David Frawley
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Dr. David Frawley, or Vāmadeva Šāstrī (वामदेव शास्त्री) is an author on Hinduism, Yoga and Ayurveda. He has worked extensively teaching, writing, lecturing, conducting research and helping establish schools and associations in related Vedic fields over the last thirty years. He has studied and traveled widely gathering knowledge, working with various Vedic teachers and groups in a non-sectarian manner.
(The name Vāmadeva is a bahuvrihi and means "he whose god is beautiful".)
[edit] Biography
Frawley was born 1950 into a Catholic family in La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States. He was the second of ten children: the first and he and another were boys, the rest girls. He attended a Catholic school until he was about ten years old. After that he and his family moved to Denver, Colorado.
As an American Hindu, Frawley is one of the few Westerners to be recognized by a major Hindu sect in India as a Vedacharya or teacher of the ancient wisdom.
He had first contact with Hindu writings about 1970 and after that got more interested in Vedic matters.
He learned Sanskrit from a Sanskrit grammar and a copy of the Rigveda: as a result he learned Sanskrit the difficult way (Vedic first).
In 1991, under the auspices of the Hindu teacher Avadhuta Shastri, he was named Vamadeva Shastri (वामदेव शास्त्री), after the great Vedic rishi Vamadeva.
In 1995, he was given the title of Pandit along with the Brahmachari Vishwanathji award in Mumbai for his knowledge of the Vedic teaching.
In 1996 he received the Brahmachari Vishwanathji Award in Mumbai: this recognized him a a Pandit and Dharmacharya.
In 2000, he published his memoirs, How I Became a Hindu, in which he details his own spiritual journey from his earlier Catholic upbringing to finally embracing Hinduism as his religion.
With the book In Search of the Cradle of Civilization, Frawley gained wide public attention in India with his writings attacking the Aryan Invasion Theory. His approach to ancient India stresses its spirituality.
Three of his works Arise Arujuna, Awaken Bharat, and Hinduism and the Clash of Civilizations have been often cited as highly influential foundational works responsible for the Hindu revival currently being witnessed both in India and worldwide[citation needed]. He has pleaded for a return to the teachings of the Vedas, interpreting these ancient texts as great sources of wisdom. In books like "The myth of the Aryan Invasion of India", he criticized racial interpretations of prehistoric Indian historiagraphy, such as the mythical conflict between invading caucasoid Aryans and Dravidians.[1]
Frawley founded and is the director of the American Institute for Vedic Studies in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Through his institute, he offers courses on Yoga philosophy, Hindu astrology (jyotisha), and Ayurveda. In addition to directing his institute, he conducts major lecture tours in India every year, delivering talks at universities, Hindu conferences, and to the general public.
[edit] Partial bibliography
- Gods, Sages, and Kings, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-910261-37-7
- From the River of Heaven, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-910261-38-5
- Hinduism: The Eternal Tradition (Sanatana Dharma), Voice of India, New Delhi ISBN 81-85990-29-8
- The Myth of the Aryan Invasion Theory online book, update, article
- In Search of the Cradle of Civilization
- How I Became a Hindu
- The Rig Veda and the History of India ISBN 81-7742-039-9
- Hinduism and the Clash of Civilizations.
- Yoga and Ayurveda, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-81-0
- Tantric Yoga, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-910261-39-3
- Wisdom of the Ancient Seers, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-910261-36-9
- Oracle of Rama, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-910261-35-0
- Yoga and the Sacred Fire, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-940985-75-6
- Ayurvedic Healing, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-97-7
- Ayurveda and Marma Therapy, (with Ranade and Lele), Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-940985-59-4
- Yoga for Your Type: Ayurvedic Guide to Your Asana Practice, (with Summerfield-Kozak), Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-910261-30-X
- Ayurveda: Nature's Medicine, (with Ranade), Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-95-0
- Yoga of Herbs: Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine, (with Lad), Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-941524-24-8
- Ayurveda and the Mind, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-36-5
- Astrology of the Seers, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-914955-89-6
- Ayurvedic Astrology, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-940985-88-8
[edit] References
- ^ Arvidsson 2006:298 Arvidsson, Stefan (2006), Aryan Idols: Indo-European Mythology as Ideology and Science, translated by Sonia Wichmann, Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
[edit] See also
| Brahmo Samaj · Prarthana Samaj · Arya Samaj · Ramakrishna Mission · Gandhism · Hindutva · Sri Aurobindo Ashram · Parisada Hindu Dharma |
| Topics |
| Bhakti · Caste · Indian independence movement ·Persecution of Hindus ·Shuddhi ·Women in Hinduism |
| Important Hindu reformers and Hindu revivalist writers |
| Sri Aurobindo · Ananda Coomaraswamy · Alain Daniélou · Koenraad Elst · David Frawley · Sita Ram Goel · M. S. Golwalkar · Mahatma Gandhi · Harsh Narain · Gedong Bagus Oka · The Mother · Srila Prabhupada · Raja Ram Mohun Roy · Ramakrishna · Dayananda Saraswati · V. D. Savarkar · Keshub Chandra Sen · Swami Sivananda · Arun Shourie · Ram Swarup · Debendranath Tagore · Rabindranath Tagore · B. G. Tilak · Vivekananda · Yogananda |
[edit] External links
- Information on David Frawley
- David Frawley's homepage
- Online books by David Frawley
- Frawley and Deepak Chopra in Dialogue
- Frawley: Reuniting Yoga and Ayurveda
- US Publisher of books by David Frawley
[edit] Frawley on Indian history
- The Aryan-Dravidian Controversy Article by David Frawley
- Frawley, David (2002). "Witzel's vanishing ocean - How to read vedic texts any way you like".
- Kazanas, Nicholas (2002). "Rigvedic town and ocean: Witzel vs Frawley". Article by Kazanas (pdf)
