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'''Irwin Allen Ginsberg''' ([[June 3]], [[1926]] – [[April 5]] [[1997]]) was an [[United States|American]] [[Beat poet]] born in [[Paterson, New Jersey]]. He formed a bridge between the Beat movement of the [[1950s]] and the [[hippies]] of the [[1960s]], befriending, among others, [[Jack Kerouac]], [[Neal Cassady]], [[William S. Burroughs]], [[Timothy Leary]], [[Gregory Corso]], [[Bob Kaufman]], [[Herbert Huncke]], [[Rod McKuen]], and [[Bob Dylan]].
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In his writing and in his life Ginsberg strove for freedom and authenticity. Many of his poems are extremely honest and direct. For example, in "Kaddish" he describes his mother's madness in unflinching terms. In "Many Loves" he describes his first sexual contact with [[Neal Cassady]], a lover and friend. Some of his later poems focus on his relationship with [[Peter Orlovsky]], his lifetime lover to whom he dedicated ''Kaddish and Other Poems.''
His spiritual journey began early on with spontaneous visions, and continued with an early trip to [[India]] and a chance encounter on a New York City street (they both tried to catch the same cab) with Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, a [[Tibetan Buddhist]] meditation master of the [[Vajrayana]] school, who became his friend and life-long teacher. The famous indian writer and poet [[Sunil Gangopadhyay]] is one of his Indian friends. Sunil mentioned about Ginsberg in his book "Chhobir Deshe Kobitar Deshe"(Country of Pictures and Poetry).
In his political life he was an [[iconoclast]], using his wit and humor to militate for the cause of others' personal freedom, often at significant risk to himself.
In [[1994]], when the [[International Lesbian and Gay Association]] successfully banished all connections to the [[North American Man-Boy Love Association]] in order to gain consultative status in the United Nations, Ginsberg opposed (together with modern gay rights founder [[Harry Hay]]). He said that he supported NAMBLA's right to [[free speech]] because the hysteria over [[pederasty]] reminded him of the hysteria over homosexuality itself while he was growing up.
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