Entries from May 2008 ↓

Boris Purushottama Grebenshikov and members of the International Orchestra.

In 2007, Sri Chinmoy wanted to offer his dear friend Boris Purushottama Grebenshikov the opportunity to play at the Royal Albert Hall. Organised by the UK Sri Chinmoy Centres the concert was a great success and, with the encouragement of Sri Chinmoy, a repeat concert was scheduled for 2008.

Since Sri Chinmoy’s mahasamadhi in October 2007, Purushottama, wished to dedicate this year’s concert to his dear friend and teacher – Sri Chinmoy

Boris Purushottama Grebenshikov in Concert

For this years concert, Boris Purushottama Grebenshikov, was joined by a range of international music stars including: Flautist Brian Finnegan, bodhrán player John Joe Kelly, Sitar player Sheema Mukherjee, and Sarangi player Maria Pomianowska. (See: listing of musicians)

The musicians kindly gave up a big chunk of their time to come together and perform this special concert. Very few of the musicians had played together before; but, they were able to achieve a remarkable degree of musical harmony and intuition in the short space of 2 weeks they had to practice. Even more remarkable was how well the divergent musical styles and traditions merged together, giving a unique performance. The musical styles varied from the classical Indian tradition of Arpan Patel’s harmonium and singing, to the Irish folk music of Brian Finnigan.

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Mount Snowdon, the tallest mountain in Wales, was dedicated as a peace blossom mountain in a ceremony coinciding with the arrival of the World Harmony Run.

The runners were met at the bottom of Mount Snowdon by Mrs Owen of Gwynedd County Council, and Lord Elis Thomas the presiding officer of the Welsh Parliament. The runners then set off up the slopes of Mount Snowdon with others following in a train. There was a light hearted race with the runners trying to beat the train to the top ( which they succeeded in doing)

View from the Top of the Mount Snowdon

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If you can create harmony
In your own life,
This harmony will enter
Into the vast world.

- Sri Chinmoy

• Poems on Harmony at Sri Chinmoy Poetry

On a recent visit to Europe, Ashrita succeeded in breaking two Guinness World Records, despite gaining 7 pounds, (courtesy of Italian ice cream.)

Ashrita’s first record was for the most jumps on a pogo stick in one minute. Ashrita  managed to break the record, completing 256 valid jumps in one minute, adding an extra 12 jumps to the previous record of 234. (This works out at over 4 jumps per second). The record was set to the backdrop of the famous coliseum in Rome.

Ashrita’s second successful attempt was in Munich, at the Impossibility Challenger event. This involved running a sub eight minute mile on stilts.

The Impossibility Challenger event is held annually in Munich and involves a diverse range of feats of self transcendence. Previous challenges have involved, the longest continual laughing, playing music for 24 hours non stop, and riding a bicycle the wrong way. Often the event attracts quite a few Guinness World Record attempts.

For an entertaining read of Ashrita’s battle against impossibility, Italian Gelato and pastries see his own blog entry – Worth the Weight