Ashrita Furman

Author: admin-ashrita

  • Great Expectations

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    A few days ago, I visited New Orleans and attended a program dedicated to the courageous spirit of the people of the city. The function was the brainchild of Ashish Verma, the General Manager of the renowned Windsor Court Hotel. As part of the program, Mr. Verma invited my spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy, to say…

  • Finding a Door in the Gobi Desert

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    I had everything I needed for my record attempt in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia except for one small item – a 4-foot by 5-foot plank of wood! I had the regulation stilts, I had a jump rope and I had the official witnesses in the car with me. We were on our way to…

  • The Most Exotic Animal

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    admin-ashrita
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    As you might have guessed by now, I am an avid animal lover. So, a few days before I was scheduled to go to Mongolia, I began thinking about what kind of exotic animal I could possibly meet in Genghis Khan’s homeland. Mongolia is famous for its horses, but I’ve met hundreds of horses (in…

  • More Than a Coincidence

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    admin-ashrita

    My friend, Sanatan, is an exceptional engraver and trophy maker. He has made exquisite plaques and trophies for such luminaries as Michael Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela and Mother Theresa, to name a few. However, like many artists, he is not that neat in his personal life. His room is a mess and his office looks like…

  • The Hippo Becomes a Dolphin

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    admin-ashrita

    I can just see it now- Dick Fosbury changed the high jump forever with his revolutionary method of jumping backwards over the high jump bar. John Heisman virtually re-invented American football when he introduced the forward pass. And Ashrita Furman changed the art of spinning a hula hoop forever with his unprecedented underwater hula hooping!…

  • Oslo, City of Peace

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    admin-ashrita

    I just returned from a visit to Oslo, the capitol of Norway, and, at first glance, Oslo is like many other modern European cities. Although the prices are a bit high (I paid $23 US dollars for a 12-inch pizza in an Italian restaurant!) the city is sparking clean, the people are extremely friendly, and…

  • Losing Face, Gaining Wisdom

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    admin-ashrita

    In Japan and Thailand it is considered in very poor taste to show anger. Anger is judged to be a weakness and, if a person gets mad, he loses face. In that case, I lost face in a very big way last weekend! I was at the Jamaica High School track training for a possible…

  • The Power of Positive Thinking

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    admin-ashrita

    One thing I really appreciate about the Guinness Book is that it’s a global collection of the wild, weird and extraordinary. You can read about feats that you could never have even imagined. For example, I’ve been juggling for decades and yet never thought of using gravity boots to hang upside down off a bar…

  • Finger Snapping

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    admin-ashrita

    Bill Rogers, the world-class marathon runner, once commented, ” My record will go and it will be good. I like to see records broken even if they’re my own.” Since I follow Sri Chinmoy’s philosophy of self-transcendence, I can totally relate to Mr. Rogers’ profound detachment. However, recently, when I found out that my record…

  • Third Time is a Charm

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    admin-ashrita

    I was reading the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated last week and, in the middle of an article about a Japanese baseball pitcher, the journalist quoted the following ancient haiku by the illustrious poet Matsuo Basho: The old pond A frog jumps in The sound of water The haiku really had nothing to do…