American Veda

American Veda is a fascinating, well-written book that takes us through the journey of India's spirituality from East to West. Full of interesting facts on how ancient Indian philosophies from Vedanta to Yoga have had immense influence and impact on the lynchpins of Western culture, the book is an easy read, with witty titles, organized in good chunks of text. It is a refreshing supplement to ancient and modern books and commentaries on Yoga and Indian spirituality, and is also an engaging read for our social and cultural understanding, as the world swirls into a finer, more homogenous mix.

The snippets of stories on literary greats, artists, intellectuals, and quotes from the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, and Scriptures narrate how each nurtured the other and infused the ancient teachings in these modern times with increasing breadth.  Interestingly, as the story unfolds, one's own personal spiritual journey may also reflected - the discovery, resonance, search and unravelling of spirituality is familiar.

The book shows the context and evolution of Eastern spirituality into the West. Intelligently presented, this also allows for discernment. After all, man's interpretation of all things sacred is often the cause for confusion, whether deliberate or unintentional.

American Veda allows us to look at scopes for further study, reading, practice and more unraveling. It is a well told story for seekers and practitioners alike, and bears rereading and retelling.

Highly recommended.

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Some glimpses from the first few pages with photos taken from the wiki...

"Here is what our sages discovered, and here are some practices that make you a better, deeper, more fulfilled Christian, Jew, Muslim, secular humanist. In fact as we'll see, exposure to Eastern spirituality is more likely to strengthen a person's relationship to his or her native religion than to destroy it."
(page 25)


Ralph Waldo Emerson, Transcendental Superstar (page 36)
"...the individual soul and the universal spirit (which he later named the Over-Soul) were one - a direct echo of Vedanta's "Atman is Brahman"

photo from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson

Henry David Thoreau, The Karma Yogi (page 39)
"In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita, since whose composition years of the gods have elapsed, and in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seems puny and trivial"

photo from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoreau

Walt Whitman, The Bhakti Bard (page 41)
"...in 1857 he wrote that India "represents meditation, oriental rhapsody, passiveness, a curious schoolmaster-teaching of wise precepts." In his poem "Passage to India" he exalts the ancient land's "myths and fables," "far -darting beams of the spirit, "unloos'd dreams," and "deep diving bibles and legends."

photo from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Whitman