Bye Bye Moscow

Adios my Russian friends and Do Svidanya. It's time for me to move on. My Odyssey has taken me from the Pyramids of Mexico, to the snows of Russia.

At La Cañada de la Virgen Outside San Miguel de Allende

The Pyramid at La Cañada

Russian Orthodox church outside my window here in Moscow.

And now I'm on my way to Kiev, ancient center of the East, where Kievan Rus once dominated the Southern Plains. Ukraine, breadbasket of the world with its fine green apples and delicious baklava.

My search is a spiritual pilgrimage to Angkor Wat where the greatest Vaishnava civilization in history once held sway over the Indochinese peninsula and centered around Tonle Sap. More than a thousand years ago King Suryavarman began building the greatest temple complexes in the world dedicated to Vishnu and the cosmology of the Bhagavat Purana.

But I'm still searching for my self after all these years. In my younger days I was a great advocate for Krishna Consciousness, but frankly I faced so much opposition it was difficult to go on.  I went underground and into exile. I had done nothing wrong, but could not maintain my spiritual game at the intense level others expected of me.






After a long hiatus, I'm on the path again. Trying to make sense of it all. If you're also on the path, I'd like to hear from you. Feel free to comment.

The most amazing thing for me is the quality of the young people in Moscow who question authority and dive deep into spiritual awareness.

These warm-hearted souls melt the Russian snow with their kindness. On my path to self-discovery I have made a lot of friends. I will keep them in my heart forever. Parting is such sweet sorrow, it's hard to say goodbye to these folks who I hardly knew yesterday, but who are now part of my spiritual family. So, as we say in the mission, Moscow bhakta vrinda ki jai!


Some of the friends, yoga students, Hare Krishna devotees who have invited me to speak. It's hard to say goodbye to all these good people.


They even laughed at my jokes.


I could stay in Moscow forever with the great borscht, all the culture, and the happy devotees.





So thanks for all the inspiration, but it's time to say Adios, Do Svidanya, and Bye Bye, as I wing my way to Ukraine.

Kiev here I come.

Next stop: Kiev. There's a bit of a conflict between Russia and Ukraine at the present moment. But every day life in Kiev is more peaceful than the media would have you believe.
  

Let's leave conflict and violence behind and search for the inner peace of the soul.

Earlier this year, in August, I traveled to the Veda Life festival in Kiev 2014.  It was a joyous occasion with many truth-seekers from all over the world.

 Thousands of people from all walks of life showed up in the fine Ukrainian summer to listen to talks on the meaning of life...

Discuss transcendental life...

And to join together in pioneering new presentation technologies such as full dome...

Crowds were relaxed but serious practitioners of different yoga styles and disciplines. Our own Avadhuta Maharaja was there as an important organizer of the event.

A family affair, people brought their children. They hung out in the park, picknicked, listened to music and meditated.

Here's some links to give you an idea of the music and people involved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrlKcDw5Tuk

http://vedalife.com.ua/

Right now it's snowing in Moscow.

It must be pretty cold in Ukraine too.

But the warmth of the Russian Vaishnava community is enough to melt any heart, no matter how frozen, and so I make my plans and pack my bags again... for Ukraine.

See you soon.

Angkor: Bas Relief

As I'm wandering the streets of Moscow and speaking on Krishna at the Vedic center, I'm also continuing to study Angkor Wat. Here's a bas-relief of Krishna killing
Kamsa.


Here's an interesting link. Check it out.

http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/seasia/angkorwat/archi/aw13.html

Thanks for the memories

I'd like to thank everyone for all the love and support and positive messages. Sometimes I think I have all the strength and power of a young man of 25 years, but after a long walk in the chill snows of Moscow I can feel my age. My idea was for a flashmob of devotees to blow everyone's minds with
 kirtan on ice, but now I have a terrible sore throat and laryngitis and worry about continuing the talks we're doing.  After scouting locations yesterday, we finally decided to do as many Muscovites do in the freezing cold: visit a museum. This way I got out of my room and had a chance for some dialogue with the local devotees.

After a hearty breakfast and a short trip to the Vedalife Yoga shoppe here at the center

We ventured forth into the Moscow streets.

After a leisurely stroll around Red Square, we ended up in a local tea-drinking establishment.

We had a long chat about how young people with their natural enthusiasm will be the real hope for any future Vaishnava mission in the West. We swapped stories about India and Govinda Maharaja. I explained the project I'm doing with Avadhuta Maharaja and how the ancient ruins of Angkor are filled with the secrets of a lost Vaishnava culture. I drank Darjeeling and Muralishwara and the others sampled the Cacao.

And then it was off to the Museum, one of the best places to stay warm and continue the conversation. Nama Chintamani turned out to be quite the guide and she schooled us on the different styles of art and their meaning.

I asked a lot of questions about Russian culture. I think it's important, if you give a talk somewhere, to understand something about the traditions and ideas of the people you're talking to. I've always been fascinated with Russian traditions and languages, ever since I was a kid and studied Russian. The Cold War of the 1950s and 60s made such bogeymen of the Russians. I never believed the propaganada.

Pushkin was a great Russian poet. He is well loved by everyone, Russians, Ukrainians, rich and poor. He was the first to capture the beauty of the Russian language and demonstrate its simplicity and power.

Here I am with the great poet. No resemblance at all. Sorry. Well Pushkin died young as great poets do. I believe it was a duel, an affair of the heart.

After a few hours I was exhausted. We returned to the temple. Last night we had a pretty good crowd for a Monday. I talked about how the soul is naturally blissful, anandamayo bhyasat. How we forget this so often being moved by fear. Faith removes fear. Faith beings us higher. Of all the yoga schools, bhakti is the best. Divine love conquers all. I counseled humility and tolerance. They asked me if I had realized humility and tolerance and I confessed that I'm still working on it. I told the community here that they are doing something experimental, that we all come to Krishna in our own way, while we are under the guidance of our guru. But as each of us advances along the path at a different pace, we must be tolerant of those who might be slower and nonenvious of those who have achieved greater progress. The Moscow devotees were extremely generous and listened with attention. I felt a good vibration of great love and affection here. It was a very happy day in my life. Thanks to all and dandabatas.

Out around Moscow: Red Square

Here I am with my new friends in front of St. Basil's Square in Moscow.  We're laughing it up for the cameras. On the left is my faithful translator, expert in Sanskrit, Russian and English Muralishwar. On the right is Nama Chintamani Devi Dasi, she's also a good translator and works in media promotion for the Moscow Vedic center.

St. Basil's

The plan was to do a kirtan on ice at a skating rink close to the temple, but we decided, given the weather, it would be best to do it tomorrow, right here in Red Square, so stay tuned to this space, we won't disappoint you. Best time is at one o'clock.

With Prithu and Chintamani

After the group photos they said it would be good to have an author pose, so I gave it a shot.

The Author in Moscow

St. Basil's Cathedral

The lovely Nam Chintamani

The transcendental crew: Muralishwar, Chintamani, and my manager, Prithu Das

As we strolled around Red Square, we passed Christmas Trees and decorations. The big celebration here is New Years.We scouted some locations for tomorrow's kirtan on ice production, and finally, frozen to the bone we went for a nice hot Darjeeling Tea at the Vienna Tea house.

These buildings are part of the sights and sounds of downtown Moscow.

It was cold outside so we found a nice warm tea room to continue our discussions. Devotees wanted to know about the old days of the Hare Krishna people, Prabhupada, the 70s and preaching in the United States.

So we had a long talk about the future of the Moscow Center, plans for doing something in the United States, the existential spiritual pain of  Dostoyevsky, the genius of Pushkin, Rupa Goswami's message and the teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Appreciation was given to Avadhuta Maharaja, the mysterious Russian Swami behind all this largesse and  Bhakti Sudhir Goswami whose ideas have shaped the Russian Mission in a big way. It was decided that the best governing rule for future missions would be "No Vaishnava Aparadha."

Outdoor Ice Skating in Moscow

The thing to in Moscow during the winter time is ice skating.



In breezy subzero weather there's nothing like a nice punishing trip to the ice, skates strapped on, flashing down the ice.

With luck the amiable Hare Krishna people from the Moscow Vedic Yoga Center located conveniently across the street from the National Headquarters of the KGB will find themselves performing Hari nam sankirtan on ice skates in one of the fine outdoor skating rinks here in the nation's capital. Stay tuned to this space.

Angkor Wat

Of course the goal of our project is to do some filming and research around Angkor Wat.  My trip to Russia and Ukraine is a bit of a detour along tlyhe way. Here's some more information for those of you who were expecting more about Angkor. This is from the UNESCO site. I had a few complaints that the links I put up weren't working correctly,  so I'm posting it here.

Angkor

Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia. Stretching over some 400 km2, including forested area, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th century. They include the famous Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations. UNESCO has set up a wide-ranging programme to safeguard this symbolic site and its surroundings.