This paper surveys how three poets—a Romantic, a Modernist, and a Postmodernist—depict transformations of consciousness in cyclical poems. Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is an allegory of the poet's temporal subjective consciousness metamorphosing into an eternal subject position. Eliot's "Four Quartets" exemplifies a Modernist ironic vision of unity achieved through a religio-aesthetic meta-narrative. Breytenbach's "The Undanced Dance" prison poetry volumes adopt an Einsteinian time-space form of relations, luring readers into postmodern quantum consciousness.
The article argues that the Buddhist concept of selflessness is central to the art and writing of Breyten Breytenbach. It contrasts this idea with Western philosophical traditions and analyzes it within Buddhist experiences such as Sunyata, Satori, Zazen, and Taoist relativity. The author addresses a need identified in discussions with colleagues and students: while Zen Buddhism is accepted as a primary intertext in Breytenbach's work, references to concepts like Satori and the Void are often used without clarifying how Buddhist philosophy pertains to the creative process itself. The article suggests that understanding Buddhist principles can elucidate the nature of Breytenbach's oeuvre and the creative experience, rather than treating Buddhist terminology as a mere plot device or moralistic framing.