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EESTI ELU reedel, 10. jaanuaril 2020 — Friday, January 10, 2020
Buddhist Against Empire
Police: Cocaine sales have increased significantly
Marju Broder Independent Researcher, Organizing Chair for International Conferences Buddhism & Australia, Perth Australia
ERR, January 2020
This article introduces how Vello Vaartnou, a Buddhist leader from Estonia, came up with a proposal to create the first opposition party in the history of the Soviet Union, the Estonian National Independence Party, which acted as a catalyst for the disintegration of the Soviet Union and spoiled communists perestroika plan to keep their empire. The article includes an interview with Vello Vaartnou and some comments from historians, politicians and journalists. I. INTRODUCTION In January 1988, the world was hit by the launch of the Estonian National Independence Party, the first political opposi tion party in the history of the Soviet Union, which aimed to restore a free and independent Estonia by working as an oppo sition party against Communist Party. The idea of the proposal came from the head of the Estonian Buddhist Brotherhood, Vello Vaartnou, who made this announcement at a press con ference in Moscow. This news was broadcast all over the world, for example on 10.02.1988 Philip Taubman wrote in The NY Times about the proposal of 14 citizens to create the first political opposition party and mentions that this news has boosted Estonians’ national feelings and alarmed ruling authorities. It has been 30 years when being forward-looking and ahead of time, Vello Vaartnou and handful of Buddhists opened the door to freedom and inde pendence in Estonia, so there is enough distance to evaluate this event. It is time to investigate who is a Buddhist Vello Vaart nou, and why and how he came up with a proposal to create an ENIP that initiated the break down of the Soviet Union. Not much has been published about this event and Vaartnou has not commented this until today, so it will be the first time when he agreed to elaborate his ideas. A. Soviet Estonia in the 80s In 1944-1990, the only al lowed “honor, common sense and conscience” in the Soviet Union was the Communist Party and in Estonia ruled its local branch, the Communist Party of Estonia.The power of this party was based on exten
sive militia and KGB apparatus, fully subordinated media, Plan Committee and, of course, the Soviet occupation army. Party and all life in Estonia was leaded by a 135-members of Central Committee. The dissidents in Estonia were mainly engaged in writing various petitions and letters to abroad but these actions did not reach up to actual politics. In August 1987, the Deer Park meeting was held which demanded the disclosure of the MRP Pact and asked per mission to the erect a statue for the deportees. Obviously, the goals of dissidents were totally different from Vaartnou’s pro posal to create a political party with the aim to take power from communists and achieve Estonia’s independence. The party is always created with the aim to take power. B. A man is the sum of his actions Vello Vaartnou’s actions describe him as a person with unusual capabilities and knowl edge in many areas. His activi ties are usually characterized using such expressions as ‘the first one’, ‘the only one’, found er’, leader’ etc. When talking about the Estonian-born and now Swedish citizen Vello Vaartnou, one must keep in mind that the starting point for all his actions has always been based on the principles of Buddhism and that he has never let society or the ruling regime dictate his way. Vello Vaartnou was born in 1951 in Saaremaa, Estonia. In his youth, he was very active in sports, learned to play chess at early age and likes to play chess until today. When he was 17 years old, he tried to escape from the Soviet Union to India to study Buddhism because there was no Buddhism in
Estonian National Opera attendance exceeds 185,000 in 2019 BNS, January 2020 A total of 185,548 people attended altogether 398 ballet and opera performances at the Estonian National Opera this year. The most popular produc tions this year included Gianluca Schiavoni’s ballet “Alice in Wonderland and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker,” as well as Jerry Bock’s musical “Fiddler on the Roof.” 10,544 people visited the
opera and ballet houses in the framework of educational pro jects. Among the most memorable events of the year were the national opera’s guest perfor mances at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow from January 9-12, for which a 300-member troupe traveled to the Russian capital. On May 24, Leonard Bern stein’s legendary musical “West Side Story” premiered at the national opera. For the first time in Estonia, it was possible to hear the musical in Estonian
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Estonia. He was caught at the border and sentenced to three years to North Siberia in prison camp and when he was re leased, he was 20 years old. This attempt ended with a life time of KGB interest in him. Coming back, Vaartnou studied etching in Estonian Art Academy and was an acknow ledged artist and well known figure in cultural circles being the only one in the socialist Estonia of 1970 who publicly called himself a Buddhist. Already then all his readings and activities were directly con nected with Buddhism. Parallel to the interest in Buddhist and Taoist philosophy rose an in terest in Chinese art. In these times a developing interest in Senge Dongma cult and prac tices could be noticed in Vaartnou’s field of studies, which was followed by interest in the biography and person of the poet and Taoist 6th Dalai Lama. Vaartnou studied years in Ivolga monastery, Buriatya, philosophy, logic, rituals, plus thangka painting and architec ture with numerous older ge neration lamas, his favorites being Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, Asan ga, Dharmakirti and of course (Golden) Yogacara as Vaartnou calls it, and on which basis he later developed his own art theory ‘Art as Yogacara’. Under socialism, it was forbidden by law to build cult objects and translating and copying texts was very risky
business. The same was true of practicing Buddhism. Despite of circumstances, Vaartnou established the first Estonian Buddhist Brotherhood and Nyingma movement in 1983 in Tallinn. Under his guidance four stupas were built in Western Estonia between 1983 and 1985, constituting the first Northern stupas into Estonian intellectual landscape. Vaartnou translated and published Budd hist literature, created first Estonian thangkas and mastered Buddha statues, and carried out the first Buddhist rituals. His handmade books (samizdat), were the only sources available to most Estonians who were interested in Buddhism. He is also the author of the first Estonian language schoolbook for the study of Tibetan lan guage. Brotherhood (also known as Taola) members were outlaws in the communist-lead occupa tion of Estonia, since officially no one recognized Taola. On the other hand, the constant presence of KGB cars in front of the house and other surveil lance by the authorities hinted that the official system was keenly following every step and word made by Taola. At the time of the creation of the ENIP, Vaartnou was helped by the members of the Brother hood – they were the only ones who printed, copied and dis seminated leaflets and did other revolutionary things. (to be continued)
as well as English. In addition to Tallinn, the national opera also gave perfor mances in Tartu, Paide, Jõhvi, Viljandi, Haapsalu, Pärnu and Rakvere. At the start of the 114th sea son this fall, Arvo Volmer took over as the new artistic director and chief conductor of the Estonian National Opera, while Linnar Looris began work as the artistic director of the Estonian National Ballet. Volmer served as artistic di rector and chief conductor of the national opera in 20042012. He also worked as the music director and chief con ductor of the Adelaide Sym
phony Orchestra in Australia beginning in 2004. Looris became a principal dancer with the Estonian National Ballet in 2001. He joined the Birmingham Royal Ballet as a soloist in 2006, and the Houston Ballet in 2007. Since then, he has danced a variety of leading roles. The Estonian National Opera will send off 2019 with a tradi tional New Year’s Eve ball. Next year’s premieres will in clude “The Count of Luxem bourg,” an operetta by Franz Lehar, “Anna Karenina,” a ballet by Marina Kesler, and “Giovanna d’Arco,” an opera by Giuseppe Verdi.
Throughout Europe, drug trafficking is on the rise, and cocaine sales have increased significantly. According to Europol data, there have never been as many coca plantations worldwide as there are today. As a result, the narcotic that had pre viously been known as the “rich man’s drug” has finally become affordable in Estonia as well. Increasing drug trafficking has made narcotics more afford able, and access to them is easier than before thanks to the inter net age. Ago Leis, director of the Organized Crime Department of the Central Criminal Police, said that European trends are Estonian trends as well. “The influence arrives with a certain delay, but looking at the latest Europol narcotics report, the quantities of seized marijuana and cocaine are on the rise,” he said. As the drug trade is the most profitable criminal business in the world, criminal organiza tions are very interested in in creasing narcotics production, Leis said. Thus marijuana grow ing has increased in Africa, while several new coca planta tions have been established in South America in recent years. Major countries’ drug markets are oversaturated, leaving sellers to seek buyers elsewhere, such as in Estonia. Cocaine’s street price in Estonia has remained by and large the same, however the drug itself is several times more potent than it used to be. “Recent years’ cocaine sei zures have been very pure, with purities of over 90 percent, and we have noticed that the num ber of users is also somewhat increasing,” Leis noted. While cocaine was previously considered the “rich man’s drug,” by now it can be found at regular parties, festivals and bars, he added. Tax and Customs Board (MTA) Narcotics Division di rector Raul Koppelmaa said that the customs authority seized some 15 kilograms of cocaine last year, the biggest amount yet in recent years. “But our target isn’t amounts, but rather the people behind them as well,” he said. According to Koppelmaa, Estonia remains a transit country for narcotics from the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium heading toward Russia and Scandinavia. “We’re seeing a great deal of the direction of a lot of amphe tamine being taken to Finland,” he said. “Last year, we seized some 100 kilograms of amphe tamine en route to the Finnish market.” Also likewise increasing in popularity in Estonia in recent years is ordering narcotics on the dark web, primarily for personal use.
