The poem was

Be like a child,
Act like a child.
Go from one flower to another
In your heart-garden
Until you find complete joy
And perfect satisfaction.

- Sri Chinmoy

The poem was from the new book “Jewels of Happiness” written by Sri Chinmoy. The 146 languages ranged from Bengali and Maori to Newari and Zulu, “Be Like a Child” was expressed with some of the most unusual and charming communication sounds in the globe.

Ashrita Furman has been setting Guinness World Records since 1979 and has broken 299 Guinness World Records on all seven continents.

Ashrita – stilt walking in a record attempt for fastest 100m on stilts.

Read: ‘Discovering Global Harmony’ – Ashrita’s recent record attempts – including longest time standing on a rolling globe barefoot – over 40 minutes

“….Back to the record attempt. The time flew by. When Steve called out, “40 minutes”, I suddenly remembered that there were only 4 minutes of tape left. Vinaya made a frantic search for another video camera and tape but, amidst all the hubbub, I lost my concentration and fell off the ball with only a few seconds left on the tape. It didn’t matter. I was elated and so grateful to have been blessed with such a powerful experience of self-transcendence….” – from Ashrita’s blog

World's Largest Lollipop - Photo by Jowan Gauthier

The 6,706 pound (3041 kg) lollipop is 10 feet (3 m) in diameter and 10 inches (25 cm) thick. The huge red candy is made of sugar and corn syrup, which was melted in hundred 100-gallon (380 litre) pots. Including the stick it has the height of 25 feet (7.50 m). This size ensures Ashrita Furman a new entry into the Guinness Book, because the previous largest lollipop was 4,759 pounds (2158 kg).

To put it in perspective this single lollipop would be the equivalent of 165,070 regular-sized lollipops!

Ashrita at work - Photo by Jowan Gauther

Created in his Queens, New York neighborhood, the giant lollipop was hoisted into the air briefly on Sri Chinmoy’s birth anniversary, August 27th, 2009.  Onlookers included some of the 1,500 visitors from 50 countries gathered in New York to observe Sri Chinmoy’s birth anniversary. The lollipop’s colourful happy birthday message to Sri Chinmoy together with a reproduction of one of Sri Chinmoy’s soul bird drawings came into view as the lollipop lifted into the air.

In honour of Sri Chinmoy’s birthday, Ashrita dedicated the record to the late philosopher, poet and athlete who inspired him and humanity with his weightlifting world records and the World Harmony Run. “We know Sri Chinmoy for his compassion, kindness and sweetness and for that reason we are celebrating his birthday by making the largest lollipop,” commented Ashrita.

Airborne - Photo by Sharani Robins

Ashrita has set Guinness World Records on Sri Chinmoy’s birthday on several occasions. In 2005 and 2008, he set a record for the most lit candles on a cake. In 2007, he dedicated the world’s largest pencil to Sri Chinmoy. 2006 saw the creation of the largest popcorn sculpture and in 2004 he set a record for the largest flower bouquet.

Recent records include, most M&Ms (40) eaten in one minute with chopsticks, record for poem translated into the most languages (111) and fastest skipping mile.

Ashrita credits his record breaking capacity to studying meditation under the tutelage of his spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy.

Related Articles

Record Breaker - article in Daily Telegraph

A Day in the Life – article at New York Times

After Successful Record Attempt for Reciting Poem in Different Languages

Ashrita Furman recently set an impressive landmark for setting his 100th simultaneous Guiness World Record. Over the past 30 years, Ashrita has been fascinated with Guinness world Records and has set over 230 official Guinness Records. With his recent record attempt he now has 100 current Guinness records.

The Record was set in City Hall Park in Manhattan on April 14th. It was the record for reciting a poem in the most number of languages. The previous record was 79 languages, but, with help from friends in the Sri Chinmoy Centre, Ashrita set a new record of 111 languages. Ashrita read the Poem, Precious Beyond Measure, in Zulu. Speaking of the record, Ashrita said:

“It was fun learning about many of these languages – quite a few I never even heard of,”

Councilman, Jimmy Genero spoke about the record and said how appropriate it was to set the record in New York, which is renowned for its cultural diversity.

• www.ashrita.com
• Record at New York Daily News
• Ashrita’s Record at Sharani.org
• Guinesss Record at Inspiring News

Ashrita talks about his Guiness Record breaking journey and what helps him break over 221 records -

“….After breaking the ice by jumping on a pogo stick while jumping rope, Furman discussed how he transformed from the nerd to one of the most versatile athletes today.

The son of a successful attorney growing up in Kew Gardens Hills, Furman came to the realization that there was more to life than having a nice family and a big house. He started studying eastern philosophy and began meditating on his own, but shortly met up with Chinmoy. Their idea of meditating originally clashed. Furman wanted to go into a cave and drink strange teas, while Chinmoy was a strong advocate of physical activity….”

Prayers and Pogo Sticks at Queens Chronicle.

Also new design for Ashrita.com

Ashrita Furman set two new Guinness World Records in Edinburgh taking his number of current world records to 88.

The 54-year-old – managed to catch 51 malteasers in one minute – smashing the previous entry of 41 To make the record more fun, Ashrita decided to strap a Maltese dog to his back. The idea was to attempt the record by the statue of Bobby at Greyfriars. But, the lcey condition meant Ashrita’s helper was too cold throwing the maltesers, so the record was set inside a sports hall. Ashrita said, the key to breaking this record and the grape record was the power of concentration.

A couple of years ago, Ashrita set record for the most pogo stick jumps by Bobbys Greyfriar in Edinburgh. – Honouring Bobby Greyfriar at Ashrita.com

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

Ashrita Furman of Queens, New York set a new Guinness world record for pushing a car. The previous record was 12 miles, but Ashrita managed to increase the distance to 17 miles.

Ashrita pushing a Ford Festiva along Old Bridge Township Raceway Park on March 6th.
Source of photo and article on Ashrita’s record.

Ashrita has currently 80 Guiness world records and has broken over 180 records since he stated breaking records in the 1970s.

Ashrita credits his ability to set new records due to teaching meditation under the tutelage of his spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy. In particular it is a philosophy of self-transcendence that encourages Ashrita to try and transcend limits – both mental and physical.

Ashrita’s record attempts are not always successful; for every successful record there are near misses and failed attempts. In his latest blog post, Ashrita recounts an interesting experience with Tabasco sauce. – Humility comes in a small bottle

The Guiness Record Breaking pencil was built to honour Sri Chinmoy’s 76th birthday

The Pencil has been lying in Jamaica, Queens, but has now found a home at a museum in St Louis.

The pencil is so large it showed up on satellite screens, prompting a visit by local police officers; they were relieved to find it was a giant pencil, rather than a missile!

Bob Cassilly, the founder of the St Louis City Museum said he was happy to take the unusual pencil. He said: “We’re sort of like opportunists and we don’t have a plan, the museum just grows organically by whatever goes our way.”

The pencil had to be cut in half to be transported