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The help is for people to understand themselves and to understand others, to love and protect all living beings, and ultimately to realize God. Viśva guru Mahāmandaleśvara Paramahaṃsa Svāmī Maheśvarānanda. In our lives, there is an opportunity that is becoming increasingly rare in these times: to be in the presence of an enlightened spiritual teacher. Even rarer is the human being who will seize that opportunity for spiritual growth, guidance, and the blessing of such a teacher. Such a teacher is precisely Viśva guru Mahāmandaleśvara Paramahaṃsa Svāmī Maheśvarānanda. Svāmījī comes from the spiritual lineage of Śrī Alakh Purījī Siddha Pīṭha, whose source lies in one of the ancient sages of the Himalayas. Śrī Alakh Purījī is one of the great Siddhas from Satya Loka, the highest cosmic plane of absolute truth and reality. Those ṛṣis are the guardians of this world, present on earth for many thousands of years. Śrī Alakh Purījī’s disciple is the supreme Yogīśvara Svayambhū Śrī Dev Purījī, a great yogī from the Himalayas. After receiving initiation from his teacher, Śrī Dev Purījī left the Himalayas and, towards the end of the 19th century, established a small āśrama in the desert village of Kailāśa in the district of Sikar, in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Śrī Dev Purījī left his physical form in 1942, entrusting his spiritual protection and guidance to one of the most sacred divine incarnations of humanity: his disciple, Bhagavān Śrī Deep Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī, the embodiment of divine love, wisdom, and light, who lived from 1828 to 1963 in Rajasthan. With his words and way of life, he conveyed the eternal truth of Sat Sanātana Dharma, which means the true relationship with the divine Self. He taught that all living beings carry within themselves a spark of the same divine light. In that way, every human being is simultaneously a part of God and of His entire creation. "Every living being loves, if not more, then at least as much as you love yourself." This is the essence of Mahāprabhujī’s message to humanity. Mahāprabhujī had many self-realized disciples. The most prominent among them and the heir to the spiritual lineage is Hindū Dharma Samrāṭ Śrī Svāmī Madhavānanda Purījī, who carried Mahāprabhujī’s luminous message of Sat Sanātana Dharma to the world with the message of "one in all, all in one." Viśva guru Paramahaṃsa Svāmī Maheśvarānandajī is the successor of the spiritual lineage of Oṃ Śrī Alakh Purījī Siddha Pīṭha, since Holī Gurujī entered Mahāsamādhi and thus left this world in October 2003. As a disciple of Paramahaṃsa Svāmījī Madhavānandajī, Svāmījī lived with him from childhood, after which he began to spread the wisdom and light of his spiritual lineage throughout the world. And so, in 1984, he also arrived in Croatia. If you ask any residents of Croatia today whether they know about yoga in daily life, you will be surprised not only by the number of affirmative answers but also by the number of those who will tell you that they practice or have practiced this world-renowned tradition, which came to Europe with His Holiness Mahāmandaleśvara Paramahaṃsa Svāmī Maheśvarānanda. The first contact of Croatia with Svāmījī took place in Belgrade in March 1984. That year, two Croatians met His Holiness for the first time, and they returned to Zagreb as his disciples, Viṣṇu Purī and Svāmī Vivek Purī. After a preparatory seminar at Rajac in Serbia, the students from Zagreb organized the first Svāmījī seminar in October of that same year, in the sports hall on Palmotićeva Street in Zagreb. It was Svāmījī’s first visit to Croatia, and since then he has been a regular guest in Croatia and in Croatian hearts. The Zagreb seminar did not become an exception but a rule. Until 1988, over the years, an increasing number of Croats seeking spirituality, as well as physical, mental, and spiritual health, became acquainted with this system and its author at seminars held in Zagreb. Until the early 90s, twice a year, international seminars of Yoga in Daily Life were held in Tuheljske Toplice. From there, in search of a larger space, the organization of seminars under the guidance of Svāmījī moved to Istria. Those Croatian seminars today are among the most attended in the world, with the number of participants counted in the thousands. In addition to the annual seminars under Svāmījī’s guidance—which are the culmination of year-round work by numerous instructors, students, and practitioners—daily yoga classes in almost all major cities of Croatia are accompanied by many other activities. Since 1996, Yoga in Daily Life has been practiced as part of physical education classes at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, and since 1998 at the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology and the Faculty of Textile Technology in Zagreb. Recently, it has also become available to students of architecture and geodesy, as well as to students in Rijeka. The first world multi-religious prayer for peace was held in Croatia, in Umag, and prayers have been offered from the shores of the Adriatic Sea since 2001, embracing the entire world. That same year, 2001, the first edition of the book Yoga in Daily Life was published in Croatian. That book quickly became a highly sought-after bestseller, and its author, Svāmījī, presented the first copy to the President of Croatia, Stjepan Mesić. It was the beginning of a friendly relationship full of mutual respect. In July 2002, the Croatian president expressed his respect for Svāmījī by awarding him a high Croatian honor for his humanitarian work. In September 2002, President Mesić awarded His Holiness Svāmījī the Order of the Croatian Morning Star with the image of Katarina Zrinska, the highest order given in Croatia for humanitarian work. A few months later, in November 2002, during his official visit to India, President Mesić took the entire Croatian delegation to visit the educational and research center that Svāmījī established in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Indian media recorded it as the first visit of a Western president to an Indian spiritual center. Croatia can also boast other interesting facts from Svāmījī’s exceptionally rich biography. In Zagreb, Svāmījī recently met with the Dalai Lama during his visit to Croatia. Several thousand attendees come to each of Svāmījī’s lectures in Zagreb, for which tickets are regularly in high demand; among them, his most attended lectures are those he gives around the world. In 2004, at a special ceremony with Svāmījī as the guest of honor, the first 20 years of Yoga in Daily Life in Croatia were celebrated. Accompanied by his youngest disciple, Avadhūta Purījī, Svāmījī visited several Croatian cities and inaugurated a multicultural society in Zagreb. A year later, Croatia had the immense honor of hosting the world peace summit of Śrī Śrī Svāmī Madhavānanda, carrying the message of Mahatma Gandhi. This is recorded in Croatian history as the very first peace summit ever held in Croatia, and it brought together numerous distinguished speakers from the country and the world. Before the meeting with President Mesić, Svāmījī also visited the Croatian Parliament, where he met with its vice president, Đurđa Adlešič, and several distinguished parliamentary representatives. During the Zagreb Summit, and later at the international yoga seminar in Čakovec a year later, Svāmījī planted an olive tree of peace in Split as well, which would become a tradition for every one of his visits to a city. After the book Yoga in Daily Life, Svāmījī that year also introduced his new book in Croatian, Hidden Powers in Man, the most comprehensive and thorough work on the energetic centers of the cakras to have appeared on the market so far. In February 2006, the program "Yoga for Educators," a three-year free program integrating yoga into daily life, was successfully completed. For the first time in Croatia, it was conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. Last year, about a hundred educators from all parts of Croatia participated to learn how to cope with stress, enhance concentration, and improve learning ability. In the summer of 2006, for the first time, yoga according to this system began to be practiced for free on the beaches and in parks throughout Croatia. To this day, many Croats have encountered yoga for the first time precisely through this program. In 2006, World Peace Day was celebrated for the first time in Rijeka with prayers and special programs, marked by the olive trees of peace planted in Zagreb, Split, and Čakovec. Many other centers of Yoga in Daily Life operating in Croatia joined in the celebration of this day. This system is an eightfold program designed to achieve physical, mental, spiritual, and social health, the benefits of which will be felt by every practitioner regardless of their physical condition, age, or religious affiliation. In 25 years, tens of thousands of people have passed through the Yoga in Daily Life classes. For many of them, the encounter with the author of this system, who has traveled all across Croatia, was the very beginning. In addition to regular classes, special programs are also conducted in Croatia, designed for managers, those with spinal issues, the youngest participants, and a free program for retirees. The list of events and activities contributing to the positive response of many Croats at the beginning of the story is long. A divine light shone in Croatia 25 years ago and has since continued to shine in our beautiful land, spreading the message of peace.