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Brighter side of web - Self Transcendence
My spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy , has sought in many ways, to inspire old people to remain active and attempt new things - even if they seem difficult. At the age of 75, Sri Chinmoy has shown it is possible to find new ways to remain active. Sri Chinmoy has definitely help change my perception of old people and what they are capable of.
One year ago, aged 74, Sri Chinmoy lifted this double 740 pound dumbbell lift. He dedicated the lift to people of his own age. On the video, Sri Chinmoy said:
"I am 74 years old. This double dumbbell press of 740lbs, I am dedicating to men and women of my age, the old generations, to inspire them"
- Sri Chinmoy
It is Sri Chinmoy's philosophy that when we remain in the heart, old age does not matter.
The Zimmers
In the spirit of transcending the barriers of age, I was really enthused to see an interview on BBC about a new Rock band, The Zimmers. The Zimmers is a new rock sensation, composed entirely of old people. It is led by 90 year old lead singer, Alf Carretta. They have a combined age of over 3,000, and there are also 2 centurions amongst the band.
The band is the brainchild of documentary maker Tim Samuels. Tim says the motivation for forming the group is to raise the profile of old people, who have been cast off by society.
Before the video recording, many of the group participants rarely left their house or home. It is really great to see how much the ageing rock singers have enjoyed their experience. The rock group has given a new lease of life. Winifred Warburton, aged 99, said that recording the song was the best day of her life. Alf Carretta spoke about his unexpected foray into rock music at the age of 90.
"I can't believe this is happening. For me to have recorded a song in the same studio as the Beatles is just so exciting.
"I feel like the whole experience has brought me back to life. I was stuck in a rut and now I feel alive again," adds Alf.
The 40 strong band have recorded a version of My Generation, originally recorded by The Who, at Abbey Road studies where the Beatles produced their hit records.
The Zimmers Music Video
Power to the People - Old Aged pensioners aim for Chart success
In New York the runners have recently finished the 6 day and 10 day race. For us lesser mortals, it is basically a running race where you try to run as far as you can in 10 days. The winner of the 6 day race was a mild mannered Fin - Asprihanal Aalto. Asprihanal of Sri Chinmoy MT completed 505 miles in 6 days. That's an average of just under 90 miles per day. Including 92 miles on the last and final day.
Mind boggling as it may be, to Asprihanal, 500 miles in a 6 day race is almost like a warm up for the mammoth, 3100 mile race. Asprihanal, has the second best all time record for this distance at, 43 days and 15 hours.
Results of the 6 day race can be found here at: Sri Chinmoy Races
Unique 6 day experiences by Mark Dorian at Multidays
For those interested in Multidays Abichal produces a very good magazine Multidays at Multidayrunning.com
Ashrita with Tiger
Ashrita has broken records in a variety of exotic places. He also has a great fondness for animals, even dangerous ones. I remember one record where he tried to set a Guiness record for underwater juggling in a tank full of sharks. This was actually one of the few records he missed ( a shark knocked a ball away!)
Anyway in his blog entry Ashrita talks about his fascinating experience befriending a Tiger and then proceeding to set a record.
"The Abbot also told me to put my hand on the tiger’s back so the tiger would know that I was in control! Wow! I certainly didn’t feel like I was in control! But I could tell the Abbot was monitoring the tiger’s every move."
Part 1 of video about Budhia Singh
Budhia Singh, was a typical slum resident from the eastern state of Orissa. He was spotted by a local sports coach. When he was found in the slums he had a badly damaged leg, the doctors even suggested amputation. He has bee nicknamed "India's Forest Gump". Some people worry he is being stretched too soon. I hope he doesn't burn out, because he obviously has a remarkable talent for running. Hopefully in the future India will have a real future Olympic champion.
New Record for Balancing 50 Foot Pole.
Ashrita Furman broke one more Guinness World Record in South Turkey recently. This record was for holding up a pole 50 feet in length. Ashrita balanced the pole on his chin for 15 seconds. This was sufficient for a new record, subject to confirmation from Guinness. Ashrita set the record in an ancient Roman amphitheatre in Aspendos. The amphitheatre was built in AD 162 by the Roman architect Zeno. It was built to fit 12,000 spectators and even 2000 years later the ruins make a very impressive venue.
(photo coming soon)
Ashrita setting a new record for the spinning top.
In a record breaking year, Ashrita set another Guinnes world record. This time the record was for keeping a spinning top going for the longest time period. The previous record was two hours, 52 minutes and 11 seconds. Ashrita increased this to 7 hours and 1 minute.
Ashrita has been dubbed "Mr Versatility" for his tremendous array of breaking records. This year he has set record for upside down juggling, fastest mile whilst crawling and in the past he has set records such as underwater pogo sticking in the Amazon for 3 hours.
When Ashrita is not breaking records he studies meditation with Sri Chinmoy and runs a health food store in Jamaica, NY.
Ashrita balancing milk bottle on head
Back in 1983 Ashrita broke a Guiness world Record for balancing a milk bottle on his head for 24 miles. I like this record because, although it looks funny it requires tremendous persistent concentration. I try balancing a bottle of water on my head but its not easy.
Ashrita on the way to breaking another record.
This Guiness record is for the most number of eggs successfully balanced upright at one time.
He broke the record of 420 eggs in 7 hrs. 33 minutes and finished at 700 eggs in a little over 12 hours.
Sri Chinmoy recently said that nobody could match Ashrita's concentration.
His record inspired me to try balancing an egg. Not as easy as Ashrita makes it looks.
Underwater juggling world record holder Ashrita Furman attempts to break his own Guinness World Record beneath the surface of the Aquatheatre, Aquaria KLCC in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It should be simple, if he can just avoid the encircling sharks...
Jesper Olsen - World Run
One Earth - 26000km - 2 years - 1 runner
This is the remarkable story of Jesper Olsen who successfully completed the first complete run around the world. The route took 26,000 Km. Jesper also had to carry all his own stuff in a specially designed carrier. highlights from the run included:
"several weeks running through the frozen Siberian winter. "
"Meeting face to face with a Siberian bear at midnight."
"The economical neccesity of winning a 6-day race while running across Australia in the hot summertime "
From: World Run Blog
Jesper also ran through New York and had the opportunity to meet Sri Chinmoy. Jesper also met with many of the runners from the 3100 mile race. The photo is of Jesper with Suprabha Beckjord holding the World Harmony Run Torch. Suprabha has completed the 3100 mile race 10 times.
Ashrita, staying in Turkey, set a new Guinness World Record recently. The Record was for the fastest mile for spinning a child's top. The record entails keeping the spinning top going continuously for a measured mile in the fastest time. Subject to ratification by Guinness, Ashrita succeeded in setting a new record in a time of under 1 hour 30 mins.
View: Ashrita's New Blog
View: An embarrassing moment incident from Ashrita's training.
Ashrita juggling upside down
In the company of Tigers Ashrita Furman , of Queens Jamaica set a new record for Juggling upside down in Conneticut's Beardsley Zoo. Ashrita successfully juggled three balls 248 times while hanging upside down in a pair of gravity boots. The previous Guinness record for that event had been 197 juggles. Inevitably Ashrita gets asked why he does these records. I think the main reason is that he really enjoys doing them. We all get joy out of doing better and transcending ourselves. Through his meditation and studying under Sri Chinmoy, Ashrita has shown how we can do many things which otherwise may seem "impossible" His versatility is particularly admirable.
Photo by Jowan Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
The 24 Hour Self Transcendence Race is organised by Sri Chinmoy A.C It is been held on an annual basis for several years now.
Before the start of the Race. The counting shed is in the background.
I did a counting shift for 12 hours from 12am to 12pm, I admired those counters who were going to stay for the whole 24 hours. The runners were also going very well, with only one abandon out of 43 runners in the first 12 hours.
Ashirta Furman, of Queens, N.Y., established a record for running a mile on tin pots earlier that afternoon, with a time of 18 minutes and 26 seconds. The pots were held against his shoes by hand-held strings. A stipulation of the record was that the tin pots musn't fall off.
The record was set at POWNAL Green Mountain Race Track on Friday 8th September. After setting and submitting a record it usually takes about 6 weeks for it to be ratified by Guiness.
Furman credits his study of meditation, under the tutelage of Sri Chinmoy, for his ability to break so many records.
"It's all in fun, but there's a serious side because there's
physical conditioning and a lot of mental focus required," he said.
"You really have to focus deep within yourself. I really have to use
the training I got from meditation to be very one-pointed and not allow
other distractions to stop me."
- Today was the 5th edition of the Self Transcendence Marathon.
- The race was started by Sri Chinmoy who offered a brief meditation and some kind words of encouragement to the runners. However as one of the lead cyclists I was someway off and didn't here the exact words.
- I usually enjoy the job of being a lead cyclist but after half an hour the heavens opened and I got quite wet. At least it was warmer rain than English rain.
Not for the faint hearted to say the least: article on: Tendai Marathon Monks
"...What makes all these distances even more amazing is the manner and the conditions in which the monks run. These runs are usually begun at night and are over mountain paths that are uneven and poorly marked. During the winter months the low temperatures and snow are a great hindrance to the runners. These monks do not wear the latest in footwear and clothing, but run in straw sandals, an all-white outfit and a straw hat. They also run on a diet of vegetables, tofu and miso soup, which modern athletes and nutritionists would deem to be unsuitable for endurance events...."
I have another blog about Self Transcendence. It includes features from the 3100 Mile Self Transcendence Race and some of Ashrita's world records.
As well as encompassing physical feats "Self Transcendence "also embodies a spiritual concept of transcending the ego. I came across a site with some interviews of different people's views on what self transcendence means. The blog entry is here "What is Self Transcendence"
I was pleased to see an Oxford don taking part and also Karen Armstrong who has written many informative books on spirituality and religion.
Sri Chinmoy places great importance to self transcendence and it is an integral part of his own philosophy. I will be leaving for New York tomorrow to take part in Sri Chinmoy's 75th Birthday celebrations.
On the 25th I will be one of the leading cyclists in the Self Transcendence Marathon.
(This by the way is the best way to take part in a marathon)
Ashrita Furman has always had a fascination with Guinness World Records. As a young boy he used to spend many hours reading the book. However it was his spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy who encouraged him to actually break records back in the 1970s. Since then Ashrita has been able to find many diverse and unique ways to practise self transcendence getting his own Guinness World Records for holding the most records.
Guiness Record for Largest Hula Hoop
I have been fortunate to see Ashrita attempt many records. I was once walking through Queens past Ashrita's house to see him attempting a record to balance the most number of pint glasses on his chin. He didn't actually break that record (although he did break many pint glasses...) However it illustrates how he is always thinking and attempting new records.
This year has been a particularly good year. I think he has broken at least 14 records. Including 3 in the same Hour! See Video of 3 records in one hour
Including this record of Juggling on a Pogo Stick
