I first met this Vedic teacher and scholar in the early nineteen-eighties when I was teaching at an Ayurvedic school in Santa Fe, New Mexico headed by Dr. Vasant Lad. David was teaching an introductory class in Sanskrit there and we became friends as well as colleagues. David had already written several worthwhile books on Vedic knowledge, but they had only been published in India and he was beginning to wonder whether his labor of love was ever going to bear fruit in America. As fate had it, when I decided to leave my position and not co-author a book with Dr. Lad on Ayurveda and the use of herbs, I recommended that David take my place. It turned out to be an excellent choice, because David and, secondarily, Dr. Lad, wrote "The Yoga of Herbs", which has become a classic in the field. I honestly believe he did a better job than I would have done in handling this subject, and this book launched, to a large degree, his career in America as a western Ayurvedic and Vedic scholar of first rank.
He has authored many books since that time on all aspects of Vedic knowledge and I can think of few people better qualified to propagate this knowledge in a manner which can be appreciated by educated westerners. His selfless service in this regard should not go unrecognized.
We have stayed in touch infrequently since those early days. Somehow I feel his work is just beginning. It seems that people in India value their own heritage more when westerners give it due attention and recognition and David is in an ideal position to further the east-west dialogue.
Nevertheless, how can I suggest to someone who has written scholarly treatises on subjects like Ayurveda and Vedic Astrology that these sciences, as presently practiced, are fundamentally misguided, especially when I am not inclined to state exactly why this is the case and can only respond that the answers to these questions are structured in the further development of human consciousness. It sounds arrogant and self-serving, so I tend to hold my tongue in personal dialogue with Vedic scholars and only speak of these matters in print. I can only await the advent of special individuals who can appreciate the deep truth of my message, and who will help me ensure that the spiritual discipline I call The Art of Multi-Dimensional Living is perpetuated for all mankind.
What I have just said should not be misconstrued; all of Frawley's work is well worth reading and contemplating. However, I think the conclusions one draws from his work will be more balanced if the reader keeps an open mind about the decline and even the loss of Vedic knowledge in regard to many of the applied disciplines such as Ayurveda, Sthapatya Veda, Kalpa, Jyotish, Gandarva Veda, etc.
Please also remember that not all of my criticisms
have been veiled ones. In reference to Ayurveda, they are clear
and forthright (See my new book entitled "Ayurveda Revolutionized:
Integrating Ancient and Modern Ayurveda"). For my criticisms
of Sthapatya Veda, see my article on Frank Lloyd Wright in the
"Lives of Great People" series. It is only in reference
to Vedic Astrology and its present practice that I have chosen
to remain silent as to the specifics of why I hold it to be defective.
I also warn that it cannot possibly produce useful knowledge in
any of the eight fields of living. One day the truth of my assertions
will be abundantly clear to everyone, even though now these claims
only bring skepticism and ridicule from those who consider themselves
experts in Vedic Astrology and other applied disciplines of the
Veda.