Saturday, 8 June 2013

David Frawley (Pandit Vamadeva Shastri)

David Frawley also known as Pandit Vamadeva Shastri the American eminent teacher and practitioner of Ayurvedic medicine and Vedic astrology and author of several books, including Arise Arjuna : Hinduism and the modern world and Awaken Bharata: A Call for India's Rebirth - in which the need for a new intelligentsia, "intellectual kshatriya" or intellectual warrior class trained in Vedic dharma, to handle challenges was emphasized.

He writes:

"The Hindu mind represents humanity's oldest and most continuous stream of conscious intelligence on the planet. Hindu sages, seers, saints, yogis and jnanis have maintained an unbroken current of awareness linking humanity with the Divine since the dawn of history, and as carried over from earlier cycles of civilization in previous humanities unknown to our present spiritually limited culture."

"The Hindu mind has a vision of eternity and infinity. It is aware of the vast cycles of creation and destruction that govern the many universes and innumerable creatures within them."
He considers Hinduism to be a religion of the Earth, because, as he describes beautifully:

"…it honors the Earth as the Divine Mother and encourages us to honor her and help her develop her creative potentials. The deities of Hinduism permeate the world of nature…they don't belong to a single country or book only. It is not necessary to live in India to be a Hindu. In fact, one must live in harmony with the land where one is located to be a true Hindu.

"I see Hinduism as a religion eminently suited for all lands and for all people because it requires that we connect with the land and its creatures - that we align our individual self with the soul of all beings around us. Hinduism finds holy places everywhere, wherever there is a river, a mountain, a large rock, or big tree, wherever some unusual natural phenomenon be it a spring, a cave, or a geyser."

"True religion, whether it predominates in the Eastern or Western parts of the world, is not a matter of geography," says Frawley. "All the religions of the world are followed in areas far beyond the geographical locale of their origin. Religion speaks of the ultimate issues of life and death and should orient us to the Eternal and the Universal. In this respect, Hinduism with its universal view has greater relevance for all human beings than any belief system, which divides humanity into believers and non-believers." 

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