It's strange to think that the Russians have beaten the Americans. They did it with Sputnik and America was terrified. We started the "space race" to the moon. I visited the Space Museum in Moscow. I was surprised that the Sputnik on display looked so cheap. All the technology from the 1960s that had me so amazed was on display there, and it all looked like your grandmother's old toaster.
And yet Americans couldn't stand that the Russians had won. We needed to put a man on the moon to regain our reputation.
The cold war was on. It came and went, we declared peace with the Russians. But years on, we're at war again, this time over oil and Ukraine and a dozen other reasons. It seems we never forgave the Russians for being first in space. But now, Russia is beating us in another category: spirituality. The United States moves at a furious pace to exploit everything.
We outpace the world in energy consumption, and in consuming pretty much all the important world resources, but at what cost? Stress, drug-addiction, insomnia, autism, crime, violence, suicide, gun deaths...
In America, spirituality is treated by cynical materialists as a waste of time. Watch Fox News or CNN to get the average American take. The media laughs at yoga.
The token Indian character on the popular TV show "Big Bang" is laughed at for his strange ethnicity.
Apu, the token Hindu on the "Simpsons" gets the same treatment.
India's Prime Minister is considered an extremist for being sympathetic to Hindu causes.
And so on.
Russia is considered a closed totalitarian society,
And yet, Russians and Ukrainians are not cold and cynical, but warm and open to new spiritual ideas, in my humble opinion. This was my personal experience on my visit there. I found that there was great receptivity to Krishna Consciousness.
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| At Veda Life Festival, Ukraine |
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| Vedalife Festival, Ukraine |
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| Hotel conference in Kiev, Ukraine |
Wherever I spoke I met inquisitive intelligent young people interested in acquiring a deeper level of spiritual knowledge. I can't say that I have any real wisdom, but everyone wanted to know more about the books we published in the 80s at Guardian of Devotion Press. I was amazed.
I'm writing this post to thank all my friends in Ukraine and Russia for being so kind with me, for setting an example with their enthusiasm, and for showing me that the ancient wisdom traditions of India, and especially bhakti-yoga, have a bright future in the snows of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kiev.
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| Techno-genius of Ukraine, Lila Sundar |
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| With Arjuna and friends |
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| Ananda Vardan and Nitya Gopal |
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| The future is so bright I need sunglasses. |
