George Harrison Appreciated That His Friends in the Hare Kare Krishna Temple Didn’t Misuse His Friendship
George Harrison appreciated that his friends in Hare Krishna Temple didn’t misuse his friendship. They never asked too much of him as others did in his life. Being a famous rock star sometimes meant people always wanted a piece of you.
George Harrison wanted to help his friends in the Hare Krishna Temple
According to George’s friend, Al Aronowitz, part of his charm “is that he always feels so inadequate to repay the world for what the world has given him. Acts of kindness have become an art with him.”
George’s sister, Louise, added, “An art, yes, that’s how it was with him. He would pay people’s hospital bills and do other random acts of kindness—not so that people would think well of him but simply because he believed kindness should be done in the world. Okay, he was on a spiritual search, but he was a good human being.”
George never stopped being generous and kind. Members of the Hare Krishna Temple were some of the many who saw that side of the Beatle.
George met Shyamsundar, a devotee of the Haight-Ashbury temple, at The Beatles’ Christmas party in 1969. He told George he and the other devotees were living in a warehouse in Covent Garden and hoped to establish a temple in London.
Suddenly, George made it his mission to help them. First, to help them spread the word of their cause, George produced a single for them, “Hare Krsna Mantra,” and then their album, The Radha Krishna Temple. However, George continued to support his spiritual friends for years.
George was thankful that his friends in the Hare Krishna Temple didn’t misuse his friendship
Everything that George did for the Hare Krishna Temple came from a place of love and devotion. He loved spirituality and was willing to do anything for the devotees and their guru, Bhaktivedanta Swami, a.k.a. Prabhupada, because they didn’t misuse his friendship.
In Here Comes The Sun: The Spiritual And Musical Journey Of George Harrison, Joshua M. Greene wrote, “George appreciated that the devotees did not misuse his friendship. Prabhupada’s London group made no public announcements concerning their time with him and never exploited his affection.
“We never even accepted taxi fare,” one devotee said. “That discretion motivated George to focus the spotlight on them and lend a helping hand whenever possible,” Greene continued.
Although, the devotees and their guru did almost overstep their bounds.
A strange occurrence happened when a devotee asked George for money
George never ceased his kindness and generosity to the members of the Hare Krishna Temple. While establishing their temple in London, George let the devotees live at his new home, Friar Park.
Then, in December 1969, they moved into their temple on Oxford Street. George signed the lease as guarantor. Even though George wasn’t initiated into the temple, the guru encouraged George to carry on serving Krishna. George commissioned the temple’s marble altarpiece.
Meanwhile, Prabhupada began writing KRSNA Book. When Shyamsundar saw the book’s hundreds of pages, he knew what his guru would ask him. “Kindly ask George to publish this book,” Prabhupada said. “It will cost nineteen thousand dollars to print five thousand copies, with fifty-four color pages.”
“Shyamsundar’s shoulders slumped and he stared at his hands,” Greene wrote. “Nineteen thousand dollars might not have been a lot of money to someone as wealthy as George, but there was a higher principle involved.”
“‘Swamiji, we must be very careful with George,” the devotee told his guru. “We never ask him for anything. We just try to give to him, not take anything from him. If he gives, it’s something he offers on his own.'” Prabhupada understood.
“From the outset of his mission in the West he had followed the same formula, giving people chanting and instruction and never asking for payment,” Green continued. “Nor was he asking for any payment now from George. This was a unique opportunity to bring an important scripture to Western readers and he was extending a chance for George to take part.”
“You may inform George that it is my personal request. You will see. Krishna will help you to say it,” the guru said. Days later, Shyamsundar, sculptor David Wynne, and George had dinner during a storm. Just as the devotee asked George to publish the book, the power went out.
George started to think his friend might be turning out like so many who wanted something from him, but the power outage seemed to be an act of God. Krishna was telling George he should help his friends once again. “Well,” he said to Shyamsundar, “there’s no arguing with that, is there?” Shyamsundar admitted, “Prabhupada said Krishna would help me, but that was a little much.”
George remained friends with the devotees of the Hare Krishna Temple. Other than publishing KRSNA Book, they never overstepped their bounds. Without George’s kindness, they might have never established their London temple.
