HIS SWEET LORD
This started out to be a simple essay on George's journey towards Self Enlightenment, primarily with the Krishnas … how naïve! This is an epic saga which will be added to and edited as the need arises because as new information comes to light or as i realise i have left something out i will add it and of course correct anything i have got wrong!!! If you have a story please do get in touch because this is probably the part of this website that would be most important to George himself...
"That is why I say "God. My sweet Lord, I Really want to see you, I really want to know you. Why should I be paranoid all my life? Wash away my fears." Since then it has been a matter of trying to hold on to that little shining light which one's lucky to have glimpsed, and manifest the light more and more and more until you become that. And it's hard."- George Harrison, I Me Mine
George was searching for the Truth and the One True God ~ not for a religion as his journey shows.For any rock star, let alone one who was a Member of the most famous and adulated Band of all time his actions were almost unique and bordering on the bizarre but as he explained ~
"By having money, we found that money wasn’t the answer. We had lots of material things that people can spend their whole lives to get. And it was good, but we still lacked something. And that something is what religion is trying to give to people. "Anthology
George was Baptised at Our Lady of Good Help on 14th March 1943 shortly after he was born. The Church was just around the corner from the family home at 12 Arnold Grove and he did attend Mass with his Catholic Mother Louise for a few years before turning his back on the Catholic Religion. His Parents had him excluded from Religious Instruction at Dovedale School which was an unusual move at that time.(George with his Mum)
"That is why I say "God. My sweet Lord, I Really want to see you, I really want to know you. Why should I be paranoid all my life? Wash away my fears." Since then it has been a matter of trying to hold on to that little shining light which one's lucky to have glimpsed, and manifest the light more and more and more until you become that. And it's hard."- George Harrison, I Me Mine
George was searching for the Truth and the One True God ~ not for a religion as his journey shows.For any rock star, let alone one who was a Member of the most famous and adulated Band of all time his actions were almost unique and bordering on the bizarre but as he explained ~
"By having money, we found that money wasn’t the answer. We had lots of material things that people can spend their whole lives to get. And it was good, but we still lacked something. And that something is what religion is trying to give to people. "Anthology
George was Baptised at Our Lady of Good Help on 14th March 1943 shortly after he was born. The Church was just around the corner from the family home at 12 Arnold Grove and he did attend Mass with his Catholic Mother Louise for a few years before turning his back on the Catholic Religion. His Parents had him excluded from Religious Instruction at Dovedale School which was an unusual move at that time.(George with his Mum)
1Interior of Our Lady of Good Help Catholic Church app 2009 prior to its closure in 2011. The Baptismal Font at the front is not the original from 1943.
George's first brush with Hindu Philosophy and Religion was possibly the book presented to him on the beach in the Bahamas during the filming of Help. On the morning of February 25th 1965 which was George's 23 Birthday Swami Vishnu-Devananda had a strong feeling that he should approach The Beatles who he had heard were filming on Paradise Island. He met them when they were filming the bicycle scene on Interfield Road and handed George the book he had written in 1960. It was 'The Complete illustrated Book of Yoga'. In it the Swami had written “The truth can be experienced only when one transcends the senses and when the mind and intellect cease to function.”
George said “I didn’t look at the book in detail for some time, but at a later date I found it and I opened the cover, and it had a big OM written on it.” This was the symbol for the Absolute in Hinduism and the one that George used most often when signing his name. This obviously stayed with George for years because he arranged to meet with Swami Vishnu-Devananda later as this small image from 1971 shows(also present Ravi Shankar). It looks like it was at the time of the Concerts for Bangladesh ~ so amidst all that was going on George obviously felt the importance to put aside time to meet with the Swami.
The short scene in Help which showed Indian musicians resulted in George's discovery and subsequent passion for the sitar. He bought his first sitar at a shop named India Craft on Tottenham Court Road in London and taught himself to play ~ with the resulting inclusion of the instrument on 'Norwegian Wood' (Rubber Soul). He also visited The Asian Music Circle which had been founded in London by writer and former political activist Ayana Angadi and his artist wife Patricia Fell-Clarke.
George said “I didn’t look at the book in detail for some time, but at a later date I found it and I opened the cover, and it had a big OM written on it.” This was the symbol for the Absolute in Hinduism and the one that George used most often when signing his name. This obviously stayed with George for years because he arranged to meet with Swami Vishnu-Devananda later as this small image from 1971 shows(also present Ravi Shankar). It looks like it was at the time of the Concerts for Bangladesh ~ so amidst all that was going on George obviously felt the importance to put aside time to meet with the Swami.
The short scene in Help which showed Indian musicians resulted in George's discovery and subsequent passion for the sitar. He bought his first sitar at a shop named India Craft on Tottenham Court Road in London and taught himself to play ~ with the resulting inclusion of the instrument on 'Norwegian Wood' (Rubber Soul). He also visited The Asian Music Circle which had been founded in London by writer and former political activist Ayana Angadi and his artist wife Patricia Fell-Clarke.
Right~George, Pattie, The Angadis, Esher |
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George at The Asian Music Circle 1966
In June 1966 George was introduced to Ravi Shankar by the Angadis. Ravi Shankar was to become a hugely important influence in George's life. With the end of touring The Beatles were allowed a break and George used this break to visit Ravi Shankar in Bombay (Mumbai) to further his studies of the Sitar and Yoga. They fled to Srinagar when the fans found out that George was staying at The Taj Mahal and George spent some of his happiest days practising sitar and yoga in peace in a Houseboat on the Dal Lake in Srinagar.
"It was all good, that sitar period. The yoga. I was getting up as they do in India, having a bath, my yoga exercises, doing my meditation, then practicing the sitar and having breakfast, instead of jumping out of bed and having a cup of tea or coffee. So it was a great discipline, vital for me, to be able to start getting a bit of 'culture'." I Me Mine
At that time George was also given the book 'Autobiography of a Yogi' by Paramhansa Yogananda by Ravi Shankar and his brother Raju. This was to have a huge influence on his life. Ravi Shankar had met Paraamhansa Yogananda in the 1930s and his first concert had been at the Yogananda's Encinitas in 1957. Paramhansa Yogananda had travelled to the US in 1920 establishing The Self Realisation Fellowship to teach Meditation and the ancient practice of Kriya Yoga. He established the Los Angeles Centre in 1925.
"While I was in India with Ravi, I kept saying, 'I want to know about the yogis of the Himalayas'...he and his brother, Raju, gave me ....Autobiography of a Yogi. It was an Indian copy- English text, but from India. I looked at the cover and Yogananda just zapped me with his eyes, and that was it- it was all over!
"Then I read the book- and it gave me goose bumps. With some things you read you think, 'Well, I'm not sure about that.' But with Autobiography of a Yogi I was totally convinced about every word in the book; somehow his pureness and his heart just flowed out of it.
"I keep stacks of Autobiography of a Yogi around the house, and I give it out constantly to people. When people need regrooving, I say read this, because it cuts to the heart of every religion." George
He also said "[Paramahansa Yogananda]'s probably been the greatest inspiration to me though I never met Yogananda personally, but he's had such a terrific influence on me for some very subtle reason. A lot of my feelings are the result of what he taught, and is still teaching in his subtle state."
George visited the Yogananda Ashrams in Los Angeles and at Encinitas (where Ravi also had a home) throughout his life. He used to meditate in the chapel at Encinitas ~ he said that outside of India that was the place he found it easiest to meditate in that chapel.
"While I was in India with Ravi, I kept saying, 'I want to know about the yogis of the Himalayas'...he and his brother, Raju, gave me ....Autobiography of a Yogi. It was an Indian copy- English text, but from India. I looked at the cover and Yogananda just zapped me with his eyes, and that was it- it was all over!
"Then I read the book- and it gave me goose bumps. With some things you read you think, 'Well, I'm not sure about that.' But with Autobiography of a Yogi I was totally convinced about every word in the book; somehow his pureness and his heart just flowed out of it.
"I keep stacks of Autobiography of a Yogi around the house, and I give it out constantly to people. When people need regrooving, I say read this, because it cuts to the heart of every religion." George
He also said "[Paramahansa Yogananda]'s probably been the greatest inspiration to me though I never met Yogananda personally, but he's had such a terrific influence on me for some very subtle reason. A lot of my feelings are the result of what he taught, and is still teaching in his subtle state."
George visited the Yogananda Ashrams in Los Angeles and at Encinitas (where Ravi also had a home) throughout his life. He used to meditate in the chapel at Encinitas ~ he said that outside of India that was the place he found it easiest to meditate in that chapel.
George celebrates his 30th Birthday with Special Guest Parahamsa Yogananda 1973
'Dear One' George's tune for Parahamansa Yogananda 1976
George was also introduced to Swami Vivekananda's Raja Yoga.Swami Vivekananda was instrumental in bringing Vedanta and Yoga to the Western World and represented India bringing Hinduism to The Parliament of The World's Religions in Chicago 1893.
George often quoted the Swami to illustrate his beliefs “'Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest that Divinity” and ”If there’s a God, we must see him. Otherwise, it’s better not to believe. It’s better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite.”
Even in his preface for Srila Prabhupada's book Krishna (financed by George) , George quoted
"The word 'Hare' calls upon the energy of the Lord. If you chant the mantra enough, you build up an identification with God. God's all happiness, all bliss, and by chanting His names we connect with Him. So it's really a process of actually having God realization, which becomes clear with the expanded state of consciousness that develops when you chant. Like I said in the introduction I wrote for Prabhupada's Krishna book some years ago. 'If there's a God, I want to see Him. It's pointless to believe in something without proof. Krishna consciousness and meditation are methods whereby you can actually obtain God perception.'"
George often quoted the Swami to illustrate his beliefs “'Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest that Divinity” and ”If there’s a God, we must see him. Otherwise, it’s better not to believe. It’s better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite.”
Even in his preface for Srila Prabhupada's book Krishna (financed by George) , George quoted
"The word 'Hare' calls upon the energy of the Lord. If you chant the mantra enough, you build up an identification with God. God's all happiness, all bliss, and by chanting His names we connect with Him. So it's really a process of actually having God realization, which becomes clear with the expanded state of consciousness that develops when you chant. Like I said in the introduction I wrote for Prabhupada's Krishna book some years ago. 'If there's a God, I want to see Him. It's pointless to believe in something without proof. Krishna consciousness and meditation are methods whereby you can actually obtain God perception.'"
During his time in Srinagar George was rarely seen without a book in his hand ~ be it 'Autobiography of a Yogi' or 'Raja Yoga'
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When he returned to England after his 'summer holidays' in India George was so changed that Eric Burdon of The Animals commented on it going so far as to dedicating The Animals 1967 Album 'Winds of Change' to George.
George himself said "Through Hinduism I feel a better person, " he told a reporter. "I just get happier and happier."
That same year (1966) Srila Prabhupad, Founder of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) was encouraged by a record producer Alan Kallman who had been to visit him at 26 Second Avenue, to cut a recording of the Hare Krishna Mantra. The recording was a wonderful event which started with Srila Prabhupad and the Devotees conducting a 'harinam' in Times Square. Side One of the record was composed of The Hare Krishna Mantra which lasted about 12 minutes.
George bought a copy of that Album which was called 'Krishna Consciousness'.
As Dhani, George's Son said "You know, I read a letter from him to his mother that he wrote when he was twenty-four. He was on tour or someplace when he wrote it. It basically says, 'I want to be self-realized. I want to find God. I'm not interested in material things, this world, fame--I'm going for the real goal. And I hope you don't worry about me, mum.' He wrote that when he was twenty-four! And that was basically the philosophy that he had up until the day he died."
Not published until 1970 on All Things Must Pass but actually started at this time....
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In 1967 George's contribution on The Beatles seminal Album 'Sgt Pepper' was the magnificent 'Within You Without You' … "When you have seen beyond yourself you may find peace of mind is waiting there." He was just 25 years old when he recorded it on March 15th 1967. Recording was done without any of the other Beatles participation. Instead, he gathered together Indian musicians from The Asian Music Circle, who generally had full time jobs and commenced recording after working hours (which fitted in fine with The Beatles' practice at Abbey Road). Also present were Western Musicians ~ thereby creating what was the first East West tune. George would decorate Studio 2 with carpets and flowers and burn incense so that it had an inviting atmosphere. As Sir Peter Blake recalled “We went into one room and George was sitting on the floor playing with about 20 Indian musicians. We went into another, and John was on his own doing the vocal to Good Morning Good Morning.”
"George was there with some Indian musicians and they had a carpet on the floor and there was incense burning. George was very sweet - he's always been very kind and sweet - and he got up and welcomed us and offered us tea. We just sat and watched for a coouple of hours. It was a fascinating, historical time." Peter Blake, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn.
"Within You Without You came about after I had spent a bit of time in India and fallen under the spell of the country and its music. I had brought back a lot of instruments. It was written at Klaus Voormann's house in Hampstead after dinner one night. The song came to me when i was playing a pedal harmonium.
I'd also spent a lot of time with Ravi Shankar, trying to figure out how to sit and hold the sitar, and how to play it. Within You Without You was a song that I wrote based upon a piece of music of Ravi's that he'd recorded for All-India Radio. It was a very long piece – maybe 30 or 40 minutes – and was written in different parts, with a progression in each. I wrote a mini version of it, using sounds similar to those I'd discovered in his piece. I recorded in three segments and spliced them together later." George
When asked who he would like on the cover of Sgt Pepper, George chose Parahamansa Yogananda's line of Gurus ~ Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Sri Yukteswar, and Paramahansa Yogananda.
The Beatles heard about the little island of Agia Triada which lay in the South Euboean Gulf about an hour from Athens, Greece. This was shaped like a guitar , and so it seemed karmic to The Beatles that they should buy the island and live there with family and friends. Plans were made to purchase the island so that the four Beatles could live and work together with close friends and family in Utopia.
Wednesday 26th July saw the start of The Beatles spending two weeks sailing and examining the proposition .
“Before meeting Prabhupada and all of you, I had bought that album Prabhupada did in New York, and John and I listened to it. I remember we sang it for days, John and I, with ukulele banjos, sailing through the Greek Islands chanting Hare Krsna. Like six hours we sang, because we couldn’t stop once we got going. As soon as we stopped, it was like the lights went out. It went on to the point where our jaws were aching, singing the mantra over and over and over and over and over. We felt exalted; it was a very happy time for us.” George
Wednesday 26th July saw the start of The Beatles spending two weeks sailing and examining the proposition .
“Before meeting Prabhupada and all of you, I had bought that album Prabhupada did in New York, and John and I listened to it. I remember we sang it for days, John and I, with ukulele banjos, sailing through the Greek Islands chanting Hare Krsna. Like six hours we sang, because we couldn’t stop once we got going. As soon as we stopped, it was like the lights went out. It went on to the point where our jaws were aching, singing the mantra over and over and over and over and over. We felt exalted; it was a very happy time for us.” George
The island was not purchased but the search for 'something' continued.
In August 1967 George's wife,Pattie heard about a lecture by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at The Hilton in London and told George about it. George was also told about it by his Sculptor friend David Wynne who had sculpted The Beatles in 1964.
“I had seen David Wynne again, and had been talking to him about yogis. He said he had made a sketch of one who was quite remarkable, because he had a lifeline on his hands that didn't end. He showed me a photograph of this fella’s hand and said, 'He's going to be in London next week doing a lecture.' So I thought: 'Well, that's good. I'd like to see him.'
“On August 24th, all of us except Ringo (as Maureen was having their baby ) attended the lecture given by Maharishi at the Hilton Hotel. I got the tickets. I was actually after a mantra. I had got to the point where thought I would like to meditate; I'd read about it and I knew I needed a mantra - a password to get through into the other world. And, as we always seemed to do everything together, John and Paul came with me.“
In August 1967 George's wife,Pattie heard about a lecture by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at The Hilton in London and told George about it. George was also told about it by his Sculptor friend David Wynne who had sculpted The Beatles in 1964.
“I had seen David Wynne again, and had been talking to him about yogis. He said he had made a sketch of one who was quite remarkable, because he had a lifeline on his hands that didn't end. He showed me a photograph of this fella’s hand and said, 'He's going to be in London next week doing a lecture.' So I thought: 'Well, that's good. I'd like to see him.'
“On August 24th, all of us except Ringo (as Maureen was having their baby ) attended the lecture given by Maharishi at the Hilton Hotel. I got the tickets. I was actually after a mantra. I had got to the point where thought I would like to meditate; I'd read about it and I knew I needed a mantra - a password to get through into the other world. And, as we always seemed to do everything together, John and Paul came with me.“
“Maharishi happened to be having a seminar in Bangor and had said, 'Come tomorrow and I'll show you how to meditate.' So, the next day we jumped on a train and went.
Mick Jagger was also there. He was always lurking around in the background, trying to find out what was happening. Mick never wanted to miss out on what the Fabs were doing.' George
Mick Jagger was also there. He was always lurking around in the background, trying to find out what was happening. Mick never wanted to miss out on what the Fabs were doing.' George
Bangor 25 August 1967
Sadly, the time spent in Bangor was cut short by the tragic death of their friend and manager Brian Epstein. The Beatles felt they were floundering and threw themselves into work to try to fill the void buy producing the now cult film 'Magical Mystery tour'.
During filming George gave an interview to Scene and Heard on 13 September He was asked when he became interested in Indian culture and religion
George said: "Probably about two years ago, and uhh... I don't really know exactly when, but when I first noticed that I was interested with the music first of all, I think, and along with that I'd heard stories of people in caves. Yogis, as they're known. People levitating and demateriealizing. (laughs) and doing all sorts of wonderous things. and then, through the music... with meeting Ravi (Shankar), it was great because he's a Braman which is a high sect. and uhh, just all the groovy people are bramans, like the scientists, religious people and musicians, and all those. and then in the end, I'd like to become this myself. I'd just like to have this quality that these people have, which is a spiritual thing. and I think with us having all the material wealth that we need... you know, the average person feels that if they had a car and a telly and a house, and that's where its at. But if you get a car and a telly and a house and even, you know, a lot of money, your life's still empty because it's still all on this gross level. and what we need isn't material, it's spiritual. We need, sort of, some other form of peace and happiness. and so, that's why the Indian people all seem very peaceful and as though they have found something, because they haven't had the material wealth. They've had to look at themselves for some answer, and they've found it inside themselves."
On 29 September George and John appeared with Maharishi on the David Frost Show to discuss Transcendental Meditation.
In it George said "I believe in reincarnation. Life and death are still only relative to thought. I believe in rebirth. You keep coming back until you have got it straight. The ultimate thing is to manifest divinity, and become one with The Creator."
The programme was such a success George and John appeared a second time on 4 October.
During filming George gave an interview to Scene and Heard on 13 September He was asked when he became interested in Indian culture and religion
George said: "Probably about two years ago, and uhh... I don't really know exactly when, but when I first noticed that I was interested with the music first of all, I think, and along with that I'd heard stories of people in caves. Yogis, as they're known. People levitating and demateriealizing. (laughs) and doing all sorts of wonderous things. and then, through the music... with meeting Ravi (Shankar), it was great because he's a Braman which is a high sect. and uhh, just all the groovy people are bramans, like the scientists, religious people and musicians, and all those. and then in the end, I'd like to become this myself. I'd just like to have this quality that these people have, which is a spiritual thing. and I think with us having all the material wealth that we need... you know, the average person feels that if they had a car and a telly and a house, and that's where its at. But if you get a car and a telly and a house and even, you know, a lot of money, your life's still empty because it's still all on this gross level. and what we need isn't material, it's spiritual. We need, sort of, some other form of peace and happiness. and so, that's why the Indian people all seem very peaceful and as though they have found something, because they haven't had the material wealth. They've had to look at themselves for some answer, and they've found it inside themselves."
On 29 September George and John appeared with Maharishi on the David Frost Show to discuss Transcendental Meditation.
In it George said "I believe in reincarnation. Life and death are still only relative to thought. I believe in rebirth. You keep coming back until you have got it straight. The ultimate thing is to manifest divinity, and become one with The Creator."
The programme was such a success George and John appeared a second time on 4 October.
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At that time all George could think of was going back to India. His opportunity came in January 1968 when he flew to India on the 7th to gather musical material for the Soundtrack to the cult film of the 'Wonderwall' in which music replaced all dialogue and which would be George's first Solo release whilst with The Beatles. At the same time he was to record 'The Inner Light'
“The Inner Light came really, from Within Without You. There was a David Frost show on television about meditation --Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was interviewed on tape with John Lennon and myself live and amongst many others in the audience was Juan Mascaro who is the Sanskrit teacher at Cambridge University. He wrote me a letter later saying '... a few days ago two friends from abroad gave me the recording of your song Within You, Without You. I am very happy, it is a moving song and may it move the souls of millions; and there is more to come, as you are only beginning on the great journey'.
He also sent me a copy of a book called 'Lamps of Fire' and in his letter he says '... might it not be interesting to put into your music a few words of Tao, for example number 48, page 66 of the book.' And that's where the words to The Inner Lightcome from; it's a translation from the 'Tao Te Ching.' [...]
The instruments were all Indian, all played by Indian musicians and recorded in H.M.V. Studios in Bombay. I think the song went unnoticed by most people because I was getting a bit 'out of it' as far as Western popular music was concerned, at that period.
In the original poem, the verse says 'Without going out of my door, I can know the ways of heaven.' And so to prevent any misinterpretations — and also to make the song a bit longer — I did repeat that as a second verse but made it:
Without going out of your door
You can know all things on earth
Without looking out of your window
You can know the ways of heaven— so that it included everybody.
The song was especially for Juan Mascaró because he sent me the book and is a sweet old man. It was nice, the words said everything. AMEN.” I Me Mine
(Professor Juan Mascaro had translated the Bhagavad Gita and The Upanishads into English from the original Sanskrit.)
January 7, 1968 George flies to Mumbai to record tracks for Wonderwall and also Inner Light
George's humility and complete lack of pretension was commented on by the Indian Musicians he worked with.
Whilst in India George also picked up a book about Rabindranath Tagore (the great Bengali Poet who was the first non-Westerner to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 for the English translation of his poem Gintanjali) as a gift for Professor Mascaro.
He must have picked up one for himself as well as many years later , in 2004, when his widow Olivia Harrison accepted George's induction into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame she quoted one of George's favourite poems. It was by Rabindranath Tagore “Blessed is he whose Fame does not outshine his Truth.”
He must have picked up one for himself as well as many years later , in 2004, when his widow Olivia Harrison accepted George's induction into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame she quoted one of George's favourite poems. It was by Rabindranath Tagore “Blessed is he whose Fame does not outshine his Truth.”
To George his Fame never came close to being as important as his Truth.
George returned from India on January 13th energised and continued recording the soundtrack for Wonderwall with Western Musicians such as Eric Clapton and Peter Tork. This was to be another foray into a East West fusion of music quite unlike anything that was happening at this time.
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On the 15th February 1968 George together with Pattie, John and Cynthia left London Airport for Delhi. Also accompanying them was Jenny, Pattie's sister. They were met by Mal Evans, their assistant and erstwhile roadie who had gone ahead. They made the 150 mile journey from Delhi to Rishikesh in three taxis and arrived on the 17th February. Paul with Jane Asher and Ringo with Maureen joined them later.
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"Rishikesh is an incredible place, situated where the Ganges flows out of the Himalayas into the plains between the mountains and Delhi. There is quite a hefty flow of water coming out of the Himalayas, and we had to cross the river by a big swing suspension bridge.” recalled George in Anthology.
That bridge is still there today as indeed is the Ashram which was re-opened as a tourist attraction and is now called The Beatles Ashram.
That bridge is still there today as indeed is the Ashram which was re-opened as a tourist attraction and is now called The Beatles Ashram.
Our arrival at Delhi went very much unheralded. We were bundled unmolested and travel-weary into three battered, ancient Indian taxis without all the usual fuss and frantic rush. It was wonderfully refreshing and stress free. After alighting from the taxis, we were shown
to our living quarters. They consisted of a number of stone-built bungalows, set in groups along a rough road. Flowers and shrubs surrounded them and were carefully tended by an Indian gardener whose work speed was dead slow, and stop.
Cynthia Lennon
Four small stone covered building had been constructed for The Beatles along the path towards the main gate and each had a dome shaped meditation cave accessable by ladder so that the Beatles could indulge in private meditation. The Beatles' days in Rishikesh consisted of a casual breakfast, morning meditation classes until lunch, leisure time in the afternoons, and sometimes as many as three more hours of meditation in the evenings. George and the rest of the party adopted Indian dress and fabrics and saris were purchased from nearby Dehradun and Mussoorie to be made into clothes by the Indian tailor at the Ashram. They gathered every morning for breakfast in an outdoor enclosure watching the monkeys
George forgets :-)
George had ordered several instruments from Delhi and he used a bungalow to create a music room. He invited all the students to practice and musical evenings would be conducted on the roof under the stars as Donovan who was also a Seeker at the Ashram remembered.
"When the Truth gets buried deep
Beneath the thousand years of Sleep
Time demands a turnaround
And once again the Truth is Found" George Harrison February 1968
George's 25th Birthday was on the 25th February and a party was thrown in his honour. George played the sitar, t ihere was communal chanting and a firework display. Maharishi gave Harrison a gift of an upside-down plastic globe. He presented it to the Beatle with the words: "George, the globe I am giving you symbolizes the world today. I hope you will help us all in the task of puttingt right."
George turned the globe over and said "I've done it!", to the applause of the other guests.
George turned the globe over and said "I've done it!", to the applause of the other guests.
This was one of the most musically productive periods for The Beatles as The White Album would show. One of the tunes George wrote was 'Sour Milk Sea' .
"I wrote 'Sour Milk Sea' in Rishikesh, India," Harrison said. "I never actually recorded the song. It was done by Jackie Lomax...It's based on Vishvasara Tantra, from Tantric art. 'What is here is elsewhere, what is not here is nowhere.' It's a picture, and the picture is called Sour Milk Sea—Kalladadi Samudra in Sanskrit. I used 'Sour Milk Sea' as the idea of—if you're in the shit, don't go around moaning about it: Do something about it."
"I wrote 'Sour Milk Sea' in Rishikesh, India," Harrison said. "I never actually recorded the song. It was done by Jackie Lomax...It's based on Vishvasara Tantra, from Tantric art. 'What is here is elsewhere, what is not here is nowhere.' It's a picture, and the picture is called Sour Milk Sea—Kalladadi Samudra in Sanskrit. I used 'Sour Milk Sea' as the idea of—if you're in the shit, don't go around moaning about it: Do something about it."
When he went off with Maharishi, George wrote his Mother a letter of reassurance. His Hindu practice, he told her, wasn’t taking him “off from any devotion to the Sacred Heart in any way.”
When asked who was the person that he would most like to meet George's response was that he would like to meet Jesus Christ and in 1969 he would say
"I got to understand what Christ really was through Hinduism. Down through the ages there has always been the spiritual path, it's been passed on, it always will be, and if anybody ever wants it in any age it's always there. It just so happens India was the place where the seed of it was planted. The Himalayas were very inaccessible to people, so they always have peace there. The yogis are the only people who can make it out there. It may be something to do with my past lives, but I felt a great connection with it. In this age the West and East are closer and can all benefit so much from each other. We can help them with our material attributes, and they can help us with their spiritual things.”
"Once I chanted the Hare Krishna mantra all the way from France to Portugal, nonstop. I drove for about twenty-three hours and chanted all the way. It gets you feeling a bit invincible. The funny thing was that I didn't even know where I was going. I mean I had bought a map, and I knew basically which way I was aiming, but I couldn't speak French, Spanish, or Portuguese. But none of that seemed to matter. You know, once you get chanting, then things start to happen transcendentally."
--Interview, Henley-On-Thames, Oxfordshire, 1982
George and John (together with their wives) left the Ashram on April 12th and the reason given was that Maharishi had behaved inappropriately towards Mia Farrow (also at the Ashram to learn Meditation) and another female student. This was the start of the division amongst The Beatles. John went back to England but George went down to Madras (Chennai) to meet with Ravi Shankar. The allegations were very harmful to Maharish's reputation but he never responded to them.
In September 1991 George visited Maharishi in Vlodrop in the Netherlands, with his friend Deepak Chopra. George presented Maharishi with a rose.After a long silence Maharishi asked, "How have you been?" George replied, "Some good things (have happened) some bad things. You must know about John being assassinated.” Maharishi said he was very sorry to hear about it. After some time George said “I came to apologise” and Maharishi asked for what. George said “You know for what” and Maharishi asked George to relate what had happened to Deepak. George said he did not know exactly what had happened but that The Beatles had been asked to leave the Ashram. On being asked if maharishi held any bitterness towards John Maharishi said that when he heard how there had been no crime in the US during the Beatles broadcast on The Ed Sullivan show he said “ When I heard this I knew The Beatles were angels on Earth. It does not matter what John said or did, I could never be upset with angels.” Upon hearing this George broke down and wept. After some time he told Maharishi that he loved him and Maharishi responded with “I love you too”.
Later George telephoned Deepak and said “A huge Karmic burden has been lifted from me, because I didn't want to lie.” (taken from an Interview in The Times of India Feb 15, 2006.
On April 6, 1992 George performed the only Solo Concert in the UK of his entire career for Maharishi's Natural Law Party at The Royal Albert Hall.
After his return to England in 1968 the usual hullabaloo surrounded him both as a Beatle and as George Harrison. The first stop was Cannes for the premiere of Wonderwall ~ a visit not entirely happy despite all the press photographs to the contrary as he got into trouble for kicking a photographer who just would not take no for an answer. Rishikesh must have seemed a million miles away with its forests that George loved to take a walk in and the Ganges that he could sit by unmolested.
One of the tunes he submitted for The White Album probably said a lot about his feelings at the time as there was a lot of dissolution between The Beatles. (It was not used for the White Album despite the Album being a sprawling 2 disc release and George released it himself reworked on his Solo Album 'George Harrison' in 1978.)
"'Not Guilty' was written in 1968, although it appeared for the first time in the 1979 George Harrison album. I wrote it before the Beatles' White Album and it seems to be about that period: Paul-John-Apple-Rishikesh-Indian friends, etc." - George, I Me Mine.
George was open to so much at the time ~ whilst visiting his Parents in Warrington he was reading the 'I Ching' ~ 'The Book of Changes'
GEORGE: I wrote ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ at my mother’s house in Warrington (the spiritual home of George Formby). I was thinking about the Chinese I Ching, ‘The Book of Changes’. In the West we think of coincidence as being something that just happens — it just happens that I am sitting here and the wind is blowing my hair, and so on. But the Eastern concept is that whatever happens is all meant to be, and that there’s no such thing as coincidence — every little item that’s going down has a purpose. "
" 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' was simply a study based on that theory. I decided to write a song based on the first thing I saw upon opening any book ~ as it would be relative to that moment, at that time. I picked up a book at random, opened it, saw 'gently weeps', then laid the book down again and started the song." Anthology.
And so came about the song ranked by Rolling Stone as seventh on the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time".
Chris Difford wrote for Mojo "George was the one who came back from India with the spiritual awakening and carried it through to the rest of his life, whereas the others came back with the postcards." (and also “Apparently, there was another verse to the song that was edited out which George poignantly wrote about Paul and John, and how he thought they should get their heads banged together!” )
