The Impact of The Beatles
The Beatles, arguably the world’s most popular rock band, played a massively influential role in regards to Hinduism in popular culture. Consisting of four members, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr, the English rock band from Liverpool brought many aspects of Hinduism to their music. The Beatles’ lead guitarist, George Harrison, was solely responsible in shaping the ways the West looked at the spiritual life of Hinduism.
George Harrison was regarded as the individual of the band who was most drawn to the spirituality of the people of India. In 1965, Harrison was first introduced and interested in Indian music when The Beatles were filming their second movie, “Help!” During the filming process, which took place in India, Harrison became interested in the sitar which led to meeting a famous Indian musician, Ravi Shankar. With the help of Shankar, Harrison was led to his infatuation w i t h I n d i a n c u l t u r e a n d H i n d u i s m . T h e B e a t l e s m e m b e r h a s s a i d , “ T h e p e o p l e o f I n d i a h a v e a tremendous spiritual strength which I don 't think is found elsewhere. The spirit of the people, the beauty, the goodnessthat 's what I 've been trying to learn about.” (G reene, n.d)
In an …show more content…
This frenzy overtook the media as the latest pop culture craze. Many of the young Beatles fans soon learned about the teachings of this type of meditation and what it had to offer. The Fab Four were quick to be pinned by the media as “The Beatles’ Guru.” While other stars looked into psychedelics and LSD to “open the doors to higher powers,” Harrison turned to meditation, spiritual literature and looked up to Ravi Shankar for guidance. Goldberg has estimated that during the 70s, the Beatles managed to introduce Transcendental Meditation to more than 2 million
The Beatles, arguably the world’s most popular rock band, played a massively influential role in regards to Hinduism in popular culture. Consisting of four members, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr, the English rock band from Liverpool brought many aspects of Hinduism to their music. The Beatles’ lead guitarist, George Harrison, was solely responsible in shaping the ways the West looked at the spiritual life of Hinduism.
George Harrison was regarded as the individual of the band who was most drawn to the spirituality of the people of India. In 1965, Harrison was first introduced and interested in Indian music when The Beatles were filming their second movie, “Help!” During the filming process, which took place in India, Harrison became interested in the sitar which led to meeting a famous Indian musician, Ravi Shankar. With the help of Shankar, Harrison was led to his infatuation w i t h I n d i a n c u l t u r e a n d H i n d u i s m . T h e B e a t l e s m e m b e r h a s s a i d , “ T h e p e o p l e o f I n d i a h a v e a tremendous spiritual strength which I don 't think is found elsewhere. The spirit of the people, the beauty, the goodnessthat 's what I 've been trying to learn about.” (G reene, n.d)
In an …show more content…
This frenzy overtook the media as the latest pop culture craze. Many of the young Beatles fans soon learned about the teachings of this type of meditation and what it had to offer. The Fab Four were quick to be pinned by the media as “The Beatles’ Guru.” While other stars looked into psychedelics and LSD to “open the doors to higher powers,” Harrison turned to meditation, spiritual literature and looked up to Ravi Shankar for guidance. Goldberg has estimated that during the 70s, the Beatles managed to introduce Transcendental Meditation to more than 2 million