George Harrison

[Guest guest]

In the conference "media eye" there was today an article about Gearge

Harrison. Here it comes.

 

ys bhn ellen

 

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http://www.ic24.net/mgn/THE_MIRROR/NEWS/P16S1.html

 

The Mirror (Not necessarily a reliable source)

 

GEORGE PLANS TO DIE IN A HOLY INDIAN VILLAGE WHERE HARE KRISHNAS

SAY HE'LL GO TO HEAVEN

 

CANCER-STRICKEN BEATLE PREPARES TO MEET HIS SWEET LORD

PROPPED up in a wheelchair, his gaunt body ravaged by cancer,

George Harrison is close to death - but not afraid.

 

The former Beatle has told friends he hasn't got long to live

after being diagnosed with a brain tumour - the third time he's

been hit by cancer.

 

But he is calm about his final days, thanks to his unshakable

Hare Krishna faith. George has even adopted the life of a Krishna

holy man to try to ensure he goes to heaven.

 

Harrison's biographer, Geoffrey Guiliano, says: "Nine months ago,

he decided not to drink or smoke. He wants to get as close as

possible to the devotee lifestyle. He's also given up meat, eggs

and fish.

 

"He has even made plans to travel to India so he can die in a

holy village and - according to Krishna doctrine - go straight to

heaven."

 

Ex-Beatles producer and old friend George Martin revealed at the

weekend: "He knows he is going to die soon and accepts that.

George is philosophical. He does realise that everybody has got

to die sometime.

 

"He has been near death many times and he has been rescued many

times as well. He is taking it easy and hoping that the thing

will go away. He has an indomitable spirit."

 

George, who had been treated at a private Swiss clinic, flew to

his Hawaiian hideaway home last week after two months of

aggressive radiotherapy treatment. His doctor says he is still

seriously ill.

 

Weak and tired, George spends most of the day in bed taking

instruction from Hare Krishna mentors, visiting the ocean shore

and chanting mantras for at least two hours a day.

 

An on-off devotee of the Hare Krishna movement for more than 30

years, George, 58, takes great comfort from his belief in the

next life, describing this world as "like a raindrop on a lotus

leaf".

 

As he says: "There is no such thing as death, only in the

physical sense."

 

When doctors informed George in March that the cancer he'd fought

twice had spread to his brain, he told his family he didn't want

more treatment. He decided to concentrate on preparing for death,

using what time he had left giving devotion to Krishna.

 

Wife Olivia finally persuaded him to undergo treatment but no

more is planned.

 

Relaxing at his home in Maui, surrounded by spiritual mentors,

George is finally finding contentment.

 

At his side for much of the time is his Hare Krishna tutor,

Shyamasundara Dasa. He has been offering George spiritual

coaching since last summer, spending much of the day chanting and

meditating.

 

Shyamasundara says: "George has achieved a much higher level of

self-realisation than I could ever hope to imagine. He's peaceful

and serene to a degree that is very rare at such a young age."

 

According to Krishna custom, George will spend his final days

surrounded by his "god brothers" - other devotees.

 

As they chant the Hare Krishna mantra at his bedside and drop

water drawn from India's holy rivers in to his mouth, George will

clutch a Shaligram, a sacred black stone, in each hand.

 

The musician has already spoken to devotees at the krisnha

Balarama Temple in India, asking them to be ready to administer

the last rites if he decides to be airlifted there at the last

minute. Biographer Guilliano says: "For a Hare Krishna, the

meeting with God at the moment of death is the most important.

 

"At the moment, George isn't so ill that he's unaware of what's

going on. But obviously, because he has a brain tumour, that

could be a concern in the future.

 

"He may end up in a coma - you just don't know - so he is making

plans to be taken to India if he wants because if he dies in a

certain village, that will absolutely guarantee he will get into

heaven."

 

When George passes away, devotees will put sacred tulsi leaves

under his tongue then wash and dress his body in traditional

Indian cotton robes.

 

Garlands of flowers will be placed around his neck before his

body is cremated to the sound of ancient Vedic hymns. The moving

ceremony will be the end of his life's winding spiritual journey,

taking George from Liverpool to India, via swinging London and

his mansion in genteel Henley.

 

Growing up in a two-up, two-down terrace in Wavertree, his

childhood couldn't have been more removed from the Eastern

devotee lifestyle he adopted as an adult.

 

BAPTISED a Catholic, the family weren't overtly religious but

George was sure there was a God. As a boy, he felt a divine

presence but wasn't sure what it was.

 

He said later: "This feeling would begin to vibrate right through

me and started getting bigger and bigger and faster and faster.

 

"Before I knew what was happening, it was going so fast it was

mind-boggling and I'd come out of it really scared." In 1966, he

met sitar player Ravi Shankar and things changed forever. Through

Ravi, George developed a fascination with Indian culture and

spirituality that shaped his life.

 

He said: "Down through the ages, there has always been a

spiritual path - it has been passed on and it always will be. It

just happens that India was where the seed was planted."

 

By 1967, George and then wife Patti started to meditate regularly

and take an active interest in all things spiritual - spending

time with Hindu yogi, Maharishi Mahesh that summer.

 

In 1969, he was introduced to the Hare Krishna movement when

Shyamasundara Dasa turned up at the Beatles' Apple studio.

 

George was enthralled by his new faith and helped the movement

set up its London base.

 

He said at the time: "I feel at home with Krishna. I think that

there's something that has been there from a previous birth. So

it was like a door opening to me at the time, but it was also

like a jigsaw puzzle."

 

Apple even released a record of the Krishna group's mantra and

the repetitive singing has become a major part of his life.

 

When an intruder attacked George at his Berkshire mansion two

years ago, his first instinct was to shout "Hare Krishna, Hare

Krishna" at him. And on one turbulent plane journey, he calmed

his nerves with chanting.

 

George said: "I once chanted the mantra all the way from France

to Portugal. I drove for about 23 hours and chanted all the way.

It gets you feeling a bit invincible."

 

Sadly, as George now knows only too well, no one is invincible,

 

But with his Hare Krishna faith to guide him, he's feeling strong

enough to face the dark days ahead.