Neda Lazarevic reconnected to her native spiritual roots while discovering Indic knowledge and reciting Veda.
By Sophia Ann French
Neda Lazarevic was born in Yugoslavia (now Serbia) and spent her early career as an academic. She has a PhD in Computer Science and worked at a University in London before moving to France, where she met her husband. Neda wasn’t born into a culture of Indic Knowledge and attributes her inclination to Indic spirituality to a past life. She feels her past-life karma made her mind fertile and receptive to spirituality. “I enjoyed being an academic, and there was a point in my life when I used to think that we make our own choices, but sometimes, things choose us. I have always wanted to be independent in the sense of having my own business or being a freelancer, etc. I first encountered yoga when I moved to London. At the time, it was a fashionable thing that everyone was doing. I didn’t know anything about it, but I knew I wanted to improve myself. In London, I would browse through bookstores and look at self-help books. When I moved to France, I found myself at a crossroads. An academic career means you have to move to be close to work. I had no desire to move, and I was thinking of what to do next. I signed up for a Yoga Teacher Training in France. At some point in my exploration, I came across Dr. O. P. Tiwari from Kaivalyadhama when he was visiting France. His teachings affected me deeply, and I travelled to India to study Prāṇāyama,” says Neda.
She was always drawn to the sound of Sanskrit and had been trying to learn about chanting and texts when she found Veda Studies online. “I speak three languages fluently and can read in different languages, but I couldn’t read Sanskrit. I started learning Sanskrit, but there was confusion. I heard chanting in many different forms, and each system has various interpretations about mantras. When I came across Veda Studies, I did the Free Essentials Course and attended some of Shantala’s community events. She seemed confident and true. She is true to the tradition and true to herself. I discovered a new world of precision and the need to be exact.”
Veda Vibes
Neda has been teaching and practising yoga for several years. I asked her how reciting Veda mantras affects her existing spiritual practices. “All spiritual practices take you to meditation. Meditation is difficult. It is hard to control the mind and remain concentrated. When I recite Veda, it grips my mind. It is an effective tool to fix your mind on something. I consider myself a beginner in meditation, and I need something concrete or abstract to fix my mind on. St. Teresa of Avila described meditation as a ‘frequent conversation with God alone.’ I love this aspect of Veda recitation — we talk to the deities through the mantras,” says Neda.
She attended the Indica Veda Studies Teacher Training Programme to enhance her knowledge of the Vedas and found that the programme also increased her knowledge of Indic culture. “The TTC added a whole cultural context to my practise. Shantala is a great teacher, and she’s authentic. She has lived and worked in the West, so the teaching interface she designed is easy for Westerners to connect to.”
India and Spirituality
Neda was born in Serbia but has lived in the UK and now lives in France. She feels India and Serbia are similar, except their colours are different and India is more dense. “In terms of culture, both countries have very warm and friendly people,” observes Neda, and she’s a big fan of India’s culinary landscape. “I travelled to Mysore and Kerala in January, and loved the food. I told my husband we should visit these places only to eat (laughs).” Neda may not have been born in India, but her inclination for Indic spiritual practices has satiated her appetite for spiritual knowledge. “Spirituality is just a truth about the world. I know I have a mind, body and heart, but these practices gave me a framework. Indic spiritual knowledge brought me back to my roots, and I understand Jesus better.” Neda’s advice to students who want to study and teach Veda is to “Feel a natural attraction to it. You need to feel it in your heart, or it will be like reading any other book. When you are ready to study, find a good teacher. There is a saying that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. Don’t let that stop you from looking. If you don’t look for something, you will never find it. If you start looking for something, you are likely to find it.”
To get in touch with Neda, email her at [email protected]