Sam Hamill contradicts my latest post. Doing some early morning Googling I found this Sam Hamill interview. In it he contradicts my idea that poetry is not in-and-of-itself a legitimate "Way," but, instead, needs to be coupled with serious Buddhist study and meditation practice. Here's his quote:

"We have this year's pop stars and this year's Poet Laureate, and this year's Pulitzer prize winner. But none of that means anything to the art and practice of poetry, which insists upon the long view of things that requires a certain humility before the task at hand. Only an ego-maniac would “write for posterity.” So I try to make my art from humble origins and humble daily practice, nevertheless believing completely that the path of poetry is one of the ten thousand paths to the Buddha, and that the practice of poetry itself is entirely sufficient in and of itself. I am a tireless student of the Way of Poetry. I've always loved Gary Snyder's remark, “As a poet, I hold the most archaic values on earth.” I share such convictions as they become both my tradition and my legacy."