This
involved breaking with well-entrenched ideas, opinions, habits and
feelings. I had to disconnect with the world around me and reconnect
with a different world within me. Sometimes I felt like a stranger
in a strange land, but if I did try to go back to the old world, I
quickly left, finding it to have lost depth and meaning.
The result is that I now look at the Vedic
tradition from the inside, as part of my family, as part of my very
own blood and breath. I don’t view Hinduism with the cold eye of
an academician or the starry eyes of a curious and gullible
Westerner looking for a new fantasy.
I view it as our deepest heritage as human and
cosmic beings, as divine souls whose destiny is to bring a higher
consciousness in to the world. I have become a worker in this field
and hope that my contribution encourages others to join this great
cause.
For this book I would like to thank my many
teachers and friends and the many Hindu organizations that have
helped me in this cause. Most are mentioned in the book, but notably
B.L. Vashta, K. Natesan, Avadhuta Shastri, Subhash Kak, N.S. Rajaram,
Ashok Chowgule, Swami Satyananda, Ram Swarup, Sitaram Goel and Arun
Shourie.
