Friday, July 28, 2017

#11 Big Apple


6 comments:

Paul Gutheil said...

Pardon my ignorance , but who the heck is Sri Chinmoy?

Buckles said...

I was trying to remember the same thing.
Paul appears to be puzzled as well.

Paul Gutheil said...

"Indian spiritual master" born 1931, died around 2005.

Don said...

This was an interesting event. Sri Chimoy had a spiritual compound in Queens and was a frequent visitor to Big Apple Circus. Early on, Chimoy followers would appear at tent raising and offer to volunteer their services as part of their community outreach. Toward the end of his life, Chimoy promoted a series of appearances where he lifted heavy objects to the adoration and amazement of his followers, proving to them the rewards of a spiritual life. One year when BAC was playing Cunningham Park in Queens, a representative from the organization came to BAC and proposed that the master lift an elephant. The PR and development departments saw the opportunity to gain some press and a rental fee and agreed.

Don Covington

Don said...

Though Sri Chimoy arrived in the big top on Anna May, he wisely elected to lift Amy instead. Amy was positioned on a platform attached to a device with several levers and pulleys. Sri Chimoy laid on his back and used his legs to raise a padded bar that was attached to the contraption. A scale showed Amy's weight (abut 3,000 pounds at the time) and an assistant standing next to the platform watched the platform for any sign of movement. The master meditated while his followers chanted, then suddenly, the assistant jumped in the air and announced that the platform had moved. Sri Chimoy had lifted an elephant. Pandemonium broke out among his followers who left the big top singing and chanting. The master wiped off with a towel, was whisked into a waiting Rolls Royce and disappeared. All of this happened at an early hour with only a few BAC representatives there to see the miracle. I was one of them.

Don Covington

Paul Gutheil said...

Thanks Don, great info. There's a lot of money to be made in religion, a Rolls Royce huh, and he's not the only one. Sri & Amy "Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see."