Dr. Vasant Lad's Introduction to Ayurveda

In the 1970s, a gentleman named Lenny Blank came to Pune. He actually came to inquire about Robert Svoboda, who was a student at that time, but Robert was not there. So I introduced myself, offered him a cup of chai and some poha, and we started talking. We became quite good friends and he would attend my lectures. I was a professor of Ayurvedic Clinical Medicine and the Chief Medical Officer, which they call Medical Director, of the hospital.

He used to come to my clinic and attend my lectures; he was totally spellbound. He said, “Dr. Lad, this knowledge is very important. If you come to America, people there will love it.”

I said, “They are so advanced scientifically. They have gone to the Moon and put the American flag on the Moon. I have much love and respect for America, but they are quite advanced in modern science and Ayurveda is a 5,000 year-old science that must seem outdated. Why will they welcome me?”

He said, “No, you don’t understand. This is beautiful. People will like it. They need this knowledge.” And he was right. He sent me my plane ticket and I went to New York and stayed with him in a tiny apartment on East 11th Street. I would teach seminars there. Then we started traveling. From New York, we went to Chicago and Houston and then to New Mexico.

We were driving in his car; a small Volkswagen that was like a little, white bug. I would sit in the back, and he and his girlfriend were in the front. I would to sleep there in that tiny car. I saw all the seasons from the back seat of that car.

In Santa Fe, we visited the Santa Fe College of Natural Medicine. Dr Scott and Vivian were running the school. He liked Ayurveda and we became very close friends. His wife was a loving lady and wanted me to teach there. I did some seminars, but I was homesick. I told them I should go back to India, but they said, “Stay here and we will sponsor you.” They sponsored me and I began to teach regularly in their school. They had 200 students and the school was flourishing but it eventually closed.

Then I began teaching at the Institute of Traditional Medicine (ITM). In the evenings, people in the neighborhood would come to me for a consultation. I would treat them with simple herbs, such as cinnamon, cardamom, and turmeric and I became somewhat famous in Santa Fe. I even had clients coming from Albuquerque.

Over time, I realized that I was homesick and wanted to go back home. I was alone here, without my family. Additionally, Santa Fe was very cold, being more than 7,000 feet above sea level. I was very nervous and anxious, so my family came over. My children were small and it was still cold in Santa Fe. Then ITM closed and I interpreted that as a message to start my own school.

Because Santa Fe is at such a high altitude and people feel breathless there, there was much discussion about where to locate the school. Then Jim Skilling, a dear friend who lived in Bernalillo, said, “Dr. Lad, you have started your foundation here in New Mexico. You should move to Albuquerque. It is 10 degrees warmer than Santa Fe and the airport is close.” That was becoming quite important, because every weekend I would fly to another city to give a seminar or workshop. Because of these considerations, we ended up in Albuquerque and The Ayurvedic Institute was established here.

When I first came to America, it was a culture shock. In those days, there were no Indian grocery stores, so no Indian spices or Indian foods were available. We had to manage by going to the co-op and buying whole wheat flour and cinnamon, cardamom and so forth. Usha used to make chapatis and people loved them, so much that she would sell them to the students. In this way we started our journey and, although it was difficult in the beginning, with the grace of God and the grace of people’s love, the Ayurvedic Institute was established in Albuquerque, New Mexico.