In our present time, the original Russian Vedic tradition is being actively revived. More and more people are beginning to be interested in the pre-Christian Vedic roots of Russian culture; now, we often call this tradition – Rodnoverie. This word has the root «genus,» which means the name of the supreme God of Russian pantheon, whose name is Lord Rod. The root “rod” means “clan”, also indicates that this is a “native” tradition followed by our “relatives” and “ancestors” of our “family.”
The pre-Christian tradition is also called paganism. The word paganism is now perceived by many as negative and abusive, but in fact there is nothing negative in this word. Pagan tradition means the original folk tradition. Being a pagan means following the traditions of your people and your ancestors.
Of course, one should also respect the thousand-year history of Christianity in Russia, which gave our people many great ascetics, reverends, elders, venerable fathers and healers. I think that in the modern world Rodnoverie and Christianity could develop in harmony and mutual respect.
Sathya Sai Baba often blessed people for the prayer practices of the national religion to which the person belonged. When Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians came, he blessed them for the practice of Christian prayer, as well as for the practice of free and spontaneous conversation with God in their native language. When Tatars, Daghestanis, Kazakhs came, he often blessed them for practices related to Islam, that is, the practice of regular prayer and the repetition of the Suras of the Koran.
God is one, therefore it does not matter in what language and in what tradition people offer their prayers. God hears not formal words, but the emotion of the heart.
Several times, in the ‘90s, Magi Rodnovers from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus came to Puttaparthi. These were people who, back then, were engaged in the revival and development of the original Russian culture. Sathya Sai Baba prophesied many times that in the next few decades in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus there will be a rapid revival of the original Vedic culture.
When Christianity came to Holy Russia, it often absorbed the best from the Russian Vedic culture, but sometimes tried to destroy the treasures of Russian antiquity. I think at a new stage in the development of human civilization, we will come to understand that our future lies in the spirit of unity and synthesis. All that is bright and divine that is in the original Russian culture will be combined with the best manifestations of Christian teaching.