Turkey is a secular country, but 99% of the population are Muslims. According to some spiritual groups, this poses a challenge for other religions to co-exist within the country. The teachings of Sri Srila Prabhupada has, despite the limitations penetrated into the heart of Turkey and ISKCON continues to draw Muslims as devotees.<\/p>\n
Unlike many countries in Europe and in the West, where the government is more liberal, Turkish devotees have to stay under the radar and lead dual lives in order to continue being disciples and followers of Krishna Consciousness. They keep their official Muslim identities in the society, while using their spiritual Hindu names outside of it.<\/p>\n
Despite this, Hindu disciples and devotees continue to grow, and so does the determination of two individuals, Nrsimha Krishna Das Prabhu and Sivarama Swami.<\/p>\n
During a recent event in Istanbul, around 150 young and old people registered to understand Bhakti Yoga, the way of Hindu life and what it entails. Nrsimha Krishna Das Prabhu, the Governor Body Commission (GBC) Zonal Supervisor of Turkey organised a programme in May where Sivarama Swami, the Monk, Author, Bhakti-Yogi and Governing Body Commission member responsible for leading ISKCON\u2019s mission in Hungary, Romania and Turkey was invited to address a group of Turks, new to Bhakti Yoga.<\/p>\n
These were Turk followers of the Yogi\u2019s social media and Vlogs that he uses to spread the word of Bhakti Yoga, Krishna Consciousness and Hare Ram among the Muslims.<\/p>\n
In the ballroom of the Holiday Inn in Sisle, \u201cwe set up vegan prasadam table and during the programme we distributed about 80 books of Srila Prabhupada. After they registered, programme started with introduction to Sivarama Swami, to the Turkish audience.<\/p>\n
“We showed one of his popular vblogs about yoga. In Turkey, this video was viewed by over 1.4 million people. Sivarama Swami presented a power point presentation, on yoga, celibacy and the audience were very receptive,\u201d confirmed Nrsimha Prabhu.<\/p>\n
This was followed by a Q&A from the audience and Sivarama Swami sang Indian devotional songs\u00a0bhajans<\/em> and kirtans<\/em> on stage, to engage the audience and let them have a feel of Bhakti Yoga, Krishna Consciousness or Hare Krishna.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were chanting, clapping and the response was simply rewarding. It was great. All\u00a0new to bhakti yoga, the crowds wouldn\u2019t just stop singing and chanting with us,\u201d confirmed Nrsimha Prabhu.<\/p>\n After the Kirtan or Bhajan, Sivarama Swami sat down on the stage and people asked him questions. What seemed to be a long event that went on for four hours, people continued to engage and did not want to leave at the end.<\/p>\n The translations to Turkish was done by Krisha Mala, who did it tirelessly for nearly three hours. On the way back home, Shivarama Swami said, \u201cSrila Prabhupad wanted us to feed people with prasadam, distribute books and chant Hare Krishna and we did today. Srila Prabhupad wanted us to do all of this to Muslims, and we did today.\u201d<\/p>\n In ISKCON, Sivarama Swami is well known for his scholarship. He has written several books on Gaudiya Vaishnava<\/em> theology and philosophy and has taught many courses in Gaudiya Vaishnavism<\/em> in various parts of the world. He is also well-known for his Holy Name festivals which annually attract hundreds of devotees to a feast of kirtan.<\/p>\n In 1980 Sivarama Swami moved to the UK, becoming the president of Caitanya College, and the UK\u2019s National Sankirtana leader. He was requested to accept the responsibility and service of a GBC member and ISKCON initiating guru in 1986. In 1988 he took up the leadership of ISKCON in Hungary, while in June 2003, Sivarama Swami stepped down from his GBC duties in UK and Ireland to be able to concentrate on his growing commitments in Hungary.<\/p>\n As a member of the Governing Body Commission he is currently responsible for leading ISKCON\u2019s mission in Hungary, Romania and Turkey.<\/p>\n In Hungary he led a budding group of young devotees through the country\u2019s transition from a member of the former USSR to a democratic republic. Krishna consciousness has flourished in Hungary under his leadership, with ISKCON becoming the fourth most popular religious group in the country.<\/p>\n He translated all of Srila Prabhupada\u2019s books into Hungarian. The opening and running of the Bhaktivedanta College for Religious Science, an official college accredited by Hungary\u2019s Ministry of Education which offers a Bachelor\u2019s degree in Vaishnava Theology.<\/p>\n He also set up the New Vraja Dhama temple and farm community project in south-west Hungary. Situated in the hills close to Lake Balaton, New Vraja Dham is the Hungarian yatra\u2019s varnashram farm community.<\/p>\n\r\n