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Dr. David Frawley (born 1950 in Wisconsin, United States) 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.

Biography[]

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. 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 the year 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 worldwideTemplate:Fact. 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.

Partial bibliography[]

References[]

  1. 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.

See also[]

Template:HinduRevivalistWriters

External links[]

Frawley on Indian history[]

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