We are happy to announce the long-anticipated release of Sri Dharma Pravartaka

Acharya's ground-breaking new book "The Vedic Way of Knowing God".



Author: Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya

Foreword: Dr. David Frawley

Preface: Professor Klaus K. Klostermaier

Publisher: Dharma Sun Media

Published: November 7, 2010

Language: English

Pages: 408

Price: US$23.99

Binding: Perfect-bound Paperback



Available for purchase here:



http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-vedic-way-of-knowing-god/13555030







Foreword



By Dr. David Frawley

(Sri Vamadeva Shastri)



The Vedic tradition is primarily one of knowledge, going back to the four Vedas

as books of knowledge, the term Veda deriving from the root `vid', meaning to

see, to know, to directly experience, or to realize within one's own awareness.

The Vedic tradition is further defined as Sanatana Dharma or a universal and

eternal (Sanatana) tradition of truth and natural law (Dharma). What Veda is

seeking to know is the nature of things, ultimately the nature of our own being

that is connected to the Divine presence or higher consciousness which pervades

all existence.



As such, the Vedic tradition is not content merely with belief in God or even

communion with the deity as its ultimate aim. Its goal is to know the deity

within our own minds and hearts in the sense of this higher knowledge born of

direct perception, not as a mere mental or emotional connection, but one that

engages our entire being to its immortal core.



Such inner knowing is not a speculative venture or a matter of salvation through

faith. Vedic Dharma teaches specific philosophies or ways of knowledge about the

deity. For these to really work, specific sadhanas or spiritual practices,

largely yogic in nature are required. Vedic Dharma does not rest upon faith at a

mass level, but spiritual practices at an individual level for achieving the

ultimate goal of life described as moksha, or liberation from the cycle of birth

and death.



Other religious, spiritual and philosophical systems in the world also have

their concerns with and their means of gaining such inner knowledge of the

deity, often put under the banner of the `religious experience' or the `mystical

experience'. Such experiences are also commonly referred to as `unity

consciousness', though they have considerable varieties.



The pursuit of mystical experiences has been a sidelight or rarity in western

religious traditions, and has sometimes been suppressed by them, particularly

when it challenges the authority of existing institutions. Yet it has been

widely encouraged in India since the most ancient times. Each follower of a

particular spiritual path in India is usually encouraged to take up such a

sadhana to contact the deity within. At the same time, since there are clearly

defined paths to higher realization in the Vedic tradition, there is less danger

of the practitioner falling into the confusion that mystical experiences can

sometimes create for those who stumble upon them, rather than are trained to

receive them.



Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya (Dr. Frank Morales) is a rare western teacher who

knows both the philosophies and the practices of the Vedic tradition and has

firsthand experience of how they really work. He is a highly qualified teacher,

or Acharya, of Vedic Dharma, the first western Acharya of a western Hindu

temple, not merely an academic looking at Vedic thought with little practical

experience of how it is applied. He has also studied in depth other religious,

spiritual and philosophical traditions. This provides him a much deeper level of

insight into the Vedic tradition than normally found in the vast majority of

teachers today. He takes the discussion out of the mere speculative realm to the

domain of spiritual practice, making his discussion relevant to those involved

in meditation and devotional disciplines as well.



Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya focuses on the issue of pramanas or proofs, the

complex yet central issue of epistemology. If we want to know something, the

first question that arises is: "What are our available means of legitimate

knowledge?" The issue is particularly important relative to spiritual studies.

If something Divine, infinite and eternal does exist, through what special means

can it be known? Obviously, our ordinary mind and senses are designed to know

limited, finished and transient objects, though they can speculate about

something beyond. Is there some other more direct means that we can develop in

order to do this?



In western philosophy the means of knowledge are largely limited to reason and

the senses, and what can be extrapolated from them, though theologies regularly

bring in faith and scripture as well. The Vedic tradition has also accepted

samadhi, or yogic perception born of the meditative mind, as a legitimate means

of knowledge. This not only includes the mystical experience, but allows a

practical and scientific approach to it through yogic disciplines.



The Vedic tradition includes the idea of scripture, or shruti, not as books to

merely believe in, but as indicators and guidelines to a higher realization that

should be employed in the context of sadhana, or spiritual practice. The Vedic

shruti is linked to the idea of shabda, or sacred sound, and mantra, reflecting

the Divine Word and cosmic creative vibration. Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya

examines the issue of scripture and sacred sound quite clearly from a Vedic

perspective.



Most modern Vedantic studies have focused on the Advaita Vedanta of

Shankaracharya and his modern proponents since the time Swami Vivekananda over a

century ago. Recently, the Dvaitic and Vishishtadvaitic forms of Vedanta have

also received attention, which adds another dimension to these studies. Sri

Dharma Pravartaka Acharya has taken a view that can embrace and honor all these

systems, without losing their specific value and different approaches.



For this examination, he has focused on one primary thinker, the work of Jiva

Goswami, an important figure in the Vaishnava tradition about whom much has been

written in recent years with the development of the Bhakti Yoga movement

throughout the world. Yet he grounds his study of Goswami in a greater analysis

of all six Vedic philosophies as well as their connections with other

philosophical and theological traditions East and West. This affords the book a

relevance beyond India to the global issues of spiritual knowledge.



Goswami's work, like that of many Vaishnava Hindus, in turn is based on the

Bhagavata Purana, which is regarded by many Hindu scholars as the greatest of

the Puranas, as well as an important extension of the thought and insight of the

Vedas, Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita. Western scholarship has often ignored such

texts, focusing on the prime Sutras and texts of the six systems of Vedic

philosophy, as if there was nothing more to be considered. This has limited

their scope and vision in understanding Vedic philosophy, a situation that the

author seeks to correct.



The book reflects an academic rigor in orientation, approach and expression. It

demands profound thought on the part of its reader. Yet the book also represents

a new type of experiential scholarship from westerners trained in authentic

Eastern traditions. This provides a different view than what is normally found

from academics looking at Eastern traditions from the outside.



Such `inside the tradition' views provide a good alternative and help us frame

the focus of a new debate, which is not simply about different philosophies or

theologies, but about the ultimate truth of our own existence and what our true

nature as conscious beings really resides in. With "The Vedic Way of Knowing

God", and his own personal spiritual example, Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya

leads us forward in this new adventure in consciousness.



Dr. David Frawley

(Pandit Vamadeva Shastri)

American Institute of Vedic Studies

Sante Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A.

January, 2010





"The Vedic Way of Knowing God", by Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya, is available

for purchase here:



http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-vedic-way-of-knowing-god/13555030





Revealing the profound philosophical insights of the world's most ancient

spiritual philosophy, this book not only boldly answers the question "How do I

know God?" from the distinctly Vedic (Hindu) perspective, but also explores the

further issues of what it even means to be able to know God. With greater detail

than any other book ever written to date, it reveals the precise mystical

mechanisms employed for knowing the Divine; the psychological conditions

necessary for such a spiritual endeavor; the transformative cognitive

experiences that occur within the spiritual practitioner upon achieving

God-realization; the integral relationship between transcendent Word,

spiritually revealed literature, and the important role of living teachers; and

the vast implications of the Vedic world-view on contemporary global philosophy

and religion. If you have ever asked the question "How do I know God?", this is

the book that will give you the precise road-map!





"The Vedic Way of Knowing God", by Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya





Please forward this message to all sincere spiritual seekers.