The basis of Vedic Culture is the practice of Yoga (Unification): Yoga is so effective in creating coherence, that only a few (approximately 1% of the population) have to practice properly for the whole collective consciousness of society to benefit. This is scientifically well established both in theory and through empirical evidence (Editor).
1.1 Stockholm Conference on Hinduism in Europe ➚
A conference, organized in 2017 at Stockholm University on "Hinduism in Europe", brought together academic researchers from Central and Eastern European countries reporting on the different facets of the European encounter with Vedic culture. Seen from a broad historical perspective, the European assimilation of Vedic culture presented at the conference marks a milestone in a developed which already began in the 15th century: At that time countries of Europe, till then culturally confined geographically, started to explore and conquer the remote parts of the world. The European colonization was initiated by the attraction of the rich culture of India and ended in the 20th century when the occupied countries became independent and so the Vedic culture could start to express the own traditional perspective. There are some differences in the way the Vedic tradition is assimilated in Eastern and Western Europe. The colonial powers Portugal, Holland, France, and Britain had direct contact with the Vedic culture and people from India emigrated via these countries to Europe. Other European countries like Germany having access to the Vedic heritage mainly through scriptural documents, promoted the academic study of Sanskrit and the Vedic literature(Indology). After the 2nd world war representatives of the Vedic culture especially Yogis, traveled from India to western countries.Vice versa people of the west desirous of authentic instruction in Yoga traveled to India. In the 1950s independent India became a close ally of the Soviet Union, but Soviet contacts with the Vedic heritage was confined to the academic level. After the fall of the iron curtain, the former soviet countries became exposed to Vedic teachers who already had traveled through western countries These are some of the insights of the Stockholm conference available in the presentation abstracts. The conference. has been organized by Knut A. Jacobsen (University of Bergen,Norway) and Ferdinando Sardella (University of Stockholm, Sweden); 2017
1.2 Handbook of Hinduism in Europe ➚
After the Stockhom conference (2017) a 4 year academic cooperation of the Universities of Bergen and Stockholm with the Oxford Center for Hindu Studies investigated the assimilation of Vedic culture in all European countries. 60 researches from all over Europe participated. The resultant two volumed Handbook of Hinduism in Europe was released in printed and electronic form in 2020 by the publishing house Brill, Leiden. Netherlands. The Handbook explains the development of Hinduism in Europe, its various traditions, its philosophy, describes international movements rooted in the Vedic heritage, and provides insights of how Vedic culture already contributed to Europe’s development by promoting a balance lifestyle. But the Handbook also depicts challenges such as the misrepresentation of the Vedic heritage as a religion, the lack of proper presentation in schoolbooks, and misleading media coverage resulting in discrimination and stigmatization. The encyclopedia consists of two volumes with 65 chapters:
A conference, organized in 2017 at Stockholm University on "Hinduism in Europe", brought together academic researchers from Central and Eastern European countries reporting on the different facets of the European encounter with Vedic culture. Seen from a broad historical perspective, the European assimilation of Vedic culture presented at the conference marks a milestone in a developed which already began in the 15th century: At that time countries of Europe, till then culturally confined geographically, started to explore and conquer the remote parts of the world. The European colonization was initiated by the attraction of the rich culture of India and ended in the 20th century when the occupied countries became independent and so the Vedic culture could start to express the own traditional perspective. There are some differences in the way the Vedic tradition is assimilated in Eastern and Western Europe. The colonial powers Portugal, Holland, France, and Britain had direct contact with the Vedic culture and people from India emigrated via these countries to Europe. Other European countries like Germany having access to the Vedic heritage mainly through scriptural documents, promoted the academic study of Sanskrit and the Vedic literature(Indology). After the 2nd world war representatives of the Vedic culture especially Yogis, traveled from India to western countries.Vice versa people of the west desirous of authentic instruction in Yoga traveled to India. In the 1950s independent India became a close ally of the Soviet Union, but Soviet contacts with the Vedic heritage was confined to the academic level. After the fall of the iron curtain, the former soviet countries became exposed to Vedic teachers who already had traveled through western countries These are some of the insights of the Stockholm conference available in the presentation abstracts. The conference. has been organized by Knut A. Jacobsen (University of Bergen,Norway) and Ferdinando Sardella (University of Stockholm, Sweden); 2017
1.2 Handbook of Hinduism in Europe ➚
After the Stockhom conference (2017) a 4 year academic cooperation of the Universities of Bergen and Stockholm with the Oxford Center for Hindu Studies investigated the assimilation of Vedic culture in all European countries. 60 researches from all over Europe participated. The resultant two volumed Handbook of Hinduism in Europe was released in printed and electronic form in 2020 by the publishing house Brill, Leiden. Netherlands. The Handbook explains the development of Hinduism in Europe, its various traditions, its philosophy, describes international movements rooted in the Vedic heritage, and provides insights of how Vedic culture already contributed to Europe’s development by promoting a balance lifestyle. But the Handbook also depicts challenges such as the misrepresentation of the Vedic heritage as a religion, the lack of proper presentation in schoolbooks, and misleading media coverage resulting in discrimination and stigmatization. The encyclopedia consists of two volumes with 65 chapters:
Volume 1 presents the features of the assimilation process common to all European countries as Yoga, Ayurveda, Vedic education, etc.Volume 2 documents the particular traits of the assimilation of Vedic heritage in every single country of Europe,
Both volumes are edited by two leading researchers on Hinduism in the Nordic countries of Europe: Knut A. Jacobsen, Norway, and Ferdinando Sardella, Sweden, 2020