The Spiritual Imagination of the Beats

The Spiritual Imagination of the Beats is the first comprehensive study to explore the role of esoteric, occult, magical, theosophical, Gnostic, Hindu and Buddhist traditions in the work of eleven major Beat authors. The opening chapter discusses Kenneth Rexroth and Robert Duncan as predecessors and important influences on the spiritual orientation of the Beats. David Stephen Calonne draws comparisons throughout the book between the various approaches towards spiritual matters of individual Beat writers - for example, Burroughs registered significant objections to Buddhism, while Ginsberg and Kerouac devoted considerable time to studying Buddhist history and texts. This book also focuses on authors who have often been neglected in Beat studies - Diane di Prima, Bob Kaufman and Philip Whalen. In addition, several understudied works such as Gregory Corso's 'The Geometric Poem' are given close attention. Calonne also introduces important themes from the history of heterodox spirituality - Manicheanism, alchemy and Tarot - and demonstrates how inextricably these ideas shaped the Beat literary imagination.