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[Rteacher]

The following illustrates that religious intolerance, ignorance and envy are alive and well in Russia:

by HINCOM

Posted December 14, 2005

Hindus all over the world have expressed outrage and anger after a leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Nikon called the Hindu God, Lord Krishna an 'evil demon' around the time of Indian Prime Minister's state visit to Moscow to meet Russian President Putin.

In a letter to the Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, wired by Interfax news agency on November 30, Archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Nikon called Lord Krishna "an evil demon, the personified power of hell opposing God", and "a livid lascivious youth".

The Archbishop further requested the Mayor to ban construction of a proposed Hindu temple in Moscow saying it would otherwise become "an idolatrous disgrace erected for the glory of wicked and malicious 'god' Krishna".

"Construction of the temple to Krishna offends our religious feelings and insults the thousand-year religious culture of Russia ," Interfax quoted Archbishop Nikon as saying.

"We cannot believe that in this age of respect and multi-cultural co-existence, a leader of the Russian Church chooses to make statements that are intolerant and disrespectful to one billion Hindus in the world," said Kishore Ruparelia, speaking on behalf of the Defend Russian Hindus Campaign launched in London last week...

http://www.defendrussianhindus.org/index.php?id=5

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[shakuhachi]

It makes sense to me. After all, if you believe there is only one god, then all other 'gods' have to be devilish entities.

[Rteacher]

There is only one God, but according to His various activities and qualities He has many different transcendental names. Moreover, because in the material world there are many different types and classes of people with different levels of understanding, only some aspects of God are revealed accordingly. One should not unnecessarily criticise another religion (that may be on a higher - or lower - level). The materialistic motives for doing so are usually ignorance and envy. When sectarian religionists make remarks like this "Archbishop" did they reveal themselves to be either fools bereft of spiritual knowledge - or else demons in the guise of "religious leaders".
This guy seemed particulary disturbed by various descriptions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the (expanded) Vishnu form, God does rest on a mystic serpent, Ananta Sesa, who constantly chants Sanskrit mantras in glorification of the Lord with his one-thousand tongues:

Note that Vishnu, God, is the central figure, flanked by the two most powerful demigods: Brahma (in charge of engineering universal creation through a mystic yoga process - his lifespan extends 311 trillion human years...) and Siva (another fully empowered mystic yogi in charge of various partial annihilations that occur during each night of Brahma and the total annihilation that takes place at the end of Brahma's lifetime ...

The Russian troll also has a problem with Krishna's casual appearance and reputation for "lascivious" behavior (He's not a "nice God"). Because He is the Supreme Pure, there is no taint of material contamination in any of Krishna's transcendental relationships (displayed on this planet about 5000 years ago - and still remembered and glorified by devotees...)

[Rteacher]

Admittedly, this incarnation of Krishna does not appear to be very "nice":

[Rteacher]

...And Krishna may also be considered the "Supreme Hippie" - Here He is appearing as the original "Flower Child":

[Rteacher]

The Russian Archbishop may have considered this pose "lascivious":

[Satori]

[hojucandy]

[Rteacher]

In the Srimad Bhagavatam (aka Bhagavat Purana) which is the natural commentary on the Vedanta-sutra (by the same author, Vyasadeva) there is a listing of all prominent incarnations and avatars. Included on the list of "dasa-avatars" or lila-avatars are both Narasima (or Nrshringa) the "Man-Lion" incarnation and Krishna, who is listed as the eigth great (maha) avatar of Vishnu. Following the list, however, Vyasadeva notes that all avatars and incarnations mentioned are either expansions, expansions of expansions, or plenary portions of the Absolute Person, but that Krishna (Krishnas tu Bhagavan swayam...) is the source of all other avatars and is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead (Bhagavan). The infinite Vishnu expansions of Krishna are equally powerful and are also "God" - just as one candle lit from another is just as luminous - but the orginal is still the original. (We are also expansions of Krishna, but we are eternally infinitessimal and dependent on God...) The following is just a couple lists from Wikipedia (because it's hard to copy quotes directly from the Bhagavatam...)

The ten Avatars, or Dasavatara

Matsya, the fish, appeared in the Satya Yuga.

Kurma, the tortoise, appeared in the Satya Yuga.

Varaha, the boar, appeared in the Satya Yuga.

Narasimha, the Man-Lion (Nara = man, simha = lion), appeared in the
Satya Yuga.

Vamana, the Dwarf, appeared in the Treta Yuga.

Parashurama, Rama with the axe, appeared in the Treta Yuga.

Rama, Sri Ramachandra, the prince and king of Ayodhya, appeared in the Treta Yuga.

Krishna (meaning dark or black; see also other meanings in the article about him.), appeared in the Dwapar Yuga.

Balarama (meaning one who holds a plough) or Buddha (see below).
Balarama is said to have appeared in the Treta Yuga (along with Krishna) whereas Buddha in the Kali Yuga.

Kalki ("Eternity", or "time", or "The Destroyer of foulness"), who is expected to appear at the end of Kali Yuga, the time period in which we currently exist, which will end in the year 428899 CE.

The 25 Avatars of the Puranas

Puranas list twenty-five avataras of Vishnu. A description of these is found in the Bhagavata Purana, Canto 1.

1) Catursana 2) Narada 3) Varaha 4) Matsya 5) Yajna 6) Nara-Narayana 7) Kapila Dattatreya 9) Hayasirsa 10) Hamsa 11) Prsnigarbha 12) Rsabha 13) Prithu 14) Narasimha 15) Kurma 16) Dhanvantari 17) Mohini 1 Vamana 19) Parasurama 20) Raghavendra (Rama) 21) Vyasa 22) Balarama 23) Krishna 24) Buddha 25) Kalki

(Srila Vyasadeva, compiler of the Vedas, is considered the "literary incarnation" of God (or Vishnu)

[Rteacher]

Get your fundamental understanding in order: If you believe there is only one supreme God - known by various names in different religious traditions - then all other 'gods' are in fact demi-gods who are empowered (by the Supreme God) to perform various managerial functions in each universe... (Demigod worship is quite prevalent in India, but Krishna states in Bhagavad-gita that ultimately it is for less intelligent persons. The Christian Bible also discourages worshipping other 'gods' whose power is derived from the Almighty God...)

[hojucandy]

i take it yu are reading a translation. in the original bhagavatam purana krishna and narasingha are not equated, except in as much as they are both avatars of vishnu.

beliefs? i have no beliefs. these are just fairy tales. the bible, the puranas, the upanishads, even the veda - wonderful works of inspiring prose and poetry. one can learn from them but it is a mistake to believe them.

[Rteacher]

You might be right, "hojucandy" - and I agree that many people have misused and been misled by various interpretations of these literatures - but ultimately, I have much more faith that perfect knowledge can only be gotten from emissaries from the spiritual world than from our own imperfect attempts. Many of the stories in the Bhagavata Purana seem absolutely fantastic if not completely impossible, but if God is unlimitedly powerful - and if anything God dreams becomes reality - and if there are other dimensions and planes of existence we are unaware of (like civilizations on the sun...) then how can we say they can't be true?

[hojucandy]

its all a philosophical stance matey...

i think yu know me - i am vedantan... i try to keep away from all those dimensions. the mind makes them. i just want what is real...

yu know rteacher - after all our arguments, i have grown to like yu

om shanti bhakta brother

[Rteacher]

Well, I grew up in "The Twilight Zone" era so I'm geared to other dimensions... I also use the Beatles as a frame of reference a lot because of their real (and imagined) impact on music and culture in general. You seem more akin to John Lennon: during "Give Peace a Chance" he chanted Hare Krishna along with devotees, and then later declared in song that he didn't believe in "Jesus" or "Bible" or "Krishna" or "Gita", etc. - just "Yoko and me". I've heard that Yoko Oko helped divert him from the bhakti path by often reinforcing the impersonal idea that we're all Narayan ("You're God to me, John...") I ,on the other hand, identify more with George Harrison, who (despite some persistent bad habits - like smoking) - sincerely devoted himself and utilized his talents to spread Krishna Consciousness (Of course, he did millions of times more than me...) Anyway, we need to find Paul and Ringo types among the ex-pat communtiy before we can launch a revival "magical mystery tour"...

[Rteacher]

British Parliamentarians Seek Meeting With Foreign Secretary Over Harassment Of Russian Hindus
by Ramesh Kallidai, Hindu Forum Britain

Posted January 22, 2006

18 January 2006 - British Parliamentarians led by Lord Dholakia, Ashok Kumar MP and James Clappison MP will seek a meeting with the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to discuss the harassment of Russian Hindus and lead a delegation to meet the Russian Ambassador in the UK, it was announced at the launch of the Defend Russian Hindus Campaign at the House of Commons on 18th January. The Campaign which is led by the Hindu Forum of Britain and a number of national and regional Hindu organisations in UK, USA, Australia, Africa and Canada, succeeded in passing a resolution urging the Moscow Government to stop harassment of Russian Hindus and allow them to build a place of worship after it was demolished nearly two years ago. Parliamentarians from all three parties will also file an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons seeking the support of MPS from across the party lines.

The launch at the House of Commons was attended by members of the Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Christian organisations in the UK, who unanimously called for more respect and tolerance to allow Russian Hindus the same right to a place of worship as other communities.

"The crux of the issue is that Russian Hindus were given a temple which was demolished to make way for a commercial complex and were then promised a piece of land to build another temple. This has now been taken back and Hindus in Russia have no place to worship," said Lord Dholakia. "We will therefore be seeking a meeting with the Russian Ambassador in the UK with a view to arranging a visit to Russia to discuss this issue with the Orthodox Church and Moscow authorities."

"The Hindu community in the UK has come of age with organisations like the Hindu Forum of Britain taking up issues like these," explained Ashok Kumar, the main host for the reception. "We will now speak to the Foreign Secretary to seek a meeting and address some of the issues raised by the global Hindu community regarding the issues in Russia." ...
http://www.chakra.org/news/newsJan22_06.html