Eastern Religion and U.S. Pop Culture

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how "Eastern religion," also alluded to as "Eastern mysticism" and "mysticism" and the occult, along with magic and its many off-shoots, have had a considerable influence on American pop culture over the past few decades. It looks at how movies, books, and music all have been touched and enhanced by mysticism and its cousins.

Outline
Introduction to Eastern Religion, Eastern Mysticism and Magic
The Beatles and Transcendental Meditation: Rock Superstars Dipping into an Ancient Mysticism to find Peace in a World Drenched in Chaos and Materialism
Martin Scorsese and Eastern Mysticism
Harry Potter's Magic as a Mystical Force in Pop Culture

From the Paper:

"For many people who came of age and got into rock music in the 1960s and 1970s, and perhaps smoked some marijuana and even experimented with LSD, their interest in eastern religion and mysticism began with the Beatles' fascination with "and association with" the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It was John Lennon and George Harrison, in particular, who embraced the Maharishi in the late 1970s and early 1980s, in the town of Rishikesh, deep in the Himalayan foothills of northern India. The media clamored for photos of the Beatles hanging out and drinking in the good vibes of this holy man in white robes who preached peace through self-awareness and higher consciousness through meditation."

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