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Esoteric Hinduism and Western Esoteric Traditions Search for: Search

Vamadev Shastri September 20, 2014
Archives, Indigenous/Pagan Voice, Spirituality/Culture 0 Comments

Global Esoteric Traditions

Esoteric, mystical, and occult traditions have been widely connected worldwide as far back as
we can trace their history. These often secret teachings cross over realms of healing,
astrology, alchemy, Yoga, mantra, and meditation, emphasizing internal practices to raise our
awareness to higher states of consciousness. They have been also important in European
traditions, going back to the most ancient times.

Yet these connections are not always easy to see or even recognized. Many such esoteric
groups formed secret societies, particularly in European and Middle Eastern countries where
they have faced extensive oppression by religious authorities. They often deliberately veiled
their teachings in symbols and hid their identity and associations, retiring from the world or
public scrutiny.

The largest number of such esoteric traditions has occurred in India, Tibet and the Himalayan
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region. This is because these regions honored freedom of spiritual practice and maintained an
unbroken continuity of teachings of Yoga and mediation. My Tweets

Spread of the Higher Teachings

Many esoteric teachings were transmitted along LATEST REVIEWS

the Silk Trail overland, which began in China and
went to the north of Tibet and India, picking up Book Review : Jihadist
such Himalayan influences. This was the primary Threat to India by Tufail
route how Buddhism entered into China two Ahmad Reviewed by Dr
thousand years ago. The Silk Trail was part of David Frawley
other land routes from India and the Himalayas, April 30, 2016
including south through Iran in the south or north
of the Black Sea.
Meenakshi Jains book
Another important route was the Spice Trail from South India by sea, which went both to Sati : Reviewed By Dr
Europe through the Middle East on the western side and to China on the east. Hinduism and Koenraad Elst
Buddhism spread to Indonesia, Indochina and East Asia along this path. Yet ideas also moved March 27, 2016
to the Middle East, North Africa and Europe by western maritime routes.

Extensive trade existed between India and the Greco-Roman world, Film Review : Baahubali
including a movement of teachers and teachings. Plotinus (third
A Very Good Beginning,
Indeed
century AD) perhaps the most important mystic philosopher of later
Rome and who strongly impacted Christian mysticism and the Sufis August 6, 2015

was said to have visited India. Another important example was

Apollonius of Tyana (first century AD), who visited India and carried on
Pythagorean traditions that included vegetarianism and a belief in
reincarnation.
INDIGENOUS/PAGAN VOICE
Migratory movements of peoples also allowed for the spread of
esoteric ideas and meditation practices. There was a spread of peoples
along the land route from India and Afghanistan through Central Asia
and into Europe going back to the dawn of history.

From Afghanistan itself a Hindu and Buddhist kingdom until a little over a thousand years
ago were ancient trade and migration routes to the Volga, around the Black Sea and to the
Danube going back many thousands of years.

Indo-Iranian Influences in Ancient Europe How the Patriarchy Stole Friday

the 13th from Women and Made
The main peoples that dominated Eastern Europe in early ancient times were Iranian peoples
with possible ties to Afghanistan and India. These Northern Iranian groups were older than It Evil
the Persian Zoroastrian traditions, and culturally different, reflecting teachings more like the Posted On January 13, 2017 | Comments Off
Vedas of India. on How the Patriarchy Stole Friday the 13th
from Women and Made It Evil
Ancient Iranian peoples like the Thracians and Scythians dominated Eastern Europe and the
Before patriarchal times, Friday the 13th
Balkans from well before 1000 BCE to the early centuries AD. The Thracians were the most
was considered the day of the Goddess.
numerous people in the ancient world according to the Greeks. Indeed the oldest cities and
It was considered a day to worship the
gold work in Europe are sites in Bulgaria going back to before 4000 BCE, like Plovdiv and
Divine Feminine that lives in us all and to
Varna. Perhaps these were ancient Thracian sites.
honor the cycles of creation [...]

The Greek Orphic tradition arose from

the Thracians and strongly influenced
Greco-Roman esotericism. The Dionysian
Why Hindus SHOULD
tradition, later very popular among the support Native Americans
Greeks, was also connected to the October 31, 2016 | Comments Off on
Thracians. Dionysus resembles Hindu Why Hindus SHOULD support Native
deity Shiva. Such traditions believed in Americans
rebirth and sought higher states of
consciousness and ecstasy through
music and chanting. Native Americans Face
More Persecution
The Scythians followed after the
August 15, 2016 | Comments Off on
Thracians. The Scythians were often
Native Americans Face More
enemies of the Persians as Central Asian and Eastern European Iranian peoples that had their
Persecution
own distinct culture. Scythian kingdoms dominated Central Asia from 1000 BCE or earlier up
to the eighth century AD. Greater Scythia extended from the Danube (Scythia Minor) to the
Pontic Steppes (Scythia Major) and to North India and the Tarim Basin now in China. The
Scythians and related peoples ruled parts of North India and Central Asia up to the early
centuries AD, with Indo-Scythian, Indo-Greek, Kushana and Huna kingdoms that had HINDU WISDOM
associations both with India and with their European counterparts.

Central Asian Scythian kingdoms followed Buddhist, Hindu, Zoroastrian, and Manichean
influences, as well as their own indigenous traditions. The worship of Shiva and his son
Skanda was common among them and frequently found upon their coins. Turkish and
Mongolian groups in the region also adapted similar esoteric teachings as part of their
worship of Tengri, their great deity of the Sky and the mountains, and their adaptation of
Buddhism and Hinduism.

Pagan and Esoteric Traditions Upholding Dharma

European pagans as a whole, most known of which
are the Celts and the Druids, had similar esoteric
traditions in Western Europe throughout their own
long history, with suggestions of influences from the
East, including a belief in rebirth, the use of
philosophy, astrology and yoga like practices.
There was a common extensive esoteric tradition in
the ancient world that seems to become stronger the
further back we go in time, which was gradually
displaced and submerged with the onset of
Christianity, though mystical Christianity borrowed
much from it.
These esoteric traditions developed into secret
Posted On June 14, 2016 | 0 Comments
The Kurukshetra war was on in full
swing, and as it progressed, the losses
for the Kauravas increased. Duryodhana
began to suspect that Bhishmas loyalty
to the Pandavas had resulted in his
fighting half heartedly. [...]
The Symbolism of the
Churning of the Ocean
September 2, 2015 | Comments Off
on The Symbolism of the Churning of
the Ocean

societies. We find Hermetic, Gnostic, Manichean, and

Zoroastrian influences common in esoteric traditions
of Europe extending into the Middle Ages. The
Emptying the Sea to fulfill
Manicheans, a religious group from Syria, also Ones Divine Task
honored Buddha and spread as far as China, had a strong influence on Europe. There were
March 30, 2015 | Comments Off on
special crusades in Europe against such mystical and pagan groups like the Bogomils and Emptying the Sea to fulfill Ones
Cathars, which had Manichean and Gnostic influences. Divine Task

Meanwhile older pagan traditions survived in Europe until the fourteenth century, particularly
in the Baltic region, notably Lithuania, which were the subject to brutal crusades against them Divinity lies within us all
by the Teutonic Knights. In many countries of Europe from Ireland to Russia older pagan
April 24, 2014 | Comments Off on
traditions have survived in hiding, in the background, or by adopting Christian forms and
Divinity lies within us all
symbols.

Much of the Renaissance in Europe was based upon bringing back older pagan ideas and
Shape Shifting World of
esoteric traditions, including Hermetic and Neo-Platonic ideas extending to reincarnation.
Unfortunately, the mystical and astrological side of the Renaissance teaching was soon
Maya
suppressed by the church. December 14, 2013 | Comments Off
on Shape Shifting World of Maya
The Mongols under Genghis Khan and the Golden Horde had Buddhist, Taoist and Shamanic
influences that reached Europe and Iran starting in the thirteenth century. The Golden Horde
ruled the Eastern European region as far as the Danube for several centuries, only later
adapting Islam.
DHARMIC ECOLOGY
Alchemy, magic and astrology were common
esoteric traditions up to the eighteenth
century, with connections worldwide including
China, India, the Middle East and Europe. The
Gypsies, who came from India around a
thousand years ago, brought many esoteric
teachings as well as music and dance.

Such esoteric connections increased after the

nineteenth century with the Theosophical
Meet Eco Baba who cleaned 100
movement that spread throughout the globe,
and with the travel of great Yoga gurus to the miles of river all by himself
West starting with Swami Vivekananda at the Posted On April 10, 2016 | Comments Off on
turn of the twentieth century. Meet Eco Baba who cleaned 100 miles of
river all by himself
Today there is a large group of neo-pagan
One of the most renowned
traditions in Europe and America, from Celtic, Slavic, Baltic, and Germanic backgrounds, as
environmentalists of Punjab, the man
well as renewed interest in Greco-Roman and Hellenic traditions extending to ancient
who has been actively creating
Egyptian and Babylonian traditions, and indigenous traditions overall. This group is increasing
awareness among people regarding
as the interest in orthodox Christianity declines and reviving many of the esoteric sides of
environment protection, the ECO Baba,
these traditions
Balbir Singh Seechewal is the new talk
of the town [...]
Esoteric Hinduism as a Point of Synthesis

Probably the oldest and most

Hinduism and Climate
extensive esoteric tradition is that
of Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma,
Change
the Eternal Tradition. Hinduism is March 14, 2016 | Comments Off on
the worlds largest and oldest Hinduism and Climate Change

pagan and pluralistic tradition, with

Yoga, Tantra and Veda enshrined
within it as a treasure house of
Video : Bears Visiting
cosmic knowledge. Chandi Mata Temple at
Aarti
Yet Hinduism is not a religion as a
faith or belief based tradition. It is September 30, 2014 | Comments Off
on Video : Bears Visiting Chandi Mata
a way of secret knowledge. While
Temple at Aarti
Tantra is the most well known form
of Hindu esotericism, all Hindu
Yoga and Vedic traditions have
Cleaning The Mighty
similar concerns and practices.
Esoteric Hinduism holds perhaps Ganga Will Be a Mammoth
the keys not only to ancient pagan Task For Modi
spirituality but also to much of the
June 6, 2014 | Comments Off on
worlds mysticism. Cleaning The Mighty Ganga Will Be a
Mammoth Task For Modi
Today we are at a new phase in the comparison, revival, and reintegration of ancient esoteric
traditions, which deemed pagan or primitive by modern scholarship were not given their
proper regard or study. How India is building
Many of these esoteric movements are still distorted and misunderstood, looked upon as Asias largest secure forest
cults, as dangerous forms of occultism, or as types of mind control. Yet the deeper yogic, network
psychological and philosophical side of the same teachings is also becoming popular, and
March 30, 2014 | Comments Off on
countering this deep seated negativity.
How India is building Asias largest
secure forest network
What is called Tantra in Hindu and Buddhist circles and what was called magic or alchemy in
the West are kindred in many ways. In India occultism, meditation and devotion were often
pursued together and part of the same body of knowledge. Yet such devotion was an
honoring of the Divine within, not the dictates of church or final book of revelation.

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In dharmic traditions, there is a recognition of many cycles of civilization, of which ours is not
the first or the highest, and is still lacking in the deeper knowledge that the ancients held.
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Today we are entering into a new planetary age in which we can understand how such
esoteric traditions can link us with the cosmic mind. It is important to reclaim these older
esoteric traditions and practice them again. There is a secret light of higher knowledge hidden
Subscribe
within them, not something fearful or dangerous. Such esoteric traditions offer individual
spiritual experience and enlightenment that helps us go beyond the limitations of all
organized religions. They encourage our search for inner freedom and Self-realization, which
is the real goal of life and culture.

HINDU WORLD OF SCIENCE

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About The Author

Vamadev Shastri ATHEIST IRRATIONALISM

David Frawley ( Acharya Pandit Vamadeva Shastri) is an American Hindu author,
publishing on topics such as Hinduism, Yoga and Ayurveda. David Frawley is an
expert in ayurveda, Vedic astrology, yoga, and tantra, all of which, he says, have
their basis in Vedanta. Indeed it is the interdisciplinary approach to Vedanta that
he sees as his particular contribution in demystifying eastern spirituality. David
Frawley has written a number of books on all these disciplines, including Yoga and
Vedanta, and Ayurveda and the Mind. His Vedic translations and historical studies
on ancient India have received much acclaim, as have his journalistic works on
modern India. Pandit Vamadeva Shastri was also the founder and the first
president of the American Council of Vedic Astrology from 1993-2003. He is also a
The Siamese Twins of Atheism
Patron Founder of the British Association of Vedic Astrology. and Christianity
http://www.vedanet.com/ Posted On January 18, 2014 | 11 Comments

While atheism and Christianity may seem

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