Until the truth is known
Mumbai, India
The news was troubling to everyone. Coonspicuous by his absence is one of our finest monks, Bhakti Vijnan Swami. He is not present at our Mumbai meetings because he’s fighting a battle on his home front in Russia.
Apparently Russian authorities are claiming that the sacred teachings of the Gita incite “extremist” attitudes. Practitioners of bhakti-yoga are potential terrorists.
Please! The charge is extremist.
In India there is a history of pacificism. On the one hand you have centuries of brute force entering in, with minor resistance. On the other hand you have rejected outsiders coming in as genuine refugees. Always accommodating, always open-armed, all embracing and always warm - that is mother India.
If anything is violent about the Gita we may not necessarily deny the aggressive connotations in its contents. A war did take place, at Kurukshetra. Moreover the reader of the Gita is to glean the more relevant message of challenging the enemies within. There are kama(lust), krodha(anger) and lobha(greed), they need to be harnessed. That, in all frankness is the implication. It’s a good message and deserves universal application. In any event the charge is false.
This is what is troubling my mind as I plod along by Juhu Beach. The world is full of misunderstandings because perceptions are imperfect. Such is the world. And yet the combat cannot cease until the truth is known.
7 KM
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