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Dont worry, be happy. This phrase for the most part summed up the philosophy of the hippie culture. People were to love each other, and there was happiness and bliss. The hippie philosophy, though, didnt just create itself. The hippie movement was revolutionized by Eastern influence in the areas of spirituality, music, theater, art, and drugs.
The views of the East made the hippie culture more than just a small group of extremists. The power of the philosophy made the movement a revolution. In order to understand the role Eastern philosophy played in the hippie culture, one must first have background in the gurus and teachers of the East. Gurus are individuals who teach the world about their spiritual way of life. Meher Baba was one of many gurus who had a large following in the United States in the sixties.
He preached about Eastern philosophy and was popularized with influential quotes such as Dont worry, be happy. He was one of the first people to bring Hinduism to a large group of Americans, although was a man of few words. 1920 through 1968, Meher Baba didnt say one word, yet maintained thousands of followers (Bhairava p. 210). He took a vow of silence, claiming that words and speech was a way of expressing lack of thought. (Bhairava p. 213) Other gurus who were influential in the Aquarian movement were Swami Satchadananda and Sri Satya Sai Baba. Satchadananda came to the United States often, and was popular with many musical groups in the 60 's such as The Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, The Police (Sting in particular) and Sweet Water (Kamenetz p. 44). Sai Baba was another guru with many American followers, although he never left India. He had artists, such as George Harrison, go and see him.
Sai Baba became most popular for his manifestation of objects out of thin air (Krystal p. 32). Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was among the most popular of the gurus in the 60 's. He was the founder of a practice called transcendental meditation. He brought his new medical philosophy to the United States, claiming that meditation could heal the body.
Thousands of American hippies experimented with meditation after hearing his teachings. LSD was one of the catalysts for the flower children's turning toward meditation (Lee p. 96) George Harrison was a strong follower of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and talked a lot about his teachings during concerts and interviews (Lee p. 102). Because of the extreme popularity of The Beatles, George Harrison's ideas influenced many people, and brought more followers to Indian philosophers. Without the guidance of Indian gurus, the actions of many hippies would be viewed as reckless rather than spiritual.
These leaders portrayed a new way of life rather than a new way to party. This could have perhaps influenced those who were not part of the hippie revolution to take its ideas more seriously because the reasons for the hippies actions were based on intellectual beliefs. Music had a large influence on the beliefs of the hippie culture, and was one of the best ways to protest the issues (war, hate, conformance, violence, etc. ) that people felt were wrong with the country. The 60 s rock and roll era caused more people to listen to the protest; it appealed to young and old alike. along with all different types of people.
There was a tremendous Eastern influence on the music of the 60 's. Many of the words of the songs written were preaching Eastern philosophy in some way. The best example of a musical group being influenced by the East is The Beatles. They sang songs such as Hare Krishna (the mantra of the Hare Krishna movement) in concerts and was recorded by George Harrison on an album of his. They would sometimes start out their concerts with this chant in order to help the audience become more receptive to their music (Pulomby p. 7). Songs such as Let It Be had messages very similar to the teachings of Indian gurus such as Swami Muktananda, who would say Let life flow.
Just let it be, and learn from what you dont know. (Muktananda p. 55) Other songs such as Tell Me What You Seehave lines such as Open Up you eyes. Tell me what you see. What you see is free. This line is almost exactly the same philosophy as that of Sai Baba. He worded the phrase like this; If you open your eyes to the world, you will see that we are all truly free. Some of The Beatles songs took on tunes similar to those of the East.
They used instruments in their music such as dotard and khama, both of which are native to Indian music (Pulomby p. 7). Artists such as Ravi Shankar, an Indian sitar player, played with The Beatles in some of their concerts. The music used ragas (Indian scales) that were native to that of India (Grill). The Beatles were not the only musical group whose art was influenced by the east. Its A Beautiful Day is another group who recorded music similar to that of the east. They wrote songs such as Bombay Calling.
The song included instruments such as gourd, tambourine, sitar, npr, and dotard (Pulomby p. 4), all of which were originally from Indian music. Ravi Shankar was another influential musician in bringing eastern culture to the hippie culture. His city playing brought Indian music to an audience that had never heard music so ethnically diverse. He was asked to play in concerts all over the United States, and his music affected many flower children. He played with acid rock bands in the sixties, and brought a new type of music to the popular world. This brought about a small musical revolution, showing musicians that rock and roll could be more than just noisy screams; it could be ethnic and eccentric.
A very famous musical called Hair was on Broadway during the sixties. The musical brought tunes to the legitimate stage that were never heard before. It was an anti-war story; all about hippies and Hare Krishna, and the fight against the Vietnam War. Many people were shocked to see a musical with so much eccentricity. At first most critics hated the musical, and the response from the most of the public was negative. People said it was too radical and the music didnt show the skill level that should be performed on Broadway.
Soon, though, people began to look at the musical as a new way to look at the Vietnam War. This changed a lot of peoples view on what the hippies were fighting for. More people were able to see that the hippie movement was more than just a big party; they were fighting for freedom and peace, both of which were always thought of as noble causes. This was turning into a revolution; a rebellion against the so-called fascist government. Many right wingers were afraid of the affect the musical might have on the public, so they tried to ban it. They took it to court saying it was too crude and should not b...
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