About George Harrison

[Guest guest]

"Goloka Candra dasa JPS"

[imnews] George Harrison the Hare Krishna

Sat, 1 Dec 2001 04:44:35 +0800

 

Wealth and fame 'were never enough'

(Filed: 30/11/2001 on website of British newspaper The

Daily Telegraph)

 

GEORGE HARRISON might have been part of the world's

most famous pop group, but he made up for the

over-exposure of his early years by fiercely

protecting his private life in the post-Beatles

period.

 

Harrison found solace in Hare Krishna. He often said

that he did not seek fame or riches, and it was the

pursuit of his own space - and something more - which

led to his interest in Far Eastern religion.

 

For much of his life Harrison has been a devotee of

Hare Krishna - an interest which was emphasised last

year at the trial of Michael Abram, when it emerged

that the star had shouted a mantra at his attacker.

 

The ex-Beatle told the trial: "[Abram] stopped in the

centre of the kitchen and started shouting and

screaming. I made a decision to shout back at him.

I shouted at him `Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna'."

His attacker was indeed confused - so much so that he

thought the musician was speaking "in the devil's

tongue", and redoubled his assault.

 

For Krishna followers, the chant is a core principle

of their beliefs. The mantra is supposed to cleanse

the mind and free devotees from their anxiety and

illusions in their worship of Krishna, the supreme

being.

 

Harrison himself said he chanted Hare Krishna

continuously for 23 hours while driving from France to

Portugal. "It gets you feeling a bit invincible," he

said of his mammoth chanting session. He once claimed

the mantra had saved him as he took a nightmare plane

journey during an electrical storm.

 

In the Beatles Anthology, Harrison reflected on his

search for religion saying: "When you've had all the

experiences - met all the famous people, made some

money, toured the world and got all the acclaim - you

still think `is that it?'.

 

"Some people might be satisfied with that, but I

wasn't and I'm still not." He developed an interest in

India after meeting the renowned musician Ravi

Shankar, reputedly at a party hosted by actor Peter

Sellers. Harrison told Shankar he wanted to learn to

play the sitar. He was invited to India to study the

instrument, and agreed to stay for six weeks.

 

He and his then wife, Patti Boyd, flew to Bombay and

checked into the Taj Mahal hotel under a false name,

after he had, on Shankar's advice, cut his hair and

grown a moustache.

 

During his stay, during which he visited Kashmir and

Varanasi, he learned basic sitar techniques and met

the master musician's disciples. His studies and the

country had a deep effect on his music and his

beliefs. Boyd also became fascinated and attended a

lecture on spiritual regeneration in London.

 

She later convinced Harrison, Paul McCartney and John

Lennon to attend a 1967 appearance by spiritual guru

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the Park Lane Hilton.

The band subsequently had a private audience at which

he invited them to a ten-day course on his

Transcendental Meditation technique in Bangor, north

Wales, and also for a three-month stint at his ashram

in Rishikesh, India.

 

But the Maharishi's relationship as their spiritual

guru was short-lived. After allegations about his

conduct, the group left the ashram.

 

Shortly afterwards, Harrison developed an interest in

the Krishna movement. He met its founder, A C

Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, when he became a

house guest of the Lennons in 1969.

 

Harrison once reflected: "I always felt at home with

Krishna. You see it was already a part of me. I think

it's something that's been with me from my previous

birth."

 

He showed his devotion to the sect on his post-Beatles

hit My Sweet Lord, in which parts of the mantra are

repeated.

 

Shankar's friendship with Harrison led to the pair

working together on their fund-raising extravaganza

The Concert For Bangla Desh.

 

The idea was to raise cash to ease the humanitarian

disaster unfolding in the east of the Indian

sub-continent, where a military crackdown had been

ordered in East Pakistan, causing 10 million refugees

to spill over the border.

 

Harrison convinced Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Bob

Dylan to perform at the show, in Madison Square

Gardens, New York.

 

The event, on August 1, 1971, raised 243,418 dollars

for the United Nations Children's Fund to help

youngsters in Bangladesh.

 

>-

>"Goloka Candra dasa JPS"

>;

>Cc:

>Saturday, 01 December 2001 04:14

>A devotee passes on...

>

>

> > "He left this world as he lived in it, conscious

of God, fearless of

>death,

> > and at peace, surrounded by family and friends. He

often said, 'Everything

> > else can wait but the search for God cannot wait,

and love one another,'"

> > his family said in a statement.

> > Harrison died at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at a friend's

Los Angeles home

>following

> > a battle with cancer, family friend Gavin de

Becker said in statement

> > released to The Associated Press.

> >

> > "I am devastated and very very sad," former

bandmate Paul McCartney told

>the

> > BBC in London. "I remember all the beautiful times

we had together and I'd

> > like to remember him like that, because I know he

would like to be

> > remembered like that."

> >

> > Sir Paul McCartney has spoken to George Harrison's

wife Olivia about the

> > moment his friend died.

> >

> >

> >

> > He said his death was a "great blessing" and a

"very peaceful golden

> > moment".

> >

> > Sir Paul added that he knew Harrison had been ill

for some time and he was

> > "praying for a miracle".

> >

> > The pair lived in the same area when they were

young and grew up together.

> >

> > Sir Paul said: "He was a lovely, lovely man. We

know he's been ill for a

> > while and we've just praying been for some kind of

miracle.

> >

> > "It wasn't to be, but I understand from his wife

that he went peacefully

> > which is a great blessing and it was a very

peaceful golden moment

> > apparently."

> >

> > He added: "I will just miss him but rather than

just dwell on the sadness,

> > I'm tending to start remembering all the silly

little stories of where we

> > went, all the things we did, and the laughs we had

together.

> >

> > "He was a very lovely man who didn't suffer fools

gladly and didn't like

> > interferences in his private life.

> >

> > "He was a great man, a loving man, and I would

like to ask people,

> > particularly the media, to be very kind to Olivia

and Dhani at the moment

> > and to try and support them this time, because

they need support."

> >

> > Asked to remember the best times they had

together, Sir Paul said: "These

> > are kind of private stories so I didn't really

want to go (into them). I'm

> > like George - I don't like to get telling every

private story in the

>media.

> > Suffice to say that we had a lot of laughs

together and he was a beautiful

> > man, he was like my baby brother to me. I'll miss

him dearly but I'll

> > remember the great times we had."

> >

> >

>

 

 

 

 

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