ANTHROPOSOPHICAL INITIATIVES IN INDIA:

Spiritual wisdom and religious traditions have been alive in India for thousands of years, yet conventional education, medicine, agriculture and many other fields of daily living in modern times have not been permeated by this spirituality. Indeed, most aspects of contemporary life in India are becoming increasingly materialistic and superficial, and do not reflect our sublime heritage.

Anthroposophy as a modern path of knowledge has shown that it is possible to revive this ancient spirituality for the new human consciousness, through the activity of the consciousness soul, and allow it to deepen the various spheres of life on earth. The spiritual thoughts are brought down right into the sphere of the will, so that the actions transform the earth and the society we live in.

How long has Anthroposophy been known in India? In the 1920's, Dr. Hans Koester was the first known Anthroposophist to have come to India. He was the Consul General of Germany in Calcutta, and he gave several lectures on Anthroposphy during his stay there. Then followed others like Hans-Hasso von Veltheim-Ostrau, a German nobleman and a personal pupil of Rudolf Steiner, who came to India in the 1930's; Dr. Heimo Rau, who founded the Max Mueller Bhavan in New Delhi and Bombay; Mrs. Elisabeth Dank, who lived and worked in Hyderabad.

Dan van Bemellen from Holland, a retired Waldorf teacher, came to India through an invitation from Major Ramachandra, the first known Indian Anthroposophist, to introduce Waldorf education. Lekh Raj Ulfat and his wife Sadhana of Nanhi Dunya School in Dehra Dun and Mr and Mrs Subbaramu of Shimoga became the first teachers in India to have been introduced to Waldorf Education. Dilnawaz Bana, the first Eurythmist and Curative Eurythmist in India, introduced Eurythmy to people in various places in India. A group of friends from Camphill Village in Copake, USA, have brought Curative Education and Social Therapy from the Camphill movement to people in India. Peter Proctor of New Zealand and Tadeo Caldas of Brazil have been instrumental in introducing Bio Dynamic agriculture to India. Peter Proctor conducts regular courses for agriculturists in many parts of the country. Most recently, Dr. Michaela Gloeckler visited India and conducted the very first International Post Graduate Medical Training in Hyderabad.

Gradually the movement has grown in India and in the neighbouring countries, and there is genuine interest for Anthroposophy and related subjects. In order to create an awareness of the different activities within the Anthroposophical movement in India, and to enable the people involved to form a link with one another, the forum, ANTHROPOSOPHICAL INITIATIVES IN INDIA, was established by Aban Bana and Dilnawaz Bana in the year 1994.