Daniel Kalinowski
Studia Religiologica, Volume 49 Issue 3, 2016, pp. 287 - 303
https://doi.org/10.4467/20844077SR.16.020.5878The article provides a description of Polish musicians active today who have marked their work with their relationship with Buddhism (Tomek Lipiński, Tymon Tymański, Robert Brylewski, Maciej Magura Góralski). By examining interviews with them, their recollections and autobiographies I was able to conclude that their fascination with Buddhism are as much personal as belonging to the style of behaviours developed as early as the 1960s in the USA (the Beatnik generation). Owing to the peculiarities of Polish rock music and musicians’ involvement in various types of cultural actions alternative to the European tradition, since the 1990s Buddhist motifs have been increasingly evident on the rock scene. Today’s Polish Buddhist rock star is a socially engaged artist who does not shirk making confessional avowals on stage to audiences numbering many thousands or holding forth on spirituality in high-circulation publications featuring extended interviews. The Buddhism espoused by Polish rock stars is characterised by the space of freedom of beliefs and private spirituality. At the same time, though, it is a religious act of maturity, in which one searches for a way to experience everyday life to its fullest.