As much as I – Hector Diego admire the wit of John Lennon, it seems that George Harrison was the one with wisdom. So when someone asks me, “Who is your favorite Beatle?” I invariably say George. Lennon is on record for admiring George’s spirituality, something for which Lennon longed but was always a bit too cynical to grasp. Not that George was a naive lackey! Rather, in George we see the classic spiritual biography reflected in the world’s great religions: a very accomplished person enjoys the world to the hilt, but is deeply unsatisfied; “surely there must be more to life.”
Both John and George believed in reincarnation, but John, with his basic orientation towards socially active Buddhism, could not commit to any spiritual path that emphasized liberation from this cycle of reincarnation. George, on the other hand, saw the world as a place that is not our home; a place meant to educate us so that we could return to our original nature and position in a spiritual world. In other words, George was very comfortable with traditional Hinduism, as those Hindus who knew him have observed. So many different Hindu organizations of varying flavors claim George Harrison as one of them that surely, here was a man who loved much and who was loved much. Sriman Bhakta George Harrison is the Beatle I love the most.
Did you know that Harrison’s Something was actually written about Lord Krishna? George changed he to she in that song so that people would not misunderstand what he was trying to say. Unfortunately I believe it is just taken as a beautiful piece of music. And Here Comes the Sun was George’s way of singing about how his meditation on Krishna had cleared up some very dark periods in his life. Here Comes the Sun, says George Martin, was one of George’s best, and it is probably my favorite Beatles song. It certainly ages well.
Check out the bead necklace George is wearing in the photo above. All devotees of Krishna wear these beads, made from the sacred tulasi tree (sacred basil, ocimum sanctum).
For more about George’s spirituality, see http://herecomesthesunbook.blogspot.com/
Here’s a live version of George performing Here Comes the Sun.
Nice vido clip from the “Concert for Bangladesh” in Madison Square Garden in 1974(?). That evoked my youngster’s years! It would have been nice too had you placed the “My Sweet Lord” clip from the same concert… It has the Holy Names in it…
“Sriman Bhakta” is nice and all but Harrison himself said that the song was written about Ray Charles, despite others believing it was about his wife. How far will people go in proving his sainthood and dovetailing his lyrics and life to fit their own ideals?
Thanks for your admiration of Bhakta George, Hector. Srila Prabhupada stated that a Vaisnava is one who glorifies the sevice of another Vaisnava, and alwas sees their “serving side”. You said : “Lennon is on record for admiring George’s spirituality”. John is quoted as saying that when “My Sweet Lord” was released, everytime he turned on the radio, it was playing, so he was beginning to think that a God actually did exist.
Regarding the song “Something”, the lyric – “attracts me like no other lover” – is a direct reference to Krishna, the All-Attractive One. In one inteview, George explained that he had to make the subject of the song a “she” or everyone would have thought of George as a “poof”, a Bitish slang term for a Gay person.
After the album Abbey Road containg HERE COMES THE SUN came out, a godbother named Kulashekar prabhhu was speaking with George, and George asked him; “Did you hear the song ‘Here Comes The Sun’??” “Yeh, it’s great!” “You know it’s about you guys don’t you?”
Im sorry that Shambhu is too cynical to appreciate the Krsna consciousness of George, and all he did , and continues to do, to bring Lord Krsna’s name into the households of millions of people. We don’t need to “dovetail his lyrics to fit our Krsna conscious ideals. They easily speak for themselves , with numeous references to glorifying Lord Krsna.
When George Harrison wrote ” Something” he commented that he wrote it for Ray Charles to record, not that its about Ray Charles. Can you possibly interpret those lyrics in any way to be about Ray Charles? Syamasundara said that George personally told him it was about Krishna. I take his word for it. The lyrics certainly seem to fit when you change the pronoun. The question I have is how far will some people go to to show that devotees are blindly idealistic in order to push their own perceptions and prejudices?
Jaya Rajah Hari’s son !
Quoting from the book “Dark Horse”, by Geoffrey Giuliano, independent biographer of the Beatles;
Srila Prabhupada; “Whatever George’s activites in this life, whether pious or impious, because of his great assistance to this movement he will be elevated to the highest platform of transcendental consciousness and allowed entrance into the Lord’s eternal abode of Goloka Vrndavana”.
Just see the extraordinary mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krsna! Srila Prabhupada
extended the greatest benediction possible to this servant of Radha and Krsna. We ourselves can hope against hope that the Lord will have similar mercy upon us at the time of our own passing. To this end , we must serve sincerely and with determination, despite any bad publicity or the consternation of others.
And in regards to John Lennon; “As Lennon was wheeled into the emergency room of Roosevelt hospital the night iof the shooting, the blood soaked stretcher was left for a moment while the staff prepared a special room in which to work on the mortally wounded singer. Among the other patients in the award that evening was a young father and his slightly injured toddler son. Gruesome as the sight of the gasping fading man on the gurney was, several patients recognized him. Slowly rising to this feet, the young fahter dropped hi son’s hand, stepped up to Lennon and softly began to chant “Hare Krishan” into his ear. Just then the hospital staff pushed him out of the way in a vain attempt to resuscitate the dying man.”
Just see how by asasociating with saintly persons, the greatest good is done. The result is Lord Krsna’s extraordinary mercy upon john at the crucial time of his death. We can pray that we shall similarly be benedicted by hearing the holy Names when our time arrives, all too soon.
Tamoharadasa, MS, Aud. ( C ), (ACBSP)