The Beat Generation's Involvement with Eastern Philosophy

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THE BEAT GENERATION’S INVOLVEMENT WITH EASTERN PHILOSOPHY CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………… 1 2. ZEN BUDDHISM…………………………………………………………. 3 3. ZEN BUDHISM AND THE BEAT GENERATION…………………… 4 4. IMPORTANT AUTHORS AND THEIR WORKS……………………... 7 5.1. Jack Kerouac…………………………………………………………. 7 5.2. Gary Snyder…………………………………………………………... 9 5.3. Allen Ginsberg……………………………………………………….. 10 5. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………. 11 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………… 13 THE BEAT GENERATION’S INVOLVEMENT WITH EASTERN PHILOSOPHY Introduction: It was America in the 1950s. In the years immediately after the World War II, there was a fundamental change in the standard of judgment within the society and the culture. Capitalism was dominating the society and people seemed content with this new materialistic life. Yet, it was destroying the human spirit and creativity. This new consumer culture was living according to their parents’ life style and taboos, they were not endeavoring to discover their own personality or change anything in the society to make it more humanistic. People were being drawn into the purposelessness and they were ready to live in a pre-framed life. However, among these people, there was a group of people who never wanted to participate in the “new American way of life”, the Beats .They revolted against the existing order and tried to discover life in subjective experiences, as being detached from the society and taboos. The significant point is that they did not try to change the existing order but lived their own way. They showed their rebellion against conformity through their arts, especially through the literature. To be more precise, the Beat Generation was cultural and literary

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