Abichal, the Ball & Stonehenge

[Guest guest]

"Actually, I almost didn’t make it to the record attempt. The folks in

charge at Stonehenge were extremely kind and set up the ball and the

official witnesses in a spot just off to the side of the historic

monument. The news agency, Reuters, sent a reporter and a cameraman

to record the event and, as I made my way along the designated paths

to join everyone at the record venue, I realized I could take a

shortcut by cutting diagonally across the grass. I hopped over the

ropes and began jogging, unaware that I was precariously close to the

famous stones. A woman security guard immediately shouted at me to

stop but I ignored her, thinking she would figure out where I was

headed. That made her even more upset and she yelled “ Stop, or

else!” I was about to make a sprint for the ball, but my better

judgement prevailed, which is fortunate, because when she finally

caught up with me she was furious. She said she would let me go this

time, but if I ever pulled a stunt like that again, I would be

vigorously “tossed out on my ear.” Like a chastened school child, I

meekly apologized and sheepishly took the long route over to the

record site. Later, during the attempt, the guard came over and

recognized me as the fellow she had almost ejected. When one of my

friends said, “Oh, that’s nothing new, Ashrita once got arrested

after scaling the Great Pyramid in Egypt,” she replied, “Why am I not

surprised?”

Anyway, after a short meditation in which I tried to compose myself

and identify with my spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy, I finally stood

up on the bright yellow ball and began the battle with the brisk wind

and my mind. I thought of an old Zen story in which two monks are

observing a flag fluttering in the wind. The first monk says, “Look,

the flag is moving.” The second monk replies, “No, the wind is

moving.” Finally, the Zen Master comes by and after hearing the two

sides proclaims, “You are both wrong, it is the mind that is moving.”

In my case, the trick to staying balanced on the ball is to keep my

mind from moving, to keep it one-pointed and still. So I struggled to

keep out all thoughts: of failure, of the vulnerable bicycle tube

patch, of the possibility of rain, of moving flags, etc. As I got

inwardly balanced, the outer balance naturally followed. I began to

think that the record wouldn’t be as difficult as I imagined but, at

that very moment, the arch of my right foot started killing me.

It is not unusual for my feet to ache during the ball balancing

because a great deal of the stabilizing comes from adjustments made

by the small muscles of the feet. However, it normally doesn’t get

uncomfortable until about 45 minutes into the event. I had only been

balancing for 15 minutes and, since the old record was 2 hours 10

minutes and 57 seconds, that meant I had almost 2 more hours to go.

Yikes! But, once again, I calmed my mind and for the next hour and a

half took in the peace and beauty of the surrounding English

countryside. With 20 minutes left to reach the record my legs began

shaking. I intensified my prayers and concentration but I could still

hear the tourist who yelled out, “Hey, don’t fall off!” With only two

minutes to go, I almost lost my balance but barely hung on to finally

hear the delightful words of the official timekeeper, “Ladies and

gentlemen, you have just witnessed a new Guinness world record.”

Once the record was broken I relaxed a bit, probably too much. The

Reuters cameraman wanted to catch the ending but he had to change the

videotape so I joked that I wouldn’t fall off until he was ready. A

few minutes later (after the new videotape was in), I unexpectedly

toppled off the ball onto the grass. The official time was 2 hours 16

minutes and 2 seconds. I was filled with gratitude to my spiritual

teacher for his inspiration and positive energy and was thrilled to

have had such an uplifting experience (no pun intended!) at

Stonehenge. When my friend Bipin congratulated me, he suggested,

“Hey, I have an idea for the next challenge ? how about trying the

glass balancing record at the Leaning Tower of Pisa?” It’s a funny

thing, ever since that moment, I just can’t seem to get that famous

tilted tower out of my head!"

~Abichal

http://www.abichal.com/html/News.htm

Love,

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