Translated material
Papers "on Hare Krishna"
On December 1, 2016, Indian yoga philosophy was included in the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage sites. A little earlier, on October 22, I gave a lecture “Types of Yoga” and was also included in the protocol of an administrative offense under the “Yarovaya Law” on charges of missionary activity, which I did not commit. They didn’t even let me read the protocol. I am concerned about the very fact of complete arbitrariness, which could lead to the persecution of many of my fellow citizens who practice yoga and study Indian philosophy, completely unaware of the possible danger.
Recently, there was a heated discussion on Facebook about an article by an Indian citizen, Prasun Prakash, who was subjected to dirty accusations and insults on the Internet, and then tried to infiltrate the Center for the Preservation and Development of Indian Culture, founded by his father. It is amazing that they are being persecuted for activities that cannot be portrayed as missionary under any of the most sophisticated interpretations. They are persecuted for yoga - a culture with a multi-thousand-year history, for yoga, the beneficial effects of which on health have been confirmed by many medical studies, about which even during the Soviet Union popular science films were made and openly shown, about which Ivan Efremov wrote, which was taught to Soviet cosmonauts as one of the elements of physical training, the serious therapeutic value of which Jung wrote about, which is actively practiced all over the world by more than two hundred and fifty million people - in a word, there are signs that a campaign is unfolding against an entire culture, against the great heritage of humanity, a very unfriendly xenophobic company towards only to yoga, but also to India itself, its traditions, its people.
On October 22 in St. Petersburg, I was invited to the Vedalife festival at Loft Project Floors to give a lecture on types of yoga. The audience was unprepared; many had heard about Indian philosophy for the first time. I tried to make the lecture as simple as possible. Nowadays yoga is perceived mainly as a means of healing. The general public is unaware of the worldview that underlies it and its high ethical and spiritual standards. Therefore, I have placed special emphasis on the philosophy and ethics of yoga. In my lecture, I spoke about the fundamentals that can be heard in classes in religious studies and Eastern philosophy in our humanitarian universities. True, this required some effort, since I had to shout over the loud music playing nearby on the stage.
After about forty minutes I was interrupted. There was noticeable excitement in the hall. I didn’t immediately understand what was happening, and only then did I notice the police officers entering. Several policemen approached me: one in uniform, the other in civilian clothes. As it turned out later, there were six or seven of them in total: the rest went to other festival events, checked documents, looked for organizers, and were nervous that they were being filmed - official representatives of the law at a public event. I was rather rudely asked to go with them. At first they wanted to take me out without a jacket, they acted rudely and cheekily, hoping to intimidate and not allow me to come to my senses. Fortunately, Sergei, a professional lawyer, who came to the festival as a guest, was in the hall. He made sure they let me get dressed. I persistently asked the employees whether I was officially detained or not, but they remained silent. They tried to quickly get me out, but the lawyer was clearly very difficult for them. He asked to draw up a protocol, asked to show identification, insisted that he was going to represent my interests, demanded that I be allowed to draw up a power of attorney in his name. The employees silently ignored all these legal demands and forcibly dragged me to the exit to the street where the car was parked. Resisting the employees meant creating a pretext for another, this time quite real, case, so I had to obey. Another uniformed officer approached on the street. Sergei threatened them with a direct call to the prosecutor. Then one of the employees finally showed his ID in the name of Arsen Magomedovich Magomedov, detective officer of the seventy-sixth operational unit. I was pushed into a police car, Sergei was waved away, and he and my friends followed in a taxi.
They took me to the 76th department on Ligovka. Sergei called and asked what condition I was in. Opera, I remember laughing. They asked if I understood that I would go to trial, that the judge would ask me unpleasant questions. They convinced me to sign pre-written testimony. They said: if you sign, you can go home calmly, but if you don’t, we’ll put you behind bars for two days, we have the right. Sergei warned me not to sign anything under any circumstances. Following his instructions, I refused to sign, taking advantage of my right not to testify against myself under Article 51 of the Constitution. After that they recorded a refusal. They threatened to sue me. I replied that they are executors of the law and can act within the framework of their professional duties. The district police officer asked if I understood that I was engaged in illegal missionary activity and what awaited me for this. It was the height of absurdity. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Mircea Eliade did not know that a simple retelling of information from their works recognized by science throughout the world would be called missionary and sectarian preaching. By this logic, any lecture on Indian philosophy in any university should be recognized as missionary. But I was only talking about how yogis imagine the law of karma and the path of liberation! Hundreds of such lectures are given annually to students of different faculties. They are used annually to write and defend coursework and diplomas. What would it be like for all this mass of students to find out that they were now illegal missionaries? The level of delirium was clearly off the charts.
In the duty station there was one rather intelligent-looking person among the employees. I don’t remember if I was in uniform or not. This person asked what my religious beliefs were, how I felt about Orthodoxy, whether I had a spiritual name, whether I lived at home or in a church. It was completely unclear what all this had to do with the matter. I answered him that I believe in Krishna, but in this case it has nothing to do with it, it is my deeply personal matter to believe in Krishna, Buddha, Cthulhu or the Spaghetti Monster, the lecture was not about that, besides, worshiping God is also one of types of yoga, namely bhakti yoga . Having heard an unfamiliar concept, the employee left me behind. Then they asked where I worked, I answered that I was a web programmer . They asked for a passport and took it. I sat down on a bench in the reception area along with other detainees.
About two hours later the operative arrived. He sat down at the table to write something with an intimidating look. At this time, Sergei called again, told me to call the prosecutor’s office and complain about the actions of the detectives, since they are obliged to draw up a report and release me, they have no right to detain. He sent me the prosecutor’s reception number via SMS. The operative said that I had the right to only one call (just like in American films about dangerous criminals!), and ordered me to turn off the phone, threatening that otherwise he would use force. I turned off the phone. Then he gave me a piece of blank paper and said that I had two options: either I would still deny everything and then I would spend two days here, that is, at least 48 hours, and they would put me in a cell, and then I would I will go to trial, or I handwrite a promise to appear on such and such a date with my signature, and they will immediately release me. I said I wouldn't sign a blank piece of paper. The operative asked: “Are you a moron?” I replied: “Call it what you want.” He left. I stayed in the waiting room, howled and cursed in the cell some woman who was not allowed to go to the toilet. Other officers came and went, dealing with ongoing arrests. There were boxes of fruit and pepper in the corner: a woman had been detained for trafficking. She poured the grapes into bags and very humbly gave them to the employees. She was released and the boxes were left behind. else was detained Someone for not registering the car, someone else for some swearing at O'Key. The woman on duty swore at the woman in the cell and with the detainees. I sat for quite a long time. Three from the duty station have already been released. of the opera men came One , asked the attendant for a Hare Krishna paper, took it and left. I went to the toilet, there were double doors without bolts, and there I turned on the phone and called my friends. They were already working hard, calmed me down and said that they should release me soon. Soon the duty officer actually said that I was free and could go. I asked: “What about the passport? They took my passport.” She was surprised and left. Ten minutes later she returned my passport to me. I went to the exit and, passing by a bored employee, asked for a copy of the protocol. He looked at me like I was half-witted and said that I was not entitled to any copy. How's that? What about the procedural order? There was nothing to do, I went out, hugged my friends and got into their car. Let's go home.
I later learned that my case was returned by the judge due to numerous procedural violations and lack of evidence of an offense. The protocol in the case materials was drawn up extremely clumsily. I also learned that two months later the old protocol was destroyed and a new one was drawn up, taking into account the judge’s comments. The judge has already accepted this protocol, along with a statement of offense drawn up a few days (!) before my lecture. The case also included the testimony of two fake witnesses - women, neither of whom even heard the lecture. All this time I felt what “being under the gaze” is, which Sartre wrote about and what is meant by the words “We were born to make Kafka come true.” It was not for nothing that I studied in graduate school, comprehending philosophy under the guidance of Valery Nikolaevich Sagatovsky. He was depressed by the state of affairs in Russia. Unfortunately, now, several years after his death, the situation is even more alarming, even more uncertain.
Indian philosophy has greatly enriched Russian culture. The influence of Indian thought on our Silver Age is great. During the Soviet and post-Soviet years, a complete academic translation of the Mahabharata was published, on which titanic commentary and textual work was done; many works of Indian classics - thinkers, writers, poets - were published. And who can imagine modern Russia without Indian cinema? Without Indian dance? Without yoga? No vegetarian options? Is this Russia really coming to an end?