Those who know (vidvaamsah) will confirm that the works of Shri Vamadeva Shastri are distinguished by their authenticity. This is so because they are based on (1) his personal quest and experience (2) deep dwelling into the texts and (3) oral learning received from many authentic teachers who are experts in their areas of knowledge.
     Shri Vamadeva Shastri (Dr. David Frawley) has done this great service to many that he has offered access into knowledge that was often hitherto inaccessible to an average western seeker.
Swami Veda Bharati, Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama, Rishikesh   

Dr. David Frawley is one of the most important scholars of Ayurveda and Vedic Science today. I have great respect and admiration for his knowledge and the way he has expounded the ancient wisdom of the Vedas.
Deepak Chopra

Frawley is an Indian in an American body. The ease with which he enters into the spiritual of the Indian tradition and renders its deeper concepts in terms of modern thought shows an unusual familiarity with this ancient wisdom.
M.P. Pandit, Secretary of Sri Aurobindo Ashram

Certainly America's most singular "practicing Hindu."
Ashok Malik, India Today

Dr. David Frawley is a formidable scholar of Vedanta and easily the best known Western Acharya of the Vedic wisdom.
Ashish Sharma, Indian Express, the Express Magazine 

Squidoo Page for Dr. Frawley's books

Regular Articles in Tathaastu Magazine

Articles at Folks.co India, along with many important Indian thinkers and writers

Motilal Banarsidass India Author's Page

Google video of interview with Dr. Frawley (one hour and fifteen minutes from Dutch television)

Dr. Frawley on Graham Hancock's website on Lost Civilizations

Dr. David Frawley (Pandit Vamadeva Shastri) is a unusual western born knowledge-holder in the Vedic tradition. He carries many special Vedic ways of knowledge (vidyas), which he passes on to students in India and in the West. In India, Vamadeva is recognized not only as a Vedacharya (Vedic teacher), but also as a Vaidya (Ayurvedic doctor and teacher), Jyotishi (Vedic astrologer), Puranic (Vedic historian), a Hindu acharya (Hindu religious teacher) and a Raja Yogi.

In India, Vamadeva's translations and interpretations of the ancient Vedic teachings have been given great acclaim in both spiritual and scholarly circles. In America he is  known as a teacher and practitioner of Ayurvedic medicine and of Vedic astrology (Jyotish) and has done pioneering work on both these subjects in the West. Most recently the integration of Yoga and Ayurveda has come to the forefront of his work.
 
Pandit Vamadeva (Dr. Frawley) presents authentic Vedic knowledge in the Western world and in a lucid presentation recognized by the tradition itself. He has worked extensively teaching, writing, lecturing, conducting research and helping establish schools and associations in related Vedic fields over the last thirty years. He has studied and traveled widely gathering knowledge, working with various Vedic teachers and groups in a non-sectarian manner.

Vamadeva sees his role as helping to revive Vedic knowledge in an interdisciplinary approach for the planetary age. He sees himself as a teacher and translator to help empower people to use Vedic systems to enhance their lives and aid in their own Self-realization. He sees Vedic wisdom as a tool for liberation of the spirit, not as a dogma to bind people or to take power over them. For him, Vedic knowledge is a means of communing with the conscious universe and learning to embody it in our own life and perception. Though Vamadeva has worked in several different fields, he has endeavored to approach each of these with a great deal of specificity and precision. For a good overview of his work and background, it is best to examine his book Yoga and the Sacred Fire: Self-Healing and Planetary Transformation (2005).

Since 2005, Vamadeva has been working in collaboration with Yogini Shambhavi Chopra relative to programs, travels, teachings and publiications. Shambhavi is a best selling author of several books on the Goddess in India and is now widely recognized in the West in Yoga, Ayurveda and Vedic astrology circles for her inspiring presentation and charismatic energy. She is known for her beautiful mastery of mantra chanting and recitation and has several CDs under the title of Yogini Bhava.

Shambhavi adds a knowledge of ritual, mantra, and working with the Goddess, particularly relative to sacred sites in India, tours and retreats. Note Picture to left.

Dr. Frawley's (Pandit Vamadeva's) Work and Background
Reviving Ayurveda

Dr. Frawley is a teacher or acharya of 'traditional Ayurveda', which incorporates Yoga, Vedic astrology, Vedanta and Tantra into its teachings and treatments. He is working to revive traditional Ayurveda both in the context of modern Ayurveda in India and popular Ayurveda in the western world.

Vamadeva's main teacher of Ayurveda was Dr. B. L. Vashta of Bombay and Pune (1919-1997), note photo. For ten years he remained under the guidance of Dr. Vashta, visiting him regularly in India and consulting with him on a wide variety of topics. Dr. Vashta, a graduate of one of the first Ayurveda programs in India in 1941, wrote many books on Ayurveda and helped formulate Ayurvedic products for several Ayurvedic companies in India. He was also one of the leading journalists in the state of Maharashtra and became an important spiritual guide for Vamadeva as well.

In America, Vamadeva studied Ayurveda with Dr. Vasant Lad, noted Ayurvedic teacher and author. He taught regularly along with Dr. Lad at his school in 1983 -1986 as a regular instructor and has remained on the visiting faculty. Along with Dr. Lad, he wrote the Yoga of Herbs, which was the first book integrating western herbs into Ayurveda and published in the West.

Vamadeva works with Dr. Deepak Chopra and Dr. David Simon and has been a faculty member of the Chopra Wellness Center in San Diego. Note picture of Vamadeva, Deepak Chopra and Shambhavi Chopra to the left (Shambhavi is not related to Deepak).

Vamadeva also works with the California College of Ayurveda, founded by his colleague and former student Dr. Marc Halpern. He is a teacher and advisor for the Kripalu school of Yoga and Ayurveda. He is allied with Mas Vidal of Dancing Shiva, particularly for Yoga and Ayurveda. He is on the advisory board for the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA) and the California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine (CAAM).

Recently he has joined the Advisory Board of Kerala Ayurveda, one of the largest Ayurvedic companies and educational centers. He is also now working with Patanjali Yog Peeth, the center of Swami Ramdev and Acharya Balkrisna, in Haridwar, India, the largest of its type in the country.

Dr. Frawley's Ayurvedic work is represented by a number of groups throughout the world. Aldo Lubrano handles the Spanish version of his courses. The Vedic Center, Ruegen, Germany (Maxim and Sergej Kuschpel) handles his German and Russian courses. Pavan Kanwar handles his work in the Czech Republlic. His work in South America is represented by Dr. Jose Rugue and Marcia De Luca. Dr. Rugue has brought out complete trainings in Ayurvedic medicine in Brazil incorporating Dr. Frawley's course work.

Besides Ayurveda, Dr. Frawley has a background in Chinese medicine, in which he received a Doctor's degree in 1987. He taught Chinese herbal medicine at the International Institute of Chinese Medicine from 1984-1990. He served as a board member of the American Herbalist's Guild, the largest professional organization of western herbalists, from 1993-1994.

Vamadeva's main areas of specialization in Ayurveda are herbal medicine, Ayurvedic psychology, and Ayurveda and Yoga. He has written several books on Ayurveda including the Yoga of Herbs (with Dr. Vasant Lad, 1986), Ayurvedic Healing (with a foreword by Dr. B. L. Vashta, 1989), Ayurveda and the Mind (1997), Yoga and Ayurveda (1999), Ayurveda, Nature's Medicine (with Dr. Subhash Ranade, 2001), Yoga for Your Type (with Sandra Kozak, 2001), Ayurveda and Marma Therapy (with Drs. Ranade and Lele, 2003), and Neti: Healing Secrets of Yoga and Ayurveda (2005). 

Spreading Vedic Astrology

Vamadeva began studying Vedic astrology (Jyotish) as part of his Vedic research in the early seventies and first brought out a correspondence course in the subject astrology in 1986, which remains one of the standard texts in the field today. He was one of the first to teach Vedic astrology in the West.

Dr. Frawley has written several books on Vedic Astrology starting with Astrology of the Seers (1990), one of the first books on Vedic astrology published in the West, now regarded as one of the classics in the field. Recently he brought out Ayurvedic Astrology: Self-Healing Through the Stars (2005), which pioneers the field of 'Ayurvedic Astrology' or Vedic medical astrology. In 1997, he brought out the book the Oracle of Rama (1997), an important Hindu oracle which in 2005 has been made into a beautiful set of cards through Mandala Press. 

In 1992 Vamadeva helped convene the first major American Conference on Vedic Astrology, which led to the founding of the American Council of Vedic Astrology (ACVA) the following year. He became the first president of the organization and guided it for more than ten years. ACVA in 2004 became the American College of Vedic Astrology. It has convened a dozen international symposiums, a tutorial program in Vedic astrology, and an on-line training program.

Vamadeva's main Vedic astrology teacher was Dr. B.V. Raman (1916-1998), perhaps the greatest Vedic astrologer of modern India and founder of the Astrological Magazine, with whom he was specially initiated in 1992. He has also visited with Gayatri Vasudev, K.S. Charak, R. Santhanam and Bepin Behari. He works closely with Chakrapani Ullal, perhaps the most noted Vedic astrologer in the West today and considers Chakrapani to be his main teacher after Dr. Raman.

Vamadeva was one of the first Americans to receive Jyotish Kovid title from the Indian Council of Astrological Sciences (ICAS, 1993), the largest Vedic astrology association in the world, followed by the title Jyotish Vachaspati in 1996. He has written many articles for the Astrological Magazine, the largest Vedic astrology publication in India. He has researched medical astrology and psychology and astrology, as well as the historical origins of Vedic astrology, bringing out ancient Vedic material on the Nakshatras.