recent column<\/a> about a conversation with a Russian Orthodox priest on his views about the Hare Krishna movement drew mixed reactions. While many readers from India seemed to agree with the priest, I received a barrage of hate messages on Facebook calling me all sorts of things from a \u201cKGB agent\u201d to a \u201cjihadi\u201d (!) A good friend pointed out that the fact that I was getting \u201chate mails from bigots\u201d meant that I was doing something right. Amidst this bombardment, I received a message from a Russian Hare Krishna devotee who has been living in Mumbai for the last 12 years. Without criticising the views of the Orthodox priest, he asked for an opportunity to put his own views and set the record straight. <\/p>\nTaraka Nath Das, born Alexei Mikhailov in the Leningrad Region in 1970, is married to an Indian ISKCON devotee and is happy to live in a country, where a large number of people are vegetarians. \u201cKrishna changed my life,\u201d says the devotee who faced the worst kinds of financial hardships and had several run-ins with the law after the collapse of the Soviet Union. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t a banned narcotic substance that I didn\u2019t try and I can\u2019t remember how often I was drunk, although I was not an alcoholic,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Das says he first got acquainted with the Hare Krishna movement on a cold winter night in St Petersburg in 1995, when he was \u201cfreezing and starving\u201d and a believer in a random act of kindness treated him to a warm vegetarian meal. \u201cThere was nothing sinister in her act\u2026She could see my suffering and offered to help me.\u201d He says he found his answers in the law of karma and the concept of love for all living beings and devotion to Krishna changed his life. \u201cIn 17 years, I haven\u2019t had one drop of alcohol and not eaten any meat or fish,\u201d Das says. \u201cAnimals have as much of a right to live as human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Russian Krishnaite said he respected the right of the Orthodox priest to have an opinion but felt the young man was misguided. \u201cWe have absolutely no political agenda of any kind. Even if we had 100,000 followers in Russia, could we possibly topple a government in a country of 140 million?\u201d Das agreed that there were many followers from Western countries but insisted that these people merely sought salvation from the \u201cvicious cycle of karma.\u201d He said his guru told him about how some Western intelligence agents \u201cpenetrated the ranks of the movement,\u201d but added that these were the exception and not the rule.<\/p>\n
\u201cRussians, like Indians, strongly resist change and any idea that is considered new,\u201d he said, \u201cand that\u2019s why there is suspicion against the movement.\u201d Das said yoga was looked upon with suspicion a few decades ago in the country but now even stringent followers of the Orthodox faith practice the Indian system of physical and mental wellness. \u201cIt\u2019s only matter of time before those who have misplaced fears understand that we\u2019re not on some sort of political mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
Das said the movement wasn\u2019t on a conversion mission. \u201cEvery religion is right and is just a human quest to be one with the creator\u2026Our belief is that love for the maker calls for the love for all his creations.\u201d He insisted that the basic principles of the movement called for a \u201cfew lifestyle changes\u201d and a devotion to God, by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. These changes included refraining from eating meat and fish, alcohol and drugs, illicit sex and gambling. \u201cI know I am a lot healthier now than I was when I was consuming meat and alcohol.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although he seemed flexible on many things, Das insisted that the \u201cBhagavad Gita, As it is\u201d is the only authentic edition of the Hindu holy book. \u201cKrishna narrated the Gita to Arjuna and there\u2019s no dispute about what he said\u2026 even the most learned scholars will agree to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Das said the movement was shamed by the sex scandals and other controversies that plagued it in the 1970s and 80s. \u201cWe continue to suffer because of all that, but then that doesn\u2019t make our beliefs wrong, just like some rogue priests don\u2019t tarnish the reputation of the Catholic Church.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Russian devotee does not fear any kind of persecution of ISKCON followers in Russia. \u201cOur constitution guarantees freedom of religion and this won\u2019t be impinged upon.\u201d He said land issues in an inflated real estate market were the cause of the Moscow community not finding a permanent place for their temple. \u201cWe have community centres and temples in several regions in Russia and face no problems there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t help but feel that I interacted with a man who made peace with himself and seemed to be living a happy and fulfilling life in suburban Mumbai.<\/p>\n
Source: http:\/\/indrus.in\/blogs\/2013\/10\/02\/a_russian_krishnaite_responds_to_allegations_against_iskcon_29841.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/WG1sA3N.jpg\")
By Ajay Kamalakaran<\/strong> <\/p>\nThe Russian Krishnaite said he respected the right of the Orthodox priest to have an opinion but felt the young man was misguided. \u201cWe have absolutely no political agenda of any kind. Even if we had 100,000 followers in Russia, could we possibly topple a government in a country of 140 million?\u201d Das agreed that there were many followers from Western countries but insisted that these people merely sought salvation from the \u201cvicious cycle of karma.\u201d He said his guru told him about how some Western intelligence agents \u201cpenetrated the ranks of the movement,\u201d but added that these were the exception and not the rule. \u201cRussians, like Indians, strongly resist change and any idea that is considered new,\u201d he said, \u201cand that\u2019s why there is suspicion against the movement.\u201d Das said yoga was looked upon with suspicion a few decades ago in the country but now even stringent followers of the Orthodox faith practice the Indian system of physical and mental wellness. \u201cIt\u2019s only matter of time before those who have misplaced fears understand that we\u2019re not on some sort of political mission.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11993"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35050,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11993\/revisions\/35050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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