Re-root to Native wisdom:
Romuva, Baltic native faith shows the way
By: Dr. Malladi Srinivasa Sastry
“The world is diverse. Many powers and deities operate in it, so people follow customs and choose what is closer to them. By contributing to the creation of harmony, man himself acquires divinity.” -Excerpt from the book Baltic religion today.
Section A: Introduction to the concept of Sanatana dharma and native wisdom
In November 2024 I attended Lokmanthan in Hyderabad, India. One of the themes of this event was to bring us together to our native cultures and wisdom. It is here that I had the fortune of meeting groups from Lithuania, Armenia and Syrian Yazidis. Having interacted with them I felt reassured to find the numerous fundamental similarities among all of us.

Since 2019 I have embarked on the journey to promote the universal spiritual values of Sanatana dharma and discussed native wisdom as part of the various workshops and webinars on Sanatana dharma. These primarily include “Discover yourself” based on the principle of “Aham Brahmasmi”, “Discover your inner potential” based on “Sat – the absolute truth” and “Bring out the best in you – The Sanatana dharma way”.
Sanatana dharma is truly global in its applicability and should therefore be conceptually relevant to all mankind and practically applicable to all humans irrespective of geography and time periods of past, present and future. Foundational principles of Sanatana dharma are –
Paramatma (cosmic oneness),
Atma (individual expressions of the cosmic oneness which is embodied in this life in various
forms of humans, gods, animals, trees, lakes, hills, planets etc.),
Punarjanma – Rebirth
Karma (cosmic law that destines the course of our cosmic journey) and,
Moksha (merging in the cosmic oneness – the source).
Dharma and Yoga - the duties and paths respectively for us to follow in this human life as part of our cosmic journey.


There are several aspects that have been conceptually common to all cultures across the world and their related native wisdom. These include:
1. Understanding that the source for creation is the cosmic oneness.
2. Worship of gods and spirits native to that land and its people.
3. Worship of the ancestors native to that land and its people.
4. Living in harmony with all that is part of that native geography such as the hills, lakes, rivers, forests and being respectful and grateful for the resources we utilize.
5. Reincarnation with varying beliefs such as being born again as animals or humans or being born into that same family. But the common understanding is that the soul will come back to take birth again.
With this background, it was therefore reassuring to meet the groups from Lithuania, Armenia and the Yazidis to understand more about their traditions and native wisdom. For instance, one simple common feature is the worship of the sun, while the rituals associated with that may vary.
I expressed my keen interest in visiting Lithuania and understood that there would be a winter solstice festival on 20th December in Vilnius, Lithuania and that for me was a good time to attend given that I would be in UK around that time. I therefore visited Lithuania from the 19th – 22nd December 2024.
Section B: My visit to Lithuania to understand its native Baltic faith, Romuva.
While Lithuanian ancient tradition has been lost following the crusade in the 14th century and final conversion to the monotheistic organized religion by the 18th century, the traditions survived in the villages. These have been revived and reconstructed with a name given to the Baltic faith as Romuva. Despite the initial struggles to get official recognition the Romuva Baltic faith has been finally officially recognized by the Lithuanian government on 12th December 2024 a week before my visit. Over 1 million folk songs called Dainos survive till today which makes it a rich tradition to understand the gods, spiritual concepts, traditions and rituals.
Here are the religious beliefs of the ancient Baltic community as mentioned in the Romuva book “Baltic Religion Today” and their official website www.romuva.lt.
1. The world is universally alive
Our attitude towards the world must be respectful. The Balt religion is a tradition that preserves life.
2. Harmony (Darna) is the basis of the Baltic culture and tradition.
The world is harmonious, but this harmony is not permanent. (It is something we should work towards with sincere practice). Harmony is characterized by balance. It is born when different forces that create harmony interact. Harmony between people is the ability to get along, live, work and create together. It is important to foster harmonious relationships within the family, community and nation and to feel a harmonious connection with ancestors.
3. Holiness is embodied by divine powers
There is a supreme God and then gods and goddesses. The world is diverse. Many powers and deities operate in it, so people follow customs and choose what is closer to them. By contributing to the creation of harmony, man himself acquires divinity.
4. The world is eternal
The world is constantly created by eternal divine powers. Eternal is that which is renewed and revolves in an unbroken circle of natural transformations. The harmony of the world and living beings are created by the harmony of gods and goddesses.
5. Holiness is expressed through nature
Practitioners of the Baltic faith believe that their nation and its people are nurtured and educated by their native earth. It is sacred. Sacred fire and bread, sacred trees, grasslands, rivers, lakes, springs, stones, mountains, animals and more are revered because they are intermediaries of the gods, manifesting in sacred time and sacred space.
6. The earthly world of the living and the otherworldly world of the dead are one
Ancestors help the living and give strength. The living and dead meet in rituals, prayers and other ways. We are grateful to our ancestors for our existence, homeland, language and other inherited values, so we constantly remember them, express love and respect. Death is a natural transformation of nature including man. When the body dies, the soul remains, passing into another being. After death, the spirit travels to the ancestors in the underworld.
7. Man is inherently virtuous
The most important statement of morality is to treat others as you would like to be treated. By living righteously and selflessly, a person develops spiritually.
Following are some of the traditions and festivals of Romuva
1. Weekly fire ritual
On 19th December, I attended the weekly fire ritual, which was led by Ms. Gaile Vanagiene, priestess of Romuva faith. Romuva conducts a weekly fire ritual on a hill mount for the goddess of fire Gabija who is the form of the eternal flame of the universe. With her powers Gabija unites the living with each other, their family, tribe and nation. She also unites humans to the spirits and deities. Fire is the most sacred thing in Baltic rituals. Through this weekly ritual she is ceremoniously ignited, awakened, fed and lulled to sleep. She is offered wheat and salt as food during this ritual. Other gods such as Perkunas – god of thunder and Zemyna – goddess of the earth are also worshipped through this ritual. Various traditional songs called Dainos are sung during the entire process of the ritual.

2. Winter solstice festival
The following day i.e. on 20th December 2024 I attended the winter solstice festival. Personally, this festival was an amazing spiritually uplifting experience as I got to observe the rich folk tradition that has survived through centuries. All dressed in traditional attire gathered to sing songs having lit candles and placed them in the center, as a symbol of fire, which is the most sacred in the Balt tradition. Families came together in this joyous occasion danced to the rhythm of the soothing drum, played games involving the children and ate the offering to the gods. The songs were mesmerizing and heart touching taking us all the way back to the ancient times when our forefathers lived with the belief in harmonious co-existence of humans, their ancestors, nature and gods. Living with them was an integral part of their daily life.


3. Kucios
Kucios is a celebration on 24th December, when it is believed that the whole family and their ancestral spirits gather at the family home to dine together. A semblance of it was arranged on 21st December as a small get together to which I was invited. This was organized at the residence of Mrs. Inija Trinkuniene, the high priestess of Romuva Baltic faith.
Just as on the day of Kucios, 12 dishes were prepared and laid on the table. Traditional songs were sung and Kankles played. It was also a wonderful opportunity for me to have a dialogue with Romuva practitioners as we discussed the importance of the spiritual connection to the native land and the native wisdom passed through generations. It is believed that the ancestors will come to dine with the family. There is a plate of food laid for the ancestors on the table along with the food for the family. In essence, it is one of those special occasions when the family and their ancestors eat together. Like other important festivals, during Kucios the 12 dishes are mainly vegetarian along with fish. I have been told that for instance, in ancient times in the month of February and during some days of the week probably Friday, eating meat was prohibited. This may have been an ancient Baltic tradition.


4. Kaledos
While I haven’t been present in Lithuania to participate in Kaledos which is celebrated on 25th December I made attempts to understand its ancient Baltic roots and its significance. Kaledos is a 12-day tradition with the core meaning being the returning sun after the long dark nights. Thereafter each day gets longer. There are songs of nine horn cosmic deer. Deer in Lithuanian tradition raises during Kaledos. There are songs of the miraculous ten horns with very deep meaning in the songs and the tales. I came to understand that Kaledos predates Christianity and is purely a Baltic tradition.
5. Sacred altar of Ragutis
I am indebted to the hospitality shown by the Romuva community who not only allowed me to participate in their spiritual celebrations but also took time to show me Vilnius and explain Baltic spiritual and regional history. Among the various things that I learnt, I visited the sacred altar of Ragutis and paid my respect.
Ms. Gaile Vanageine, Dr. Gintaras Songaila and Prof. Dr. Vytautas Tumenas answered my various questions to understand the cosmology as per the Baltic faith, their gods, connection with their native land and nature as well as their ancestors. They also explained to me the significance of various rituals and traditions. Dr. Gintaras Songaila who is a psychiatrist like me shares a common interest in learning Sanskrit. He collected about 4000 words which are common between Lithuanian and Sanskrit.

What is ancient Lithuanian (Baltic) faith all about?
According to Dr. Gintaras Songaila, it is about life and joy. Darna or Dauras is about an ethical and moral way of living. It is useful for the community as we follow the ancestor’s traditions. While there is no concept of enlightenment as such, life is not seen as a punishment. Practicing Darna makes us responsible humans and teaches us to do our best. It teaches us that life is not about avoiding pain, and that suffering must be endured. We should become stoic, strong, courageous and resilient. It is believed that you will live and laugh with gods if you do well. This means that the afterlife can be fulfilling in the company of gods if we live an ethical life of responsibilities as per the concept of Darna.
Dr. Songaila narrated an example of how the fierce Yotvingians were finally exterminated by the end of 13th century. They were known for their immense military abilities. They believed that they will be with the gods if they fight for their land and sacrifice rather than surrender. It is believed according to Baltic faith that we will reincarnate and that is just part of life. We live with spirits of the ancestors and the gods. We live in harmony with nature and do not exploit it.
Being part of the Baltic faith and common to most ancient cultures across the world, Yotvingians believed in the immortality of the soul, and its transmigration to another life. Honouring their gods and ancestors had a significant role in their choice to resist and fight rather than to surrender.
Section C: Further details and common aspects to the Hindu tradition.
To begin with we should understand that there are significant linguistic connections between Lithuanian and Sanskrit. These are not just random words but similarities matching at various levels. While this is not the place to go into the details of linguistic similarities it would be helpful to list them as follows.
1. Both languages have the concept of verb roots and noun roots and there are some identified common roots. Vrukah in Sanskrit is wolf while it is Vilkas in Lithuanian. It has been observed that the placement of syllables may have changed over the years.
2. Both languages have the concept of case endings. In Sanskrit they are called vibhakti. Vruke (locative case singular) in Sanskrit meaning – “in the wolf” is Vilke (locative case, singular) in Lithuanian.
3. While Sanskrit has categorization of nouns into masculine, feminine and neuter genders, Lithuanian nouns are categorized as masculine and feminine. Dr. Songaila believes that neuter gender possibly existed in ancient Baltic languages.
4. Both languages do not have F. The closest equivalent in Sanskrit is “ph”. Pranas is a Lithuanian masculine given name as can be seen in a banner in picture 10 which I saw in Vilnius. It is a cognate of the English language name Frank.

5. There is similarity of numbers both in cardinals and ordinals. Number 4 is chatvari in Sanskrit and Keturi in Lithuanian. Fourth is chaturthah in Sanskrit while it is Ketvirta in Lithuanian. There are much more closer sounding numbers.
6. There are common prefixes too to add on the verb roots to produce more verbs.
7. The common suffix for verbs seems to be “ti” or “te”. For example, compare the endings of Sanskrit “alokate” and “sprushati” with Lithuanian verbs “laukite” and “spauskite” as seen at the pedestrian crossing in Vilnius. (See Picture 11)
The details of these linguistic similarities between Sanskrit and Lithuanian will be covered in a separate write up.

1. Darna in Lithuanian means Dharma in Sanskrit.
Darna is the harmony we create through our duties and morals. It is mentioned that there is no concept of absolute good or evil which basically would mean that there could be contextual variation and therefore may appear good or bad depending on the circumstances. It is said that evil is the lack of Darna or inability to create and preserve it. Evil could be deeds of people aimed against nature and its order. Hence, harming nature is clearly evil.
The Sanskrit equivalent Dharma would also mean the duties as understood from the cosmic law perspective. These duties can have multidimensionality to them which makes them contextually right or wrong and therefore not absolutely right or wrong. Dharma leads to balance and sustainability of creation and nature.Adharma which means going against Dharma leads to worldly suffering and destruction.
2. Living in harmony with nature. The World is one living united whole.
Baltic faith believes that the world surrounding us is one living united whole and that we must respect every manifestation. As per Sanatana dharma, the world is one family as is famously said in Sanskrit “Vasudaiva kutumbakam”. It also says
Om! Purnamadah purnamidam purnaat purnamudacyate.
Purnasya purnamadaya purnameva avashishyate.
Om shantih shantih shantih.
This means, cosmos is a whole and so is its reflection, our inner self. If a whole is taken from a whole, the whole remains.
The cosmic oneness Paramatma, the whole, is expressed in every aspect of creation irrespective of whether they are animate or inanimate. Hence all creation which includes gods, celestial beings, planets, rivers, hills, animals and humans should be respected. This is the same as the Baltic faith as Lithuanians honor the earth, water, sun, moon, fire, trees, birds and animals. According to them, it is a sin to pollute water or harm the earth.
3. Welcoming guests: Vaishingumas and Atithi devo bhava
Vaishingumas in Lithuanian would mean welcoming and caring for guests and in the Hindu tradition Atithi (guest) is treated like a god.
4. Sacred places: Alkai and Punya kshetras
Balts believe that they communicate with gods through various sacred spots such as the hills, springs, rivers, trees, rocks and so on. According to estimates there are between 1000-1500 such Alkai in Lithuania which is considered a sacred land.
Sacred spots called Punya kshetras are very common sites visited by followers of Hindu traditions. Temples were usually built on the top of the hills or on the banks of rivers mostly in reverence to these spiritually charged places. It is also believed that the divine energy through special rituals is consecrated in these temples making them spiritually charged conduits to connect with the cosmic oneness.
5. Worship of gods: Some gods with similar sounding names and meaning
Praamzius/Pradziapatis sound very similar to Brahma/Prajapati while Andujas is conceptually similar in meaning to Hiranyagarbha. Prajapati – the lord of the people or the creator of the people sounds very similar whereas Andujas sounds like Andaja. In Sanskrit “anda” means egg and “ja” means born from. Hence Andaja means, that which arises from the egg. Hiranyagarbha – Hiranya is golden whereas Garbha means womb. This refers to Brahma or Eshwara and could easily be called “Andaja” in Sanskrit. Hence it is conceptually possibly the same as Andujas of Baltic faith.
Perkunas is the thunder god in Baltic faith which sounds like Parjanya – another name of Indra – the god of thunder.
Ugnis means fire in Lithuanian and sounds like Agni in Sanskrit which means fire.
The word Dievas is similar in sound to deva and means the same. Interestingly the counterpart is Velinas – the god of the earth and underworld and protector of ancestors. The similar comparison is to Deva (Sura) and Danava (Asura) representing the different ends of the spectrum. While Devas take care of the higher worlds the Asuras take care of the lower worlds. Just as Lithuanians understand that both Dievas and Velinas play an important role in the functioning and sustenance of the creation, so do Hindus believe that all celestial beings have important functions in the sustenance of the creation.
6. Swastika
The Swastika is a sacred symbol which is common to not only the Baltic faith and various dharmic traditions from India but perhaps to several ancient cultures of the world.

7. Concept of soul and its Reincarnation
Romuva shares similar beliefs to Hindus that death is a natural transformation of nature including man. When the body dies, the soul remains, passing into another being. After death, the spirit travels to the ancestors in the underworld.
Vele is the departed soul while Siela is the living soul. There is the concept of continuity of soul making it immortal. Vele (Departed soul) can be reborn as it returns to earthly life to reincarnate into an animal, humanor a tree. A very common traditional belief is that heroes live as trees. All have a soul. There is a special source for the souls.
Dr. Songaila conveyed that the 19th century philosophers spoke of pantheism as the highest God is believed to participate in everything including trees. There is a saying in Lithuanian which translates into English as “Don’t push God to the tree” meaning that it is already there in the tree. Thus, illustrating that God is everywhere. A lot of the above description is very similar to concepts of Sanatana dharma.
Heroes of Romuva revival
It is important to pay tribute to some of those who helped revive the Baltic tradition now called Romuva. In the words of Prof. Dr. Tumenas, Mr. Vilius Vydunas is considered the guru of the Baltic faith revival. In early 20thcentury he revived the Baltic tradition and named it Romuva. He had a miraculous self-recovery healing his chest condition and thereafter practiced vegetarianism. He was inspired by the ancient Vedic tradition and found various similarities with the Baltic tradition. He translated Bhagavadgita into Lithuanian.

Mr. Jonas Trinkunas along with his wife Mrs. Inija Trinkuniene tirelessly worked to revive Romuva for it to get its due recognition. There have been efforts by various other such heroes which is now bearing the fruit as Romuva received official recognition by Lithuania on 12th December 2024.
Sanatana dharma pilgrimage to Lithuania
From my understanding having been to Lithuania, it is my belief that the practitioners of Sanatana dharma across the world, through their commonness among all their respective native wisdoms, should embark on the pilgrimage to immerse in spiritual oneness to mutually exchange knowledge and to express solidarity with the brothers and sisters of various native faiths. Lithuania has a rich spiritual, cultural and linguistic heritage that I recommend spiritual retreats and pilgrimages to Lithuania to rejoice and celebrate the rich traditional songs Dainos, the festivals and visits to the Alkai, the sacred places.
Section D: Role and benefits of native wisdom to its native land and its people.
Following are relevant questions that we should ponder upon as we embark on a journey to not only strengthen our own practice of the native spiritual wisdom, wherever we live, but also to reach out to all those inhabiting the native land with all its unique characteristics of culture, tradition and beliefs.
1. Is revival and sustenance of native wisdom necessary?
Native wisdom has a robust conceptual consistency across various parts of the world and through various eras. This wisdom can be tapped into by going through
already documented literature where available,
through the oral transmission of songs, stories and rituals and,
connecting oneself with that land that they have lived in long enough mindfully that nature starts speaking to them and teaching them.
Through this wisdom there is a huge potential in not only connecting us with our traditional roots of art, culture and language but also with the nature and its rivers, trees, forests, lakes and oceans that we become one with the nature. We become responsible citizens of that native land as well as the globe as native wisdom is nothing but cosmic knowledge.
2. If so, what are the driving forces?
Driving forces for revival could be all those questions covered below. These may include.
Countering well established organized religions or ideologies to seek justice for the civilizational suppression or colonization for centuries.
For cultural and literary renaissance.
To re-connect with the wealth of spiritual knowledge.
As it bestows tangible benefits to the environment, society, family and individual.
For it makes our living holistic as the native wisdom becomes an integral and organic seamless component of our daily life.
As it allows the individual freedom to express our likes or dislikes of their practice with no authoritative penalties.
As it provides an opportunity to develop the scientific spirit of openness to explore the absolute truth.
3. Is it being revived as a mere counter to the well-established organized religions or ideologies?
If the revival is a mere reactionary counter to the well-established organized religions or ideologies, then this revival will not last long. While our ancestors have practiced the native wisdom well, the current generations have collectively little recollection or awareness of the native wisdom or a convincing connection to the native wisdom to stand up for it.
In addition to that while our ancestors may have sacrificed their lives, resisting the forced or coercive conversions, the current generations are likely to be theologically deep into the organized religions that they have converted to and therefore may not even wish to come out of their comfort zones.
The very reason for the organized religions to have succeeded include the robust mechanism they have put in place to sustain the organization of that particular religion. Unless there is sound conceptual strength in the revived native wisdom, a mere reactionary counter would not be able to have a long-lasting impact.
4. Is it being revived as a cultural and literary renaissance?
This is a good reason as a lot of conceptual knowledge is stored in the culture and literature.
For those native traditions of spiritual wisdom who have these surviving links it is very important to quickly document them and make them popular before they may be lost.
For those cultures and people for whom it has been lost, it may be hard to reconstruct the exact tradition. This has happened in most parts of the world due to wilful systematic destruction by the organized religious expansionism so that the civilizational memory is erased.
However, we should always remember that native wisdom is nothing, but cosmic wisdom and the principles remain the same irrespective of which part of the world we live in.
Hence use those principles such as
Cosmic oneness as the source of creation,
Living mindfully with your native rivers, farms, forests, lakes, oceans and deserts,
Respect and worship of gods and spirits who are guardians of your terrains and,
Respect and worship of your ancestors of your land and people.
Within no time you will start living in harmony once again as we all reconnect as one – nature, gods, ancestors and us.
5. Is it being revived for its spiritual wealth?
This should be the fundamental driving force while the others are also important reasons for the revival and sustenance. Sanatana dharma considers the cosmic oneness and its expressed consciousness in the entire creation as the only absolute truth while the creation is there for us to fulfil our responsibilities and stay on path of realization that we are part of that cosmic oneness. Native wisdoms across the world express the same to a varying degree. However, the common theme that is conveyed is that we are part of the whole and our welfare lies in sticking to this awareness.
6. Does the native spiritual wisdom bestow tangible benefits to the environmental, societal, family and individual wellbeing?
Yes. There are several tangible benefits as follows.
Psychological and physical health benefits for the individual
We should incorporate our native wisdom into counselling and therapy that meets the unique needs of the natives of that land. Often counselling and therapy may be globally generic and secular that the native nuances are often missing thus making the experience and result incomplete. We can still apply the globally standardized techniques but should tailor them to incorporate the native wisdom to provide individual therapy, marital therapy and bereavement counselling.
Living mindfully with nature should become part of our daily life where we visit the chosen native sacred places – rivers, mountains, lakes, springs etc. where we spend significant amount of time healing ourselves in the lap of nature, communicating with them, learning life lessons from them and perhaps receiving messages from our native gods and ancestors who are always there to take care of us.
Improved relations within family
As a family we should be open to talk about our relationship with our ancestors and develop a small shrine or a place of remembrance for the ancestors. We should regularly perform simple meaningful rituals and remember our ancestors during the festive time dedicated for them such as in the month of November and December in case of Baltic faiths and month of September in Indian and Chinese traditions. In the Hindu tradition, rituals for the departed are conducted for 10-12 days after the death, then every month for a year and once a year thereafter. This helps develop better bond within the family and the concept of looking for each other.
Grihastha dharma (householders’ responsibilities) is well laid in Hindu tradition. As per tradition, Grihastha prioritizes the family’s welfare and also plays a role of an anchor for the needs of the society. Modern Hindu, for instance, needs to re-root to this Grihastha dharma which brings stability back into the family system with reduced divorce rates and therefore stable childhood and upbringing for the children and resultant emotional and psychological strength.
Role and responsibility for a better society
Romuva’s Baltic practice of Darna emphasizes our responsibility to lead an ethical and moral life. We are taught to develop a healthy society and a nation. As mentioned above, Grihastha prioritizes the family’s welfare and also plays a role of an anchor for the needs of the society.
Role and responsibility for nature conservation and an environmentally friendly life
Grihastha also needs to set an example through practice of the very spiritual principles as known through the native wisdom such as demonstrating universal love with the understanding of cosmic oneness, living with nature and thus demonstrating through actions to the children reasonable use of resources and paying respect to nature through a ritual or a thanksgiving prayer as it is the benevolent providers of our resources.
The Hindu scripture Bhagavad-Gita states that humans and gods should live harmoniously by looking after each other for the sustenance of the world. If humans fail to pay respect for the benefits bestowed by the gods through these generous resources, then this act is considered as stealing.
7. Does it have the capacity to become an integral and organic seamless component of our daily life?
Yes. Once practiced everything goes on an autopilot that nothing feels to be brought upon by force. There is no dogma or superstition involved. However, a sincere daily routine is required for this to succeed.
8. Does it allow individual freedom of expression of the likes and dislikes of their practice?
Yes, it does. Individuals are free to choose and express how they feel. There are no penalties if one decides to not practice.
9. Does it have the scientific spirit of openness to explore the absolute truth?
Yes, it does. Just as the cosmic oneness is eternal with no beginning or an end, creation is also considered beginning less. Besides, there is common understanding of the cyclical nature to creation through its repeated births and deaths. Creation is through matter and therefore deals with science. Cosmic oneness is considered the absolute truth that one always wishes to pursue and understand.
In the process of understanding the absolute truth of cosmic oneness and our role and responsibility in this life it is natural for us to ask questions such as
· Why am I here?
· What is the purpose of my life?
· What is my relationship with this world around me, its people, the animals, the trees and so on?
· Are they there for my pleasure or do they have a right to live just as much as I do?
· Where do I go from here? And so on.
These questions are endless and should be expressed with all freedom and openness.
In science as well we are in pursuit of finding the truth where truth is arrived at based on evidence and can be called fact. However, both science and spirituality are explorative with the common goal of truth seeking. Both are open to dialogue. We can simultaneously explore both in our lives. In fact, we should explore them both simultaneously to enable us to progress within and outside in harmony and for welfare of all.

10. Is accepting native wisdom conversion into a religion?
No. Always remember that when you embrace native wisdom you are not converting into a religion. You are regaining your connection to your original state and your roots so that you remain in harmony with nature and respect your gods and the spirits of your land and respect your ancestors.
11. What lessons should we learn to re-root our future generations to their native wisdom?
Colonization and Conversion
One of the core features of native wisdom globally is its ability to accept heterogeneity and therefore allow different cultures and belief systems to co-exist with no compulsion imposed on others to convert into their faith.
On the contrary it is very important to understand that a monotheistic organized religion, as witnessed in history and by its theological design, has been incompatible with the idea of harmony with heterogeneity. It is inherently uncomfortable co-existing and accepting the differences. It is theologically structured to indoctrinate its follower to believe in an unlikely and unnatural homogeneity and therefore makes its followers to restlessly pursue conversion of all into its faith. Through most part of the history their conquest was through brute force and coercive strategies and not through conceptual debate. It is only now that the monotheistic organized religions seem enthusiastic to engage in conceptual debate when paradoxically the practitioners of native wisdom have been obliterated from most continents and weakened through colonization in other continents that an effective challenge is not often posed. It is akin to the last scene in the movie Gladiator in which the king exhibits the newfound confidence to win over the mighty Gladiator who he realizes has been sufficiently weakened prior to the contest to ensure a matchless victory.
Globally there are several ancient native lands with its people and their traditions that have been effectively colonized that the current generations are uprooted – in some places irreversibly. There are 3 types of conversions possible after colonization. They are religious, cultural and linguistic. Native wisdom in Europe, Africa, Americas, south and middle east Asia and Australia has witnessed significant erasure, and its people have undergone conversion in one or all three forms of conversions.
Colonization can be considered successful when the process of colonization is continued by the wilful participation of the natives themselves in dismantling their own native heritage with their own hands even after the colonizers themselves have gone away long ago and have no direct influence.
In India if we take one region as an example such as the Telugu speaking state of Andhra Pradesh the three aspects of conversions can be seen to different degrees. In an education policy supported and bizarrely promoted by the governments led by the very native people and not the colonizers anymore, most children in their schools and all students in their universities do not study in their linguistically and historically rich native language such as Telugu, nor are they taught the depth of the literary, cultural and spiritual heritage that it contains. Hence at this rate linguistic conversion is likely to be completed in the next one or two generations into the colonizers language English. Religious conversion is also happening to a significant degree while cultural conversion is a global phenomenon.
Once the three-pronged conversion reaches a critical point then the likelihood of being organically connected to the native roots and its wisdom does not happen. To be able to re-root the future generations to native wisdom and to reverse their alienation from it, the education system must be revamped to incorporate thehistory of the native language, its literature, culture and spirituality in all tiers of education. This must happen in all native lands globally as they have all seen the common phenomenon of colonization and conversion to a significant level.
Positive stories of revival
The Lithuanian revival of the Baltic faith should be examined carefully to understand what is required for the successful revival and its sustenance in future. Despite colonization and religious conversion of the majority population and perhaps destruction of most of the culture and sacred spiritual places the rich spiritual, cultural and linguistic knowledge remained intact and this is helping the revival naturally.
In New Zealand there is also a revival in the interest in Maori traditions accompanied by
the introduction of signs in Maori and English and Maori sculptures in public places. In 2017, New Zealand granted legal personhood to the Whanganui River. This is based on persistent legal representations by the Maoris who believe through their culture that their ancestors live in the natural world, and it is the duty of the descendants to protect their native land. In 2014 New Zealand declared that the national park Te Urewera would have legal rights as a person. We need to hear more such developments to inspire ourselves and showcase the benefits to the world and mankind of following native wisdom.
These are welcome steps. However, they would remain symbolic without actual efforts by the natives across the globe to put into practice the concept to live in harmony just as their ancestors have done. Practice of native wisdom will not achieve the benefits listed earlier if done as half measures and if our outlook remains materialistic to exploit nature. We need to embrace the concept of native wisdom whole-heartedly as the actual essence is to not abuse the sacred nature through pollution or plundering.
Conclusion
To conclude re-rooting to native wisdom is not a regressive step. Nor is it against material progress. It reminds the humans to keep their needs reasonable. It balances the equation between the ongoing human needs and the generous ever-giving nature.
It is a step in the right direction as it helps us with self-discovery and aligning ourselves with everything native to our land and its heritage.
The various native people in their native lands with their native wisdom make the world a better place as we are all connected with the same cosmic knowledge that is our native wisdom.
By: Dr. Malladi Srinivasa Sastry MBBS MRCPsych CCST and MA Sanskrit
Senior consultant psychiatrist
Founder, Sohamvidya and Hindumitra Foundation
Readers may find the following youtube video "Re-root to native wisdom: Hindumitra meets Romuva" useful in relation to this write up:
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