NAMASTE!

Ayurveda stepped onto the horizon of Western public attention at the beginning of the nineteen seventies. 

It was the avant-garde North American Californians that had the main role in the spread of Ayurveda in America, as they had in other traditional forms of wisdom coming from the East. The first independent pioneer of Ayurveda in the US was the well-known ‘mauna’ (silent) Yogi of the name Baba Haridas. It was he who made it possible for Vasant Lad to teach Ayurveda on a regular basis at Mount Madonna, the centre where students and teachers of yoga from all parts of the US gathered. The awareness of Ayurveda thus began to gradually expand.

Dr. Vasant Lad is a representative of a traditional and spiritual approach to Ayurveda. His extraordinary diagnostic and pedagogical abilities gave him the reputation of being the best scholar and practitioner of Ayurveda operating in the West. His own journey to reaching Ayurveda was not direct. As a boy, he longed to become an artist and all his free time was devoted to drawing and painting. At first his father, a patriot and strong follower of Mahatma Gandhi, supported him in his interest of art, but after young Vasant began bringing home average grades which, in the eyes of his father was not a good token as he expected Vasant to study medicine in the future. Vasant´s father tried to show his son the importance of school, but when he found out that instead of taking wise advice, Vasant kept on painting, he became angry and literally tore his entire son’s work into shreds. 

Vasant remembered his father’s explanation up to his adulthood: “Art is beautiful, but who looks at it? Only the rich. Art can heal only the few, but if you become a doctor you will be able to help many. Study well so that you will be able to heal. Remember that art never dies. When you become a doctor, art will become your decoration.”

Vasant remembered his father’s explanation up to his adulthood: “Art is beautiful, but who looks at it? Only the rich. Art can heal only the few, but if you become a doctor you will be able to help many. Study well so that you will be able to heal. Remember that art never dies. When you become a doctor, art will become your decoration.” His father was right and to this day Dr. Lad uses his artistic skills making his seminars and books, a much more interesting form of interpretation.

In his adolescent years his father introduced him to his guru who initiated the youngster into the art of meditation and chanting of mantras. After a while he foretold that young Vasant would leave for America and become a teacher of Ayurveda there. At that time Vasant replied: “How could I? As I don’t even know English.” His guru’s reply was shocking: “Do not worry, just sit and repeat this prayer and somebody will speak through you.” To this day Dr. Lad stays very humble and never claims any personal glory for the teachings he passes on to his pupils.

The most outstanding populariser of Ayurveda for the wide public not only in the US, but also around the world is Dr. Deepak Chopra. After beginning his career under the umbrella Maharishi´s TM movement, he chose to pursue his own path in the mid-eighties. His original thoughts needed more freedom to expand than the former movement could have provided. Deepak’s public appearances and lectures became an unforgettable experience. His calm and relaxed style personifies the kind of approach typical for Indian teachers, while losing nothing on the attractive elegance and admirable brilliance of a professor of a renowned Western university. Some of his books are an unable to be substituted and provide a beautiful contribution bridging the gap between modern scientific thoughts and the ancient wisdom of India. All students of medical faculties should read his first work 'Return of the Rishi'.

There is yet another spectacular representative of Ayurveda in the US. Robert Svoboda is Czecho-American by origin. I still remember our first meeting, when I made him laugh by telling him that he had a nice Indian name. In Sanskrit ‘svabodha’ means to ‘know thyself”, which is exactly the same as to be freed ? svoboda in Slavonian languages means Freedom. “That is not an Indian name, but Czech” he replied. And so in 1983 I got my first lesson in Czech. The second time Robert and I laughed together was when I told him that he smelled like an old Vaidya. He then put his hand into a pocket of his traditional Indian shirt and took out some clove and raw candy as was the custom in the south of India and said: “You must be from Kerala.”

Svoboda is at present the only Western Ayurvedic practitioner who was fully educated in India and who is well respected in India as well. Svoboda devoted himself to Ayurveda with his entire being. Although he is an avid traveller, he lectures mainly in America and Western Europe, and he permanently settled in India. His deep spiritual approach and unconventional thinking enforced by an outstanding writing talent make his books classic works of modern Western literature in the field of Ayurveda. I recommend his works to everyone who has real interest in Ayurveda. It was only when I came to the Czech Republic and became acquainted with the mental constitution of the Czechs and their way of thought, that I understood where the roots of Svoboda’s penetrating and sometimes uncompromising approach came from.


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AYURVEDA DOCTOR & WRITER

DR.GEORGE EASSEY

Titled as “Roving Ambassador of Ayurveda”, belongs to the first generation of Ayurvedic practitioners and teachers who have pioneered the way for Ayurveda's recognition as a mainstream system of medicine.

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SEA EYMERE

Born and raised in Paris, she has always been looking at the horizon. The city that nourished her, it was her trampoline for courageous free flight around this planet. It’s inspiring to keep up with her.

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