{"id":2022,"date":"2011-11-21T10:35:44","date_gmt":"2011-11-21T15:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gadflyonline.com\/wpblog\/?p=2022"},"modified":"2012-07-15T19:56:08","modified_gmt":"2012-07-15T23:56:08","slug":"george-harrison-feb-25-1943-nov-29-2001-a-life-remembered-in-words-and-songs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/george-harrison-feb-25-1943-nov-29-2001-a-life-remembered-in-words-and-songs\/","title":{"rendered":"George Harrison (Feb. 25, 1943\u2014Nov. 29, 2001): A Life Remembered in Words and Songs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ten years ago, on November 29, 2001, George Harrison\u2014the \u201cquiet Beatle\u201d\u2014passed away at the age of 58, a victim of throat cancer. Harrison left behind an amazing legacy, one that not only spanned a legendary musical career that began with the Beatles and continued throughout his solo career but also went beyond the cultural to the spiritual. Indeed, Harrison\u2019s spirituality\u2014rooted in Eastern spiritual practices\u2014greatly impacted the life and musical endeavors of fellow Beatles John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as other figures in popular culture.<\/p>\n

Harrison, a born and bred Liverpudlian, developed an affinity for Indian music and religion after being introduced to the sitar while making the film Help!<\/em> After meeting Indian sitar master Ravi Shankar and traveling to India in 1966, Harrison found his love of Indian music and spirituality transformed into a life-long commitment to Eastern spiritual practices.<\/p>\n

In August 1967, Harrison encouraged his fellow Beatles (and associates) to attend a lecture at the London Hilton presented by the Maharishi Mehesh Yogi\u2014the so-called progenitor of Transcendental Meditation (TM). Attendance at TM lectures tripled almost immediately after it was publicized that the Beatles were into TM. In fact, Deepak Chopra, an Indian medical doctor and author, credits Harrison with spreading TM and other Eastern spiritual practices to America almost single-handedly. Moreover, given the Beatles\u2019 amazing influence at the time, Harrison\u2019s foray into TM set the stage for a movement that would result in the Western world being infused with Eastern spirituality and meditation practices\u2014a movement that continues to this day.<\/p>\n

In 1968, Harrison and his wife invited John, Paul and Ringo to join them on a retreat to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi\u2019s ashram (spiritual hermitage) in Rishikesh, India. They were joined by an all-star entourage including actress Mia Farrow, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, and singer\/songwriter Donovan. The Beatles found their creative energies heightened in the peaceful atmosphere of the retreat. Between the four of them, they composed over 40 songs while in India. As Philip Goldberg notes in his book, American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West<\/em>, the Beatles\u2019 trip to Rishikesh \u201cmay have been the most momentous spiritual retreat since Jesus spent those forty days in the wilderness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Not even the Beatles\u2019 break-up could dampen Harrison\u2019s enthusiasm for Eastern spirituality and Hinduism in particular, both of which played starring roles in Harrison\u2019s life as a solo artist. Even as he shunned the spotlight, Harrison continued to imbue his life and music with a spiritual message that emphasized peace, love and harmony. During his final years, he seemed content to spend his time gardening and practicing Hinduism.<\/p>\n

Books and documentaries about Harrison\u2019s life and music abound, but George\u2019s observations and lyrics best encapsulate his life\u2019s mission and work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve all got the same goal whether we realize it or not. We\u2019re all striving for something which is called God. For a reunion, complete. Everybody has realized at some time or other that no matter how happy they are, there\u2019s still always the unhappiness that comes with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

My Sweet Lord<\/em><\/p>\n

My Sweet Lord
\n<\/em>I really want to see you;
\n<\/em>Really want to be with you.
\n<\/em>Really want to see you Lord
\n<\/em>But it takes so long, my Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is a God, I want to see him. It\u2019s pointless to believe in something without proof, and Krishna consciousness and meditation are methods where you can actually obtain God perception. You can actually see God and hear Him, play with Him. It might sound crazy, but He\u2019s actually there with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s All Too Much<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s all too much for me to take
\n<\/em>The love that’s shining all around you
\n<\/em>Everywhere, it’s what you make
\n<\/em>For us to take, it’s all too much<\/em><\/p>\n

Floating down the stream of time, of life to life with me
\n<\/em>Makes no difference where you are or where you’d like to be.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is a potential Jesus Christ, really. We are all trying to get to where Jesus Christ got. And we\u2019re going to be on this world until we get there. We\u2019re all different people and we are all doing different things in life, but that doesn\u2019t matter because the whole point of life is to harmonise with everything, every aspect in creation. That means down to not killing the flies, eating the meat, killing people or chopping the trees down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t It a Pity?<\/em><\/p>\n

Isn’t it a pity
\n<\/em>Now, isn’t it a shame
\n<\/em>How we break each other’s hearts
\n<\/em>And cause each other pain
\n<\/em>How we take each other’s love
\n<\/em>Without thinking anymore
\n<\/em>Forgetting to give back
\n<\/em>Isn’t it a pity<\/em><\/p>\n

Some things take so long
\n<\/em>But how do I explain
\n<\/em>When not too many people
\n<\/em>Can see we’re all the same
\n<\/em>And because of all their tears
\n<\/em>Their eyes can’t hope to see
\n<\/em>The beauty that surrounds them
\n<\/em>Isn’t it a pity<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cJust as cinematic images appear to be real but are only combinations of light and shade, so is the universal variety a seeming delusion. The planetary spheres, with their countless forms of life, are naught but figures in a cosmic motion picture\u2026 One\u2019s values are profoundly changed when he is finally convinced that creation is only a vast motion picture; and that not in, but beyond it, lies in his own reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Inner Light<\/em><\/p>\n

Without going out of your door
\n<\/em>You can know all things on earth
\n<\/em>Without looking out of your window
\n<\/em>You could know the ways of heaven<\/em><\/p>\n

The farther one travels
\n<\/em>The less one knows
\n<\/em>The less one really knows<\/em><\/p>\n

Arrive without travelling
\n<\/em>See all without looking
\n<\/em>Do all without doing<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I am two-faced. But really, things serious and comical are like night and day, black and white, yin and yang. In order to be comical, you have to be serious. You can\u2019t have one without the other. The world is a very serious and, at times, very sad place\u2014but at other times it is all such a joke.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rising Sun<\/em><\/p>\n

On the street of villains taken for a ride
\n<\/em>You can have the devil as a guide
\n<\/em>Crippled by the boundaries, programmed into guilt
\n<\/em>Til your nervous system starts to tilt
\n<\/em>In a room of mirrors you can see for miles
\n<\/em>But everything that’s there is in disguise
\n<\/em>Every word you’ve uttered and every thought you’ve had
\n<\/em>Is all inside your file the good and the bad<\/em><\/p>\n

But in the rising sun you can feel your life begin
\n<\/em>Universe at play inside your DNA
\n<\/em>You’re a billion years old today.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn one way, I feel pessimistic. When you see the rate that the world is being demolished\u2014people polluting the oceans and chopping down all the forests\u2014unless somebody puts the brakes on soon, there isn\u2019t going to be anything left. There\u2019s just going to be more and more people with less and less resources. In that respect, I feel very sad. But at the same time, I have to be optimistic. At the bottom line, I think that even if the whole planet blew up, you\u2019d have to think about what happens when you die. In the end, \u2018Life goes within you and without you.\u2019 I just have a belief that this is only one little bit, the physical world is one little bit, of the physical universe, and you can\u2019t really destroy it totally. You can destroy our planet, but the souls are going onto other planets. So in the end it doesn\u2019t really matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within You Without You<\/em><\/p>\n

We were talking
\n<\/em>About the love that’s gone so cold
\n<\/em>And the people who gain the world
\n<\/em>And lose their soul
\n<\/em>They don’t know, they can’t see
\n<\/em>Are you one of them?<\/em><\/p>\n

When you’ve seen beyond yourself
\n<\/em>Then you may find
\n<\/em>Peace of mind is waiting there
\n<\/em>And the time will come
\n<\/em>When you see we\u2019re all one
\n<\/em>And life flows on within you and without you.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is one of our perennial problems, whether there is a God. From the Hindu point of view each soul is divine. All religions are branches of one big tree. It doesn\u2019t matter what you call Him as long as you call.\u201d<\/p>\n

Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)<\/em><\/p>\n

Give me love
\n<\/em>Give me love
\n<\/em>Give me peace on earth
\n<\/em>Give me light
\n<\/em>Give me life
\n<\/em>Keep me free from birth
\n<\/em>Give me hope
\n<\/em>Help me cope, with this heavy load
\n<\/em>Trying to, touch and reach you with,
\n<\/em>Heart and soul.<\/em><\/p>\n

George Harrison\u2019s fascination with and dedication to Indian music and spirituality inspired many to open their minds to what the Eastern world has to offer. Because of his efforts, Western culture was introduced to a new way of life and a new wave of music and instruments, not to mention meditation and yoga. For a so-called \u201cquiet Beatle,\u201d Harrison left a loud mark on American culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Ten years ago, on November 29, 2001, George Harrison\u2014the \u201cquiet Beatle\u201d\u2014passed away at the age of 58, a victim of throat cancer. Harrison left behind an amazing legacy, one that not only spanned a legendary musical career that began with the Beatles and continued throughout his solo career but also went beyond the cultural […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2022"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2959,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022\/revisions\/2959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}