Dec 10, 2007
It’s hard to imagine that good grooming could almost ruin a record attempt, but it actually happened to me a few days ago!
I was in the Dominican Republic on retreat with my meditation group and I decided to attempt the record for walking the fastest mile while spinning a hula hoop around the waist and simultaneously balancing a full pint milk bottle on the head. The bottle must remain balanced for the entire mile, and cannot be touched in any way to adjust it. I admit, the record is crazy, but I love it. It actually requires tremendous concentration to keep the bottle balanced, especially while bystanders are laughing at you and traffic is whirring by!
After a few practices, I was ready to attempt the record on the road in front of my hotel. A certified surveyor measured the course and, with the witnesses and camera crew standing by, I began a practice hula-balance warm up. With the hula hoop spinning, I placed the bottle on my head and, to my surprise, within 3 steps, the bottle slid right off! “It has to be a fluke,” I thought so I tried it again but, sure enough, that thing just wouldn’t stay balanced on my head.
It just didn’t make any sense. Only 2 days earlier, I had done a quarter mile trial run. When the bottle fell off my head and hit the ground, I knew that it was because I had lost my concentration. Amazingly, the bottle didn’t break, so here I was, two days later, using the same bottle, yet no matter how much I tried, I simply could not keep the bottle balanced on my head. What was different? Suddenly, the answer dawned on me. The culprit was the hairdresser!
Nov 22, 2007
About 2 months ago, I got the inspiration to break the world record for the “orange nose push mile.” The record is for pushing an orange over a distance of one mile, with your nose! I actually held this record but, since nobody had broken it in a few years, I decided to go after it myself.
Having already done this, I knew it wouldn’t be easy. “Orange nose smack” would actually be a more appropriate name! While on your hands and knees, you smack the orange with your nose as hard as you can. Then you jump up, chase after the orange, fall back to your hands and knees and repeat the process all over again. I covered a mile like this in 24 minutes and 36 seconds. Like many Guinness records, it looks silly, but it actually requires a lot of concentration, technique and fitness. And it can be painful too. During one training session, I noticed my orange was turning red. It took me a few moments to realize that the red substance on the orange was my own blood!
Anyway, my practices were going well, so I began looking for a venue to break the record. I needed a place with a smooth floor because, the smoother the floor, the faster and longer the orange rolls. I had originally set the record at Terminal 4 at JFK airport in New York, where the tile surface was superb. I have especially fond memories of that place since Sri Chinmoy personally visited the terminal while I was attempting the record, and I recall being so happy and inspired to see my teacher. With each lap, when I passed Sri Chinmoy, I would try to be extra soulful, a task that was made humorously difficult because every time I hit the orange I involuntarily let out a loud grunt!
Nov 6, 2007
My Beloved Teacher, Sri Chinmoy, entered into Mahasamadhi on October 11th, but I can still feel my Teacher’s presence so powerfully in my heart.
I am certain that Sri Chinmoy is most lovingly blessing us and encouraging us all from the higher worlds.
Oct 1, 2007
There is an expression: “the morning shows the day.” If that’s the case, then my trip to St. Petersburg was portending to be a disaster! On my first day in that former capital of Russia, I was pickpocketed and, let me tell you, the gang who did it was smooth!
After arriving in St. Petersburg, named after the famed Peter the Great, I was caught in the grips of jet lag and conked out. I awoke with just enough time to get to the hall where Sri Chinmoy was giving a concert dedicated to world harmony. I decided to be adventurous and take the subway, so I pulled out my map and walked over to the nearest metro station. Unfortunately, St. Petersburg has a reputation for its gangs of pickpockets and I should have been more aware. I was wearing a bright blue jacket (most locals wear dark colors), holding a map, sporting a wallet in my back pocket, and looking a bit lost. My Russian friends later told me that I might as well have had a sign on my back advertising that I was a tourist, ripe for the picking!
The subway platform was fairly deserted, but when the train came I was surprised to be roughly shoved through the doors by 6 or 7 teenagers. They seemed to appear out of nowhere. I didn’t think much of it at the time, until, just as the subway doors were closing, the youths rushed out. I immediately got a sick feeling and a quick pat to my trousers pocket immediately confirmed my suspicions. The gang had used the shove as a cover to relieve me of my wallet. As the train pulled out of the station, I realized that the only and best thing I could do was to continue on my way to Sri Chinmoy’s concert and try to get some inner peace!
Sep 9, 2007
Well, we did it and we had a blast! A bunch of guys from about 15 countries spent 2 weeks building the world’s largest pencil. It wasn’t easy. We had to make the pencil to scale, it had to look precisely like a normal pencil and it had to be made out of exactly the same materials. We used over 8,000 board feet of wood, 4,500 pounds of 10-inch graphite, which ran the length of the 76-foot pencil, and we even manufactured a 250-pound eraser. It took our two main carpenters a full day to sharpen the point of the pencil using a Sawzall, axes, and a grinding machine!
The pencil was designed to commemorate Sri Chinmoy’s 76th birthday. Sri Chinmoy is a highly prolific writer and artist, so we thought presenting him with a giant writing instrument would be appropriate. About 10 years ago, we built a 20-foot pencil for Sri Chinmoy, but, a few years later, the European pencil company, Faber-Castell, constructed a 64-foot pencil to erase (pardon the pun) our record. I wouldn’t have thought of getting the record back except, this past December, I happened to meet the renowned Count Faber-Castell at a vacation resort in Turkey. We became friendly and I mentioned that I had the hope of someday regaining the pencil record. He suddenly became very serious and retorted, “Impossible, you’ll never do it!” That was a challenge I just couldn’t ignore!
