bestows the shaman with his mysterious gradient
(Beckett, 2012). Kaufman longed for this and
sought it through Jazz. David Meltzer also sought
something of similar translucence. Dale Smith
praises him for his "improvisational charm and
gnostic vision" (Beckett, 2012). What Kaufman
seeks though Jazz, Meltzer seeks through Raga.
Raga is of classical Indian origin and is understood
as “improvisation within constraints” (Beckett,
2012). In Sanskrit, it literally means "what colours
the mind". Both Kaufman and Meltzer seek
thrilled shamanic ecstasy and spiritual
transfiguration in exquisite forms through a
musical medium. This medium is their hypnogogic
transistor of the axis mundi which bridges the self
and the shamanic realm of souls.
XX
Leroi Jones went from "Beat-Black nationalist-
Communist" throughout his writing career.
However, as he states "I was always, from the first
poem that I ever printed, concerned with national
oppression, what it did to me mentally,
spiritually, what it turned people,
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