Westerners have
taken up certain spiritual aspects of Indian civilization, like its yogic practices, which
they use mainly for their own personal benefit, and seldom concern themselves about the
state of the culture and how it has suffered under Western religions, political and
materialistic influences.
I have written a number of books on the spiritual side of the Hindu tradition including
the Vedas, Vedanta and Tantra, as well as works on Ayurveda and Vedic astrology. I have
examined Hinduism as a whole in my book Sanatana Dharma, The Eternal Tradition of
Hinduism, which is the work most relevant to this current study. From the river of Heaven, Hindu and Vedic Knowledge for the Modern
Age is also relevant to the present study and outlines the different aspects of
Hinduism. One might wonder therefore why I would
concern myself with the cultural or apparently mundane side of Hinduism. Those immersed in
Hindu spiritual practices may see no necessity for concerning themselves with these
outward issues. |
