An impassioned poem with Buddhist imagery and messages of
environmentalism, social justice, and enlightenment.
Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet Gary Snyder composed "Smokey the
Bear Sutra" one spring night in 1969 at a Sierra Club conference. Smokey
the Bear is not the U.S. Forest Service's Smokey Bear, the latter being
a highly recognized advertising symbol protected by Federal law. Rather,
the imagery of this Smokey comes from Buddhism; according to Snyder,
Smokey the Bear Sutra is a dharma protector, modeled after Fugo, the
Japanese patron of ascetics and yogis. The message of the Sutra is that
we as beings are responsible to protect all other life down to the
smallest forms-- do no harm, protect our collective selves, and honor
the great impermanence.
This short work is part of Applewood's "American Roots" series, tactile
mementos of American passions by some of America's most famous writers.