Joshua Greene Interview

My Journalism HW assignment this week was to interview someone and write a "personal piece".So at the time I just finished reading this book about George Harrison. I just so happened to see the guy who wrote it teaches at Hofstra University, which is about 20 minutes away from me.So I figured it was worth a shot to try for an interview, and before I knew it,I was off to Hofstra with an appointment to talk with the author,and this guy actually KNEW Georgie!

He was VERY cool, and shared lots of cool stuff with me ( I could write two pieces with all the information he told me!).It was so great to talk to someone who spent time with George, and the portrayal he gave me was nothing that would surprise me about Georgie.He was VERY special person after all... :)

This is a VERY rough draft of my HW assignment.I still have to grammar check,lede support,and all those other tedious things journalists have to do before their story goes to print, but this is the general gist of the piece.

And that awesome book I'm talking about?

You can check it out
here



J201 Personal Piece: Joshua Greene



Ask Joshua Greene what he was doing in 1970 and his answer might surprise you. "I was 19 and was invited to Apple Studios to record with George Harrison" he says.How does one get such an opportunity with a member of arguably the greatest band of all time? Through religion, of course.

For Greene,the journey started while he was attending college,where he played the Organ in a band with fellow classmates.He began to develop an interest in Hinduism after visiting a Temple in Paris in 1970.Later that same year he traveled to London to visit the Radha Krsna Temple,and while there, met a "Pujari" (Priest)and expressed his growing admiration for Hindu worship.When the Pujari questioned Greene more about himself, Greene shared one tidbit that would change his life forever. "I told him I used to play in a band in college" he says "And he asked 'what did you play' and I said 'Organ' and he said 'Come with us'". The next thing Greene knew, he was being ushered into a nearby waiting car. "I asked where we were going" he says, "And the Pujari replied 'Abbey Road Studios'".

Once at the studio, Greene met with members of the "Radha Krishna Band", a group of devotees that recorded Indian devotional music.Then,as Greene recalls, George Harrison walked into the room.

So what was he like? "Thin" Greene laughs "And he was just a real warm,friendly human being.He liked being around people who treated him as just that.If he caught any kind of gleam in someone's eye at being in the presence of a Beatle, he would shy away from them completely".Harrison was also extremely selfless. "He had a tremendous amount of humility. He was never center stage on anything. He was always about the music,and putting the music first before anything."

Harrison was also personally focused on getting his spiritual message across. "He wanted to convey his own personal message of spiritual importance through his music." Green says "It wasn't fame and fortune that made him feel powerful, it was his own consciousness as a spiritual being that made him feel powerful." Harrison, a devotee of Hinduism, practiced Yoga and Meditation underneath the guidance of several "gurus", and on some occasions, Greene would also be in attendance during these sessions. "He would wave from outside the Temple, come in and chant with the rest of devotees.He wasn't any different from anyone else.", he says.

Greene's experience's with Harrison inspired him to write his book "Here Comes The Sun", an in-depth view into Harrison's spiritual journey through Indian Devotional Study. While the portrait painted of Harrison's life in the book is done in an objective sense, Greene says he still had doubts about whether or not to publish his work. "I was very undecided" he says, "I didn't want to put it out there for my own benefit.As an 'I'm an author now' kind of thing.I wanted to make sure I was doing it for the right reasons."

How was he able to go through with it? "I had to have a private conversation with George in my mind, It was like I needed his reassurance in order to do it." And eventually, he did. "My motive for writing the book wasn't monetary or for any personal gain.It was about sharing the story of a man who cultivated his existence by living a pure,spiritual life, and spreading the message of seeing the spiritual way." With that in mind, Would Harrison approve? "Yes" Greene said,"Knowing that my motives are pure,I think he'd be okay with it."


Joshua Greene is a Professor of Yoga & Philosophy at Hofstra University.