Copyright by Krzysztof Piekarski 2013 The Dissertation Committee for Krzysztof Piekarski Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Buddhist Philosophy in the Work of David Foster Wallace Committee: Martin Kevorkian, Supervisor Margaret Syverson Brian Bremen Andrew Cooper Frank Richardson ii Buddhist Philosophy in the Work of David Foster Wallace by Krzysztof Piekarski, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2013 iii Dedication For my Grandma, Mother and Michałek, and in memory of David Foster Wallace iv Acknowledgements I would also like to thank my committee at the University of Texas for their support, generosity, intelligence and patience. Special thanks to Peg Syverson and Flint Sparks for your generosity and for teaching me that sitting still while looking at a wall is by far a way better idea than any I’ve had previously. To Andrew Cooper who over the years slowed down enough for me to keep up with him in all manners of speaking. To Martin Kevorkian whom I’ve always considered to be an absolutely best-case-scenario role-model and who pretty much grabbed me by the scruff for nine years and wouldn’t let go no matter how often I wanted to run away–– there’s a kindness in your spirit that proved my most valuable lesson. To Jean, Sean, and Phil for your warmth and joyful ways. To Cory and Uncle whose spirits of giving and adventure is unfair for those of us with less backbone. To Nathan for suffering with me on the Friendship Loop and making it earn its name. Xavi, my home away from home. To Nick, who taught me more about, I guess, everything. You were and continue to be a creature with bottomless depth, courage, humor, and all sorts of other things that nobody can understand with 100% of their minds. To my parents whom it would be silly to merely “acknowledge” because how does one give proper thanks for everything? To Blondie, patent holder of the Happy Dance and my model of Grace and biggest source of Support and Joy: thank you for believing in me and for sharing your adventures with me. Without you I’d probably just run around outside flapping my arms. And to Bunk, who just is and maybe will one day teach me how to be likewise. v Buddhist Philosophy in the Work of David Foster Wallace Krzysztof Piekarski, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2013 Supervisor: Martin Kevorkian Abstract: This dissertation is about the ways David Foster Wallace’s writing expresses Buddhist philosophy. Because Buddhism is a vast subject, sometimes I conflate several traditional “Buddhisms” into a common-denominator form, while other times I investigate Wallace’s work through Zen Buddhism specifically. By close-reading his work in chronological order––starting with The Broom of the System, Girl With Curious Hair, “The Empty Plenum,” Infinite Jest, “Roger Federer as Religious Experience,” “The Suffering Channel,” and The Pale King––I analyze the ways in which Wallace’s writing focused on questions of the self-awareness of linguistic expression, the contemporary causes of addiction and suffering and their implied remedy, the ethical and moral implications of living out of self-consciousness, the principles of mutual causality, “co-arising” and ecological well-being, and the discernment of multiple forms of awareness, all of which are foundational concerns shared with Buddhist philosophy. vi Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction .............................................................................................1 Buddhist Interpreters .......................................................................................8 Multiple Buddhisms .....................................................................................13 Buddhist Basics ............................................................................................16 Difficulty .......................................................................................................21 Why a Buddhist Study of Wallace is Relevant ............................................24 Methodology ................................................................................................26 Organization .................................................................................................27 DFW’s Buddhist Biography ........................................................................29 Wallace as Religious Writer ........................................................................35 Chapter 2 Broom of the System DFW’s Wittgensteinian Entry into Zen .............40 Lenore’s Realization ....................................................................................42 Freedom .......................................................................................................45 Close Reading Broom of the System .............................................................48 Linguistic Problems of Philosophy ..............................................................59 How to Be a Buddhist Reader ......................................................................63 Wittgenstein and Zen Meditations on Language .........................................71 Chapter 3 Girl With Curious Hair and the Importance of Aspiration ..................83 Biography .....................................................................................................83 Little Expressionless Animals ......................................................................87 Luckily the Account Representatitve Knew CPR ........................................92 Girl With Curious Hair ................................................................................93 Lyndon .........................................................................................................96 John Billy ...................................................................................................100 Here and There ...........................................................................................102 My Appearance ..........................................................................................104 Say Never ...................................................................................................109 Everything Green .......................................................................................110 Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way ........................................112 vii Chapter 4 Solipsism and “The Empty Plenum” ..................................................129 Solipsism and Postmodernism ...................................................................129 “The Empty Plenum” .................................................................................134 Defining Morality ......................................................................................148 Chapter 5 Mario Incandenze and the Zen Rhetoric of Infinite Jest ......................13 Suffering in Infinite Jest .............................................................................152 Mario Incandenza .......................................................................................154 Refraction ...................................................................................................161 Heart ...........................................................................................................174 Buddhist Structure in Infinite Jest ..............................................................178 Infinite Jest as Science Fiction ...................................................................180 Freedom from Addiction ............................................................................183 Eschaton .....................................................................................................207 Chapter 6 Art and “The Suffering Channel” .......................................................212 “Federer as Religious Experience” ............................................................212 “The Suffering Channel” ...........................................................................216 Chapter 7 Pale King: Understanding “No-Self” Through Systems Theory .......235 Wallace and Buddhist Awareness ..............................................................235 Dependent Co-Arising and Systems Theory ..............................................241 Pale King’s Dominant Chord .....................................................................245 Chris Fogle and Waking Up ......................................................................247 Direction of Mindfulness in the IRS ..........................................................247 Conclusion ..........................................................................................................259 Problem of Will ..........................................................................................271 Kenyon College Commencement Speech ..................................................274 Drinion and Presence .................................................................................276 Works Cited ........................................................................................................284 viii Chapter 1: Introduction A man's work is nothing but his slow trek to rediscover through the detours of art those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened. ~ Albert Camus