The core figure to mention here is Helena Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society. Formed in 1875 it was massively successful in promoting the East as a source of esoteric wisdom to the point that it actually had some effect on the East itself. For example Henry Steel Olcott is honored in Sri Lanka for his help in reviving buddhism there. It also had some influence on major figures of Indian nationalist movement.

So, this sentiment existed in the west for decades and decades by the time 1960s counterculture arrived.