Arya Varta

Please allow me to introduce myself, as the newest writer on this Blog. First things first – why the name Heliodorus? Not much is known about Heliodorus, unfortunately, apart from the fact that he was a Greek ambassador to King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra of the Sunga Empire in India, circa 110 BC. Nothing at all would be remembered about Heliodorus were it not for the fact that he left a pillar of stone in the city of Vidisha which was dedicated to Vasudeva, which is one of the names of Vishnu, and which remains standing to this day. Although the most remarkable aspect of the pillar for me is its inscription, which strongly suggests in its language that Heliodorus was a Vaishnava – a devotee of Vishnu. If so, not only would this indicate that Western practitioners of Vedic philosophy (Sanatana-dharma) date back to the Classical Age, it is also the earliest reference to Vaishnavas in general. It is quite possible, then, that Heliodorus was the first Westerner to take up the practice of bhakti-yoga, which is the practice of the Vaishnavas, referring to the yoga of devotion.

The Pillar of Heliodorus, still standing after more than two thousand years.

While I certainly do not see myself as a pioneer – thousands of Westerners, particularly in recent decades, have made the choice to practice Vedic spirituality – I do see myself as following in Heliodorus’ footsteps. To be honest, if someone had told me five years ago that I would one day soon be living in India as a Vaishnava, I would have thought them quite insane. At that time, I was living a typical Western lifestyle – working a dull office job by day in the United States, and only indulging in my interests in traditionalist spirituality and ‘New Right’ political philosophy after hours. I think this is the situation for most people of our inclination in the West today. But, slightly over one year ago, I chucked the job, ditched most of my worldly possessions, and am now living in a Vaishnava temple in Mumbai, India. And I do not regret this decision for one moment.

A natural question at this point would be to ask what led to such a drastic change. Without going into too many boring details, the most important factor for me was that I could no longer stand the contradiction between my supposed beliefs and my lifestyle. Although I was reading authors such as Evola and Guénon, who railed against the modern world, and fully agreed with them, my life, apart from my reading habits, was mostly indistinguishable from those masses of men who embody modernity. And as time went on, this contradiction began to bother me more and more. On one hand, the life I was living was relatively safe and comfortable – I didn’t want for much, in a material sense, and I didn’t have to fear for my job or my safety. In other words, I had ‘made it,’ as my fellow Americans would say. But as I began to absorb both the traditionalists and some actual, sacred texts, such as Bhagavad Gita As It Is and others, I began to wonder – is it enough to just take the scholarly approach, and see these texts as something ‘interesting’, perhaps even truthful, but dismiss them as being too impractical for life in the modern age and leave it at that? Certainly, the great Acharyas of the Vaishnava tradition would not agree. They would say that scholarly knowledge without devotional practice, which includes living your life in accordance with the scriptures, is absolutely pointless. Worse than pointless, really, since I was absorbing the sacred knowledge without implementing it, and in fact living contrary to its precepts in several respects. And the fact was that I was not really happy – comfortable, yes, but comfort and happiness often do not go hand-in-hand in this world. Material success, by the modern definition, was not bringing me any satisfaction – it was only making me feel all the more acutely that there must be a more fulfilling way of life out there, and the traditionalists seemed to be pointing the way to it.

Therefore I finally made the decision to leave my old lifestyle behind and embrace the Vaishnava lifestyle fully. Not only that, but I left the West behind completely for India. I realize that such a choice may seem undesirable for those of a Rightist/Identitarian inclination. However, I maintain that I am still following the same path I always have, and I am no less concerned about the future of the West now than ever. How can this be, when I am now living among the brown-skinned Indians, in a traditional Indian manner and following Indian scriptures?

A Westerner adrift in the world of Tradition.

My first argument should not come as a surprise – namely, that the link between Vedic spirituality and European culture has been an established fact since the Nineteenth century – the ‘Indo’ half of Indo-European. Second, while I agree with the beliefs of many European Identitarians, I feel that they do not go nearly far enough in their revolt against the modern world. This is not entirely their own fault, but primarily because, as Evola has written, they lack the proper referents. Genuine Tradition has been a thing of the past for so long in the West that it takes a great deal of effort to remember what it even means. Issues of race, immigration, day-to-day politics and so forth are certainly relevant to the problems of modernity, but by themselves they do not offer a solution to the host of problems that the modern West is facing.

The fate of Tradition in Kali Yuga.

To really challenge the forces of modernity head-on, traditionalists must first get their souls back. The basis of the West that we love is its culture, and this culture has always been based in turn on its once-profound spirituality and discipline. It is not possible to speak of defending Western values until one has personally reconnected with the world of the spirit and the regulation of one’s life that this entails. In order to achieve this, Western traditionalists must be willing to divorce themselves as much as possible from the corrosive effects of consumer culture. In effect, in the modern world, this means embracing as little of the modern lifestyle as possible – even down to career choice and spouse, ideally. Evola would no doubt counter that there is nowhere that is free from the effects of Kali-Yuga, and while this is true, there is still the matter of degree. Living in the U.S.A., as I was doing, was akin to staying on the lip of the volcano, rather than staying down near the base where one at least has a possibility to avoid the floods of burning lava. While India is certainly trying to modernise as rapidly as possible, it is still far removed from the continuous assault of materialism to which Western consumer culture constantly subjects us, particularly if one spends all of one’s time in the company of devotees such as Vaishnavas. There are still pockets of genuine Tradition available to us if only we choose to look for them, especially in a place such as India where the force of modernity has not had as long to do its damage as it has in the West. The effects of bringing such a change into one’s life are almost immediate and are astoundingly powerful. Within a few months, one doesn’t even crave the TV or junk food at all, and one finds that one’s mind takes to spiritual practice much more easily and completely than when it is distracted by so many modern influences. One may claim that embracing such a tradition is not as good for a Westerner as following a more thoroughly genuine Western tradition such as Catholicism or heathenism. That may or may not be true – I believe it is up to the individual to judge. However, the power of these traditions in places such as India is unmistakable, and I believe that it is urgently necessary for Westerners to get in touch with the sacred in their lives in any way possible, even if it means leaving the West behind for a time.

I am not saying that one must abandon everything and move to India or some other land that is more closely in touch with its ancient traditions, although that is certainly a possibility if you are fortunate enough to have the means. One must at least find his ‘inner India’ – a way of living which allows you to reconnect with Traditon as fully as possible. I am also not saying that Vaishnavism, or even Vedic culture more generally, is the only way of life (although it is an extremely good one). But any major Tradition demands that its followers immerse themselves in its philosophy and practices. The Japanese samurai spoke of the need for a ‘harmony of pen and sword’ – in other words, in order to live a complete life, one must live in all aspects of daily life and govern one’s actions according to the same ideals that one espouses in writing and in speech. Compartmentalising one’s life into ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’ components simply isn’t sufficient, and indeed the idea that one can do so is one of the principal fallacies of the modern view of life.

This is not simply a matter of personal beliefs, but rather a necessary first step towards the sort of restructuring of society for which the Western Right has been aiming for many years. It is my contention that the primary reason for the failure of the Right over the past half-century has been the lack of qualified individuals to fight for it. There are many who have claimed to represent the Western tradition, but few who have exemplified it, it must be said. This is because so many individuals on the Right have fallen victim to the trap of seeing a separation between the sacred and the secular. Many have believed that it was only necessary to mouth the ideas, but not to live by them. Once one fully absorbs an authentic Tradition, one’s behavior is inevitably changed. Then, issues such as trust, reliability, dedication, honour and self-sacrifice become a matter of course. In this way, any sociopolitical movement can be strengthened. A movement can have the noblest of ideas, but it is only as effective as the quality of the men and women who comprise it. I can think of no better way to infuse the power of example into the European Right than to fill its ranks with those whose lives are dedicated to the sacred principles which transcend their own, limited individual lives. If the Right is to survive into the most dangerous era it has witnessed in recorded history, it will need the power of Tradition behind it – otherwise, it will be further relegated to the margins of society or worse. However, we should take up our duty secure in the knowledge that we cannot fail, since we represent everything that is transcendental and eternal, while our opponents, while they may win temporary victories, are inevitably destined to fail since they only put their faith in what is material and temporary. It is only necessary for us to develop the will to stand for our beliefs, despite the vast armies arrayed against us.

In future installments I will discuss why Vaishnavism is a particularly useful means for achieving this. Until then, I urge all readers to consider the propositions I have outlined above, and think seriously about the role the sacred plays in your own life.