Kerouac's contemporaries and disciples surely overlooked the many complexities of Mexico City Blues. Without previous knowledge of Buddhist principles, the American public could not have grasped Kerouac's full intent. Still, analysis of Mexico City Blues reveals that Kerouac himself held an involved and educated faith in Mahayana Buddhism during his time in Mexico. Thus to dismiss Beat Buddhism as mere non-conformity is to severely misinterpret the significance of the religion to Beat literature. The Portable Beat Reader, for example, does not mention Buddhism in its introduction to Beat literature and discusses both Mexico City Blues and Dharma Burns without reference to their Buddhist undertones and importations.
Parenthetical notations refer to the specific chorus which has been alluded to or quoted.
Both Catherine Albanese and the Oxford Dictionary of World Religions entry on Mahayana discuss the three forms of Buddha. Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1992. Bowker, John, ed. Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Oxford University Press, 1997.