Page 3 - Ancient Armenia:Sanskrit 'Harers' and the 'Vetz Hazaria' Vedas

Vetz Hazaria once to me when I was ten or eleven years old, it le a las ng
impression on my mind. I had an intui ve feeling that I would find it one day
and a ain all knowledge. What she meant by all knowledge was not clear to
me. I again intui vely felt that all knowledge meant I would somehow be-
come empowered with amazing capabili es. But all this was abstract musings
that faded into my memory without any specific plan of recovery.

It was not un l I graduated college (University of Pennsylvania) and decided
to study Armenian in Beirut, Lebanon that my interest in the Vetz Hazaria was
evoked again. In Beirut, I heard about a supposed Armenian mys c (fakir)
named Tahyrah Bey who possessed mys cal powers. I never met him but my
imagina on was again awakened about some mys cal heritage among the
Armenians that I wanted to access. A er one year in Beirut, I moved to Paris
to study French. During my 18 years in Paris I came in contact with many mys-
c teachings and socie es such as the Rosicrucians, Masons, different Indian
gurus and eventually the Hare Krishnas. I met one of the headmasters of the
Rosicrucians who tried to ini ate me into their secret teachings. Frankly, I was
not at all impressed by him. Another self-made guru, a very wealthy French
Jew tried to ini ate me by force into his secret teachings based on medita on
leading to the development of mys cal powers. Again, I was not very im-
pressed by him. Another French man, revealed his powers of communica ng
with the dead. He had a spiritualist shop where he regularly led séances dur-
ing which he evoked communica on with dead people for their rela ves. I
took some interest in what he was doing but soon realized he did it more for
business than for genuine spiritual eleva on. I lived for some me with an
Armenian Bishop who taught me many things from the Armenian Bible and
prayers. I assisted him as a sub-deacon during church services in the beau ful
Armenian Church in Paris. This was a rewarding experience for me and I con-
templated becoming an Armenian priest.
Eventually I met some devotees of the Hare Krishna Movement when they
first came to Paris in 1969. They taught me the Bhagavad-gita and told me
about their guru, Bhak vedanta Swami Prabhupada. While reading the Bha-
gavad-gita with the devotees, I encountered some novel ideas that impressed
me. The Krishnas explained that spiritual knowledge is not a ained by aca-
demic study. It can only be understood by surrendering to a bona fide guru in
a bona fide disciplic succession coming from Lord Krishna. By submissively
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