Taking up Snyder’s circumambulation mantle in the 1990s, English professor and photographer David Robertson led students on excursions of Mt. Tam in the spirit of Snyder, Ginsberg, and Whalen. One chilly March day in 1998, my boyfriend — now husband — and I joined him for the circuitous 14-mile route up, and back down the mountain, stopping to chant the same Buddhist and Hindu spells, sutras, and vows at each of ten pilgrims’ stations that the trio had done in 1965. Robertson’s intent here was to get his UC Davis Wilderness Literature students out of the classroom and into the field. Since the course featured texts by Snyder, a trip to Mt. Tam seemed a good choice.
20世纪90年代，英语系教授、摄影师大卫·罗伯逊（David Robertson）继承了斯奈德绕山行的衣钵，在斯奈德、金斯堡和惠伦精神的指引下，带领着他的学生游览了塔玛佩斯山。在1965年，一个寒冷的三月天，我和我的男朋友（如今的丈夫），加入了罗伯逊，一起绕山14英里，然后下山。在十个朝拜站的每一处，我们都会停下来，吟诵佛教和印度教的佛经、咒文和祷告词，就像1965年斯奈德他们三人所做的那样。罗伯逊此行是为了让他在加州大学戴维斯分校荒野文学专业的学生走出教室，走进原野。由于这门课程以斯奈德的文章为特色，去塔玛佩斯山绕行似乎是个不错的选择。
Tagging along, I trekked through groves of coastal live oak, Douglas fir, Sequoiasempervirens, across grassy hillsides and amid fog scented with peppery California bay laurel. It took all day. And even though I was a strong and avid hiker, it was hard
work. But it was worth every drop of sweat shed to be able to peek into history, retracing the steps and words of the original circumambulators. Still, I wondered: as a non-Buddhist, how did these incantations apply to me? Was it appropriative for us to invoke them? Was it enough that we wanted to learn about them and honor their traditions by performing them? When I asked Robertson, also non-Buddhist, he explained that circumambulating Mt. Tam was a way for him to create meaning for himself in relation to the natural world.
我跟在他们后面一路走着，花了一整天的时间，穿过沿海活橡树、花旗松和红衫，越过草地山坡，跋涉在散发着加州月桂香味中的雾气中。虽然我是一个坚定且狂热的徒步爱好者，但这也是一项艰苦的工作。不过能对历史一探究竟，追溯最初绕行者的脚步和话语，我们流下的每一滴汗水都是值得的。但是我仍然很想知道：我并非一个佛教徒，这些咒语要如何适用于我？我们援引它们是否恰当？通过亲身体验来了解、尊重他们的传统，这样就够了吗？当我问同样不是佛教徒的罗伯逊时，他解释道，绕行塔玛佩斯山是他在与自然的联系中为自己创造意义的一种方式。
