Further, regarding Miller’s attitude towards the concepts of “The Individual”, “Self-Reliance”, and “Destiny”, there is an indelible impact of J. Krishnamurti, Swami Vivekananda, and The Bhagavad Gita on Miller. Like J. Krishnamurti, Miller too believed that the world problem was the individual problem and so the individual should reform himself radically before trying to reform the world. Like Swami Vivekananda, Miller too thought that man possessed infinite power within himself, and so stressed the importance of strength in human life and decried weakness. Like The Bhagavad Gita, Miller wanted everybody to do his part to the best of his ability regardless of consequences and firmly believed that man was the architect of his own destiny.

 

Miller’s views on the concept of “The Ideal Man” are similar to those of Indian thinkers. He too, like Indian thinkers, visualized that the ideal man would transcend the dualities like pleasure and pain, good and evil, and would work with detach­ment regardless of results and that the unknown Buddhas would belong to the upper rung among the ideal men.

 

Indian thought directly influenced Miller regarding his attitude towards religion and God. Like Swami Vivekananda, he thought that religion should be practical and he never believed in dogmas or rituals. Religion, in Miller grew with his life and helped him to transform his life. Like ancient Indian thinkers, he too thought that life was an opportunity for self-realization. He, like the hero Siddhartha of Hermann Hesse, passed from one stage to another – from the stage of a vagabond of New York to that of a sage of Big Sur. Also, like Indian mystics, he tried to communicate with God and tried to, contemplate on himself as a part of the universal soul.

 

Miller’s attitude towards cosmic consciousness or my­sticism is similar to Indian attitude. Like Indian mystics, he tried to expand his consciousness to experience a sense of total unity with the entire universe. Regarding Miller’s attitude to­wards life, Zen Buddhism influenced him profoundly. Like Mahatma Gandhi, he too believed that art was only a means to fuller life and that the greatest artist was he who led the finest life. He sincerely practised the doctrine of detachment enunciated by The Bhagavad Gita. Like Zen Buddhists he was interested in being rather than doing; and he adopted the phi­losophy of acceptance to such an extent that one can call him a Zen Buddhist.

 

In Miller’s life and writings, there are some aspects, situations, and passages wherein the influence of Oriental thought is direct and unmistakable; in some other places, there are some parallels or similarities between Oriental thought and Henry Miller’s. Hence the existence of Oriental element in Henry Miller is unquestionable.

 

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