Lenin’s Country and Osho’s Message
Many seekers from Russia have taken initiation in Tapoban. At their invitation, our Russian lead and I were on a one-month trip to Russia with the activities of Sadhana camps in five cities. Before going to Russia, we traveled and preached in Vrindavan and Gokul, Krishna’s favorite land. Likewise, a one-day camp was held at Times of India’s Oneness Center located at Tilak Marg in Delhi, which was also covered by NepalOne. A week after our trip to Russia, we enjoyed spiritual activity on the banks of the Ganges in Uttaranchal. Due to this very busy tour, I could not complete the task of writing weekly.
One could not disagree with this statement of Winston Churchill during his one month stay in Russia, he said – Russia is a mysterious land wrapped in unfathomable secrets. There is a time difference of 8 hours from the east corner to the west in the same country. Even after selling a large part of its far east, Alaska, to the United States and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia still occupies a quarter of the world’s land. It takes 12 days for an ordinary train and 7 and a half days for a super fast train to cover the east coast to west coast. The geographical diversity of this country spread over both continents of Asia and Europe is immense. The forest area of the never-to-be-crossed Siberia alone is the size of India, 25 percent of the world’s forests. Similarly, the Volga region and the Volga River, which are important from a commercial, historical and cultural point of view, are the national pride of Russia. The victory over the Nazi soldiers in World War II began here.
The literature, art and music of pre-communist Russia also reached its peak around this point. It was here that poets and writers of great rank such as Pushkin, Lermontov, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Tolstoy, Gorky and other highly talented writers who influenced world literature were born. More than 50 percent of the best novels created around the world are written by Russian authors. A person who once set his foot on this land, who has developed the ability to fight alone against the entire world, can’t help but be surprised if he goes on a visit to it. This country, which is full of natural resources, has fallen under the wrath of political short-sightedness like Nepal, so its people have to suffer war, starvation and the excesses of the state. The inequality between the rich and the poor seems to be increasing in this country, which is moving from the old political system to the new system.
On average, a Russian consumes three times more alcohol than a citizen of a developed country. The average life expectancy of a Russian man is 58 years, while the average life expectancy of a woman is 71 years. In Russia, which had a population of 160 million during communism, the population has now decreased to 140 million and by the year 2030, that number is expected to drop to 123 million. The main reason for this tragedy is the social distortion brought about by excessive alcohol consumption and market-oriented economy. The religion of the state is ancient Pravoslav Christianity, while Judaism, Islam and Buddhism are also recognized by the state.
There were 500,000 Buddhists in the early 1980s, and this number is increasing rapidly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
After the rise of communism, during the time of Lenin and Stalin, relentless efforts were made to eradicate religion. Thousands of churches, mosques and Buddhist monasteries were destroyed by bulldozers. They were converted into prisons, madhouses and hospitals where the dozers could not reach. The very ancient Redeemer Church in Moscow was completely demolished. Later, a plan was started to build a giant statue of Lenin by building a helipad there, but after it collapsed many times during construction, the plan was abandoned and a large public swimming pool was built. After the fall of communism, after the swimming pool was removed, all the Russians collected donations and built the same magnificent church of memory. Because the church was built in that place, the Russians think that religion has finally received justice.
The search for religion within man is natural and eternal. For this search, he adopts many measures. Even if the ultra-materialistic theory tries to stop this thirst for some time by applying any force, it will be restored by itself as soon as the opportunity comes. After all, that is what is happening in Russia and other communist countries. The state which destroyed the religious and material structures indiscriminately to eradicate spirituality, made atheism a compulsory part of education, beheaded religious people, monks, sent them to labor camps, the same nation has failed after 73 years of relentless unnatural efforts. It should be forced to declare the national religion by the parliament.
The Russian society, which has been suffocated in the communist environment which has not found any spiritual path for so many years, is today in search of spirituality. Here, in the name of religion, many superstitions remain and are entering.
Out of Osho’s 700 books, more than 200 important books have been translated into Russian. About fifteen lakh books of Osho are sold every year. Most of the book lovers have known Osho and are curious about Osho. Currently, there are about 8,000 Osho sannyasins in Russia, all of whom are vegetarians. Most of them do not smoke or drink alcohol. This is encouraging in the background of Russian society. At the invitation of these sattvic sannyasis, we got the opportunity to conduct sadhana camps in five big cities. Around 800 people participated in the camp and 275 people took initiation in the neo-sannyas, visiting Moscow, the capital of Russia,, St. Petersburg, the most beautiful city of Russia, the cultural city of Ekaterinburg, the Siborian industrial cities of Tyumen and Novosibirsk. These friends are full of deep respect for this Himalayan state of Nepal and sadhana sthali Tapoban and they visit Nepal and their own spiritual capital Osho Tapoban every year.
On the day we arrived and on the day we left Russia, the warm love and hospitality we received in a distant country from Ambassador Mr. Hiranyalal Shrestha, local Nepali friends industrialist Mr. Upendra Mahato, Mr. Jiva Lamichhane, Mr. Krishna Rizal and many other friends at the welcome ceremony held at the Nepali Embassy in Moscow will be forever memorable for us.
