Nowhere do we see a bigger before-and-after contrast of the hippie impact than when looking at mainstream religion in America.
The idealized smiling family of father and sons in suits and ties and mother and daughters in their hats, dresses, and heels – maybe even with gloves – was once a common image with the church and steeple in the background. But that has become a rarity, and even at funerals and weddings the dress is likely to be casual. Intact families are a minority – weekends are often custody matters – and going to church or temple is a low priority.
Before we blame it all on hippies, we need to look at other influences from recent decades, including the elimination of blue laws, and the expansion of weekend job demands and children’s soccer leagues and the like.
Still, I see a few glimmers where the hunger many hippies felt for a spiritual connection has taken hold.
First is the practice of meditation, which is no longer considered exotic. Even health providers are urging people to turn to it daily, maybe not as a religious pursuit but at least for letting go of some of the daily stress.
Second, yoga studios are everywhere. It may not be with the strong spiritual teaching I feel is essential, but it is another way of opening ourselves to inner awareness and peace.
Third is a recognition of the feminine side of the holy, including the Jewish and Christian traditions. For that matter, think of all the women pastors and rabbis now found across the continent. Others will point to Native American, Wiccan, and other teachings with feminine components that now proliferate.
Fourth is a sense that faith is not an obligation, to be performed as a social requirement, but rather a relationship that includes hands-on, sensory experience. As the axiom went, “If it feels good, do it,” extends to religion this way.
As a fifth facet, I’ll point to outdoors encounters with their Transcendentalist streak. God, as you’ll be reminded, can be felt keenly when you’re close to nature.
Look closely and you can see the hippie influence working. There’s a desire for community and caring, on one hand. And the mega-churches with their rock-concert emotions, on the other, as well as the praise songs with their repetitions function more like Hindu chanting (kirtan) than the motets and hymns of Christian tradition.
But there are also examples of shoots gone astray. I keep thinking of Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple and its cyanide-laced Kool-Aid, especially.
As we kept watch in the ashram, the warning was this: “You’re on a false trip.” No matter how exciting it might have felt at the moment, there was always the danger of ego-based excitement rather than a deepening surrender to the Holy One.
For me, then, the most crucial part of the legacy is in having a circle of others committed to the practice, to encourage one another and keep each of us on course, as best we can. This form of discipleship is rather communal, actually – and far from what I saw growing up in the pastor-and-sheep model.
So what are your spiritual encounters these days? And how’s the “inner hippie” responding?
Jnana's Red Barn 
Wow nice observations of the evolution of these past several decades. I wonder if the hippies can get credit or whether it’s simply that they’re more visible than those on the journey in more traditional garb. Consider pioneers like Thomas Merton and Henry David Thoreau.
Of course!
Come to think of it, too, Merton and Thoreau were both found on many hippie bookshelves.
Excellent point. I wonder who the hippies of today are, that we can learn from and be inspired by?
I appreciate your writing, and the thoughtful way you have of inspiring.
Although serious in note, I found fun truth in this! Thank you for the reminders.
Very interesting. As a kid, I never would have dreamed that I would not only be doing yoga, but that it is something everyone should take part in (especially as one ages). The valuable pieces of the hippie era have been embraced by mainstream…it really is fascinating.
It’s funny, the hippie era was pretty much ending by the time I was born into a conservative, middle class, patriarchal, unhippie family, but I would consider myself a hippie at heart (I don’t know how it happened!), in that what they seem from this distance of time to have stood for resonates with me, in the desire for a spiritual connection unfiltered by traditional religion, and the rejection of the prescribed template for a middle class life.
Re spiritual encounters in nature, if humans evolved in conjunction with our environment, it makes sense that when we remove ourselves completely from our ancestral context, as we do so well these days – although I truly appreciate sleeping in my warm, dry bed in my watertight house! – we damage ourselves psychologically, and spiritually. I’m just a pup really, spiritually speaking, but I’d say the most connected I’ve ever felt has been realizing and tuning in to God/the divine in my garden.
Wonderful observations! As I’m arguing, the hippie movement continues, albeit it in many varied streams of focus. Environmental awareness, including gardening, is one of them.
That’s an interesting point – I’ve been wondering what happened to the hippie movement, given where we are today – and what the implications of what happened are for any hope of change in the future! But if they’re underground (like mushrooms), maybe there’s hope 🙂