Traveling to the Russian Border for Krishna

On Saturday 1 November after an ecstatic morning program at Tallinn's Hare Krishna temple capped off by my giving a lecture on the Srimad Bhagavatam, we drove 210 kilometers east from Tallinn to Estonia's border with Russia, to the border city of Narva to do a home program for the local Hare Krishna community. The cold weather was more than offset by the wonderful, warm welcome we received from the devotees upon our arrival. The living room of Anton's small Soviet era apartment could hardly accommodate the many guests. So everyone squeezed in as tightly as possible utilizing every square inch of space. In this way we were able to get almost everyone into the room leaving only a few to join the kirtan and hear the lecture from outside in the hall. After a rousing Hare Krishna kirtan I explained to the assembled devotees how the Krishna consciousness movement must now take the leadership role on this planet to guide the human society in all spheres of activity since the current world leaders are completely unqualified and incompetent to give peace, happiness, and prosperity to the earth's people. Following my lecture there was a wonderful and enlivening question and answer session as well. We had to make the program brief so that we could get back to Tallinn in time for my evening lecture at the Hare Krishna temple there. In this way our day was super charged with nectar and we could feel the sublime satisfaction of knowing that we had fully engaged our day in the service of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya. This is the perfection of the human form of life.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Warm Arrival Welcome on a Cold Day
Narva, Estonia--1 November 2014

Super Ecstatic Home Program
Narva, Estonia--1 November 2014

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Question: Do I Have to Reject My Buddhism?

I am so sorry that I am sending another question to such a busy person like you. But please clear my confusion. I am a Buddhist, but recently I have started chanting the Hare Krishna mahamantra. The quality of my life has gradually improved. I am feeling very attracted to Krishna and once when I was about to eat I was brought to tears. (I still am not a vegetarian so my meal contained meat, onions, and garlic.) I felt very bad that I was enjoying separately from my eternal well wisher. I am totally shaken by this. But still by converting I am worried that I would upset my family who are Buddhists. My Buddhist beliefs are still clinging to me. I am totally torn. Please guide me! Please explain also how a Vaishnava would view a Buddhist. I live in Burma, and I have no ISKCON center near me There are two but they are out of my reach. Please guide me.

Kuang Zaw Han

Answer: Just Become a Real Buddhist

I am most pleased to hear that you now taking to Krishna consciousness. I understand that you are feeling disturbed about abandoning your family tradition of Buddhism. But I can assure you that there is absolutely nothing for you to be concerned about. Lord Buddha is Krishna Himself appearing at a time when the animals were being slaughtered by a misapplication of the Vedic injunctions. Therefore to stop the animal slaughter he denied the Vedas and taught the principles of karma and non-violence. This was a temporary stopgap solution to save the poor animals. Therefore even though Buddha as an emergency measure taught atheism we Krishnites have the highest regard for Lord Buddha. He is celebrated in the famous song by Jayadeva Goswami "Das Avatar" as follows:

nindasi yajña-vidher ahaha śruti-jātaṁ
sadaya-hṛdaya darśita-paśu-ghātam
keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare

"O Keśava! O Lord of the universe! O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of Buddha! All glories to You! O Buddha of compassionate heart, you decry the slaughtering of poor animals performed according to the rules of Vedic sacrifice."

When one understands that Lord Buddha is Krishna Himself on an undercover mission he will not experience any conflict between Buddha and Krishna. The difficulty is that the modern day Buddhists are not really Buddhists because they eat meat and thus do not follow Buddha. If they would actually follow Lord Buddha, we would appreciate them very much. In this connection our spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, stated in Columbus, Ohio on 10 May, 1969 in a conversation with a guest:

"Either you follow Lord Jesus Christ or Lord Buddha or Krishna, it doesn't matter much. But do it perfectly. That is our request."

Therefore to be a true Buddhist one must adopt a vegetarian diet. One cannot continue eating meat and be a Buddhist or a devotee of Krishna. By your taking now to Krishna consciousness you will become a perfect Buddhist. So please continue chanting Hare Krishna and give up the sinful habit of meat eating. In this way Lord Buddha and Lord Krishna will be very pleased with you, and they will shower their mercy upon you.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari