How I Became a Hindu, by David Frowley

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

Discovery of the Inner Paths

by David Frowley

 

At the beginning of 1970 in Denver I found a local guru who introduced me to many spiritual teachings. While in retrospect he was limited in his insights, he did serve as a catalyst to connect me with the spiritual path. Through the encounter with various spiritual teachings that he initiated, I took to the yogic path as my main pursuit in life.

 

He made me familiar with a broad array of mystical teachings: Hindu, Buddhist, Theosophist and Sufi. It included everything from occult teachings of Alice Bailey to Zen, and a prominent place for the teachings of Gurdjieff. I learned that a core of inner teachings existed behind the outer religious traditions of the world, an esoteric approach beyond their exoteric forms.

 

A number of such American teachers and arose at this time, as well as teachers from India coming to the West. A major counterculture interest in India, Yoga and gurus began. The group that I was involved with was one of the few in the Denver area and so offered an alternative way of life than either my family or the counterculture, which was quite appealing at the time.

The teacher’s approach was highly eclectic. He considered himself to be universal in views and would take the truth, he said, wherever he found it, which was a compelling idea. But his approach was tainted with a need to become a guru without ever having completed the disciplines that he was studying.

 

Eventually he wrote letters to spiritual organizations all over the world asking them to become his disciples because he felt that he alone understood how to put all the different traditions together. Not surprisingly none of them took him up on his offer. This was my first contact with spiritual hubris, which I learned was not uncommon, particularly among self-proclaimed western gurus.

 

The spiritual path has a strong appeal not only for the soul but also for the ego, which can gain its greatest power through it. We can become the guru and gain an uncritical adulation before we have reached our goal, which then puts an end to our search. Perhaps being exposed to spiritual egoism at a young age helped me become aware of the problem and avoid its pitfalls.

 

I realized that spiritual practices can have side effects and even organized mystical traditions can have their excesses. At first I found the teacher’s eclectic approach to be interesting, moving on a weekly basis from one teaching or tradition to another. His approach was quite dramatic, exciting and novel, with ever-new ideas and bizarre stories. But after not long I realized such an approach was doomed to be superficial. How could one learn, much less practice all these teachings that reflected centuries of culture and the work of diverse people and which could not all be appropriate for you as an individual? While one should respect a diversity of spiritual paths, life requires choices and we must eventually follow a specific path, though hopefully one that is broad in nature.

 

At this time I discovered the Upanishads, in which I found great inspiration and became my favorite book. It led me to various Vedantic texts. I soon studied the works of Shankaracharya, which I avidly read in translation, particularly his shorter works like Vivekachudamani. Of the different teachings that I contacted Vedanta struck the deepest cord. I remember once climbing a hill by Denver with a friend. When we got to the top, I had the feeling that I was immortal, that the Self in me was not limited by birth and death and had lived many lives before. Such Vedantic insights seemed natural, but the friend who was with me at the time didn’t understand what I was talking about.

 

Of the different teachings that I contacted Vedanta struck the deepest cord. I remember once climbing a hill by Denver with a friend. When we got to the top, I had the feeling that I was immortal, that the Self in me was not limited by birth and death and had lived many lives before.

 

Such Vedantic insights seemed natural, but the friend who was with me at the time didn’t understand what I was talking about. With my philosophical bent of mind I also studied several Buddhist Sutras, especially the Lankavatara, which I found to be intellectually profound. The Buddhist Sutras helped serve as a bridge between the existentialism that I had studied earlier and eastern meditation traditions.

 

As I encountered these teachings at a young age before my mind had become fixed, I had the benefit of an almost eastern education to complement my western studies.

 

[from, "How I became a Hindu", by David Frowley]