Why did Zen become popular among Beat movement writers and artists in the United States?

The Beat movement embraced Zen primarily as a source of inspiration and a means of protest against the perceived joylessness and conformity of postwar American society.123

Several factors contributed to this appeal:

• Cultural Influence: Following World War II, the writings of D.T. Suzuki became widely available in the United States. Suzuki interpreted Zen as a universal, nondualistic experience that allowed individuals to break through logical boundaries, which resonated with youths and ex-servicemen seeking alternatives to traditional Western structures.14
• Spiritual and Artistic Alignment: Beats sought "purification and illumination" through heightened sensory awareness. They viewed Zen practices as a path to achieving this state, often conflating the concept with spontaneity, free-form activity, and the immediacy of lived experience.12
• Rejection of "Square" Society: By adopting Zen, the Beats expressed their alienation from conventional, or "square," society. They valued the discipline and perceived "beatific" spirituality of Zen as a counterpoint to the purposelessness they identified in modern life.23

Ultimately, the Beats utilized Zen to justify both their withdrawal from mainstream culture and their pursuit of a more authentic, uninhibited way of life.23