Dodging the Ukraine Bullet in ISKCON

Mr. Neutral-pada

WHAT IS OUR NEUTRALITY?

QUESTIONNAIRE: There are friends in Ukraine, in Russia, all loyal people have different opinions, and someone believes that these are very favorable events, someone, on the contrary, has a different opinion, and people because of this fight on political ground. And, of course, the right mindset is needed here. How to stay neutral in this situation? How can we remain neutral when we see what is happening around us?

ANSWER: On the one hand, we cannot stay completely neutral, because if we have a "living" human heart, we cannot help but sympathize with people who are in pain, who are afraid, who are in this situation. That is, usually when it comes to some neutrality, there is a picture of some Himalayan yoga that has climbed high, and here it is completely neutral. We must have a human heart and a living emotion, a living answer. You can't be abstracted from this.

But on the other hand, we have to understand that when we go down to that level, to that level of conflict, we do not resolve conflict, we only intensify conflict because we become a truly fighting side ourselves. If we try, again, only to point out the guilty, then the same situation is happening - this is what dharma, bull, says in the First Song of Shrimad Bhagavatam, when he says that if someone points out the guilty, three fingers are looking at him. It aggravates this conflict itself, it increases negative energy.

Our neutrality is not a yoga neutrality, it is not a neutrality of a person who is completely indifferent. This is the neutrality of a living person, a compassionate person who wants to help others. But at the same time, a person who does not accept any party and does not try to resolve conflict by wrong methods, only by increasing the number of enmity and divisions. If we understand this nature of neutrality... Because if we try to implement solid neutrality in our lives, it won't be right either.

And how? Keshawa Maharaj said: This requires contact with the supreme mind. Be it contact with other devotees, or contact with the books of Srila Prabhupada or contact with the holy name. This will help us not to aggravate the conflict, but to be a solution to the conflict, to be a solution for the situation that has arisen, to resolve it.

[PADA: OK, be neutral to any mundane conflict because we teeny peanuts are probably not going to impact it one way or other. Probably true. 

At the same time, the Vedas condemn anyone who is bombing and killing the civilians, that is always forbidden. That does not mean we are taking a side with one party or the other, we are simply agreeing with the Vedas -- no one is authorized to kill -- especially unarmed and non-combatant citizens -- such as women, including pregnant women, and children, babies, old people and other vulnerable citizens. 

In fact if an opposing soldier drops his weapon and runs off the battlefield, we cannot kill that person either. These are the rules of civilized Vedic society. These are the rules, and we either follow them or we don't. The rules do not say -- well it is ok to bomb the civilians in the case where it is now Kali yuga. Ummm, nope, neither we can kill and eat cows on the plea that it is now Kali yuga. 

The rules are the rules. 

Killing civilians is not authorized, it is sinful. It was sinful in the past, it is sinful now, and it will be sinful in future. Any person who neglects these rules will have some heavy karma coming down the pipeline on their heads. That is just the way it is. So we should not tell people it is ok to bypass these rules, when it is not. Telling people to stick to the rules is our job, and that means, we are not fully neutral to these situations. Of course, the whole thing is sad and dreadful for all parties. As it is said, the only winners of the war are the undertakers and grave diggers. ys pd]