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Hari Om! Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am truly very happy to be here in Budapest, in the august company of Viśvaguru Śrī Svāmī Purījī and in the company of so many of you divine devotees. Since many of you are likely already following our work at the embassy to promote bilateral relations through our website and social media, I will not dwell on that subject this morning. I have heard much about the wonderful work being done by Svāmījī and Yoga in Daily Life, and I congratulate Svāmījī for bringing this ancient knowledge from India to this and other parts of the world. Yoga, as you know, is a very ancient Indian discipline. I am very happy that this ancient discipline is being practiced and propagated by all of you here. It is institutions like Yoga in Daily Life that are responsible for bringing the knowledge of yoga and spirituality to the remotest parts of the world. Prime Minister Modi is a great yoga enthusiast and practitioner. He proposed the idea of an International Day of Yoga in his address to the United Nations in September 2014. While proposing it, he said that yoga is an invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition. It embodies unity of mind and body, thought and action, restraint and fulfillment, harmony between man and nature, and a holistic approach to health and well-being. It is not about exercise, but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world, and nature. The declaration was adopted by the UN General Assembly in record time in December 2014. In fact, this resolution was co-sponsored by 175 countries, including Hungary, the United States, Canada, and China. It had the highest number of co-sponsors for any UNGA resolution of such a nature. Many of you are aware that the first International Day of Yoga was celebrated in Budapest with great enthusiasm. Yoga in Daily Life contributed greatly to its success, and we are very grateful. We plan to organize the second International Day of Yoga in several cities in Hungary. Last time it was only Budapest; now we will do many more. In Hungary, we are planning for the 18th and 19th of June, and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the 25th and 26th of June. In Hungary, we will be covering Szeged and other cities, so in case any of you are there, do participate. We are open to suggestions from all of you and seek your active collaboration. Our ancestors proclaimed ages ago that the world is one family: Vasudeva Kuṭumbakam. We cannot live in isolation. Let me share a small story. Being on the spiritual path, you may already know it. There was a hard-working peasant who would till his land thoroughly, sow seeds at the right time, give proper manure, irrigate, and his crop was always judged the best. However, at the start of the season, he would give seeds free of cost to his neighbors. When asked why, he replied that if his neighbor’s crops are inferior, gradually his crop would also become inferior through cross-pollination. It was therefore important that not only did he plant the best seeds, but also that his neighbors planted the best seeds. You are aware of the turmoil the world faces. We are all aware of the wars in many parts. The war in the Middle East has directly affected life here in Europe. Whatever solutions we have applied have failed. We need fresh thinking. We need humanism. We need to reach out with a message of peace. Unless there is peace around us, we ourselves cannot be peaceful. Until there is poverty around us, we cannot be rich. Until there are souls around us that are not peaceful, we cannot be peaceful. If there is peace, it spreads; if there is disturbance, that also spreads and affects us. The power of good is far stronger than the power of evil, which is why there is relative peace and prosperity. We all look for ways to increase our security. However, in whatsoever manner we try, we end up increasing insecurity. All of you here know that security cannot come by just locking your doors or having more arms. In the last four or five hundred years, we have made weapons of mass destruction. Have they brought more security? I am not advocating we be oblivious to physical security, but it is secondary. Primary security is having a peaceful mind and a loving, caring disposition. The world suffers from innumerable problems: poverty, malnutrition, pollution. Pollution—air, water, or sound—has reached enormous, threatening proportions. Some pollution we can feel through our senses. However, there are certain types we cannot see or feel. We are surrounded by invisible waves—radio, television, cell phones. Human beings have never had to deal with so many types of waves. While they have brought physical progress and brought the world closer, they have also added tension, stress, and caused diseases. More threatening and dangerous of all is the pollution of our convoluted and negative thoughts, which is the root cause of many problems. As Mahātmā Gandhi said, it is our greed causing many problems. Even in a spiritually advanced country like India, corruption is a major issue. We see surplus in one part of the world and deficiency in another. Some who feel deprived take the law into their own hands. Even when everyone has enough, there is jealousy. We have seen people taking family to court over property shares. We cannot isolate a problem in one part of the world from another. We come back to the concept: Vasudeva Kuṭumbakam. The world is one family. If there is disease in one part, it takes no time to reach another. We have globalized our problems. We therefore need to think big in terms of global solutions. We have started adding "global" to all our problems: global warming, global financial meltdown. The collapse of Lehman Brothers in the US in 2008 affected the entire global financial architecture. We are still struggling to recover. Similarly, global warming has reached such alarming proportions that we cannot postpone affirmative action. It is not a question of who will act. Unless all humanity and all countries join, there is little hope. We will have to revert to sustainable lifestyles. India is a land of peace. Our aim is to live in peace and spread peace and love. We have not waged war on any country in our history. There may have been internal aberrations, but we have not tried to conquer any country through force. The only way we have tried to conquer is through the power of love. From time immemorial, we have sent missions to spread dharma, righteousness. Quoting an ancient śloka: Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ, sarve santu nirāmayāḥ, sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu, mā kaścid duḥkha bhāgbhavet. Oṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ. You probably know the meaning: May all be happy. May all be free from illness. May all see what is auspicious. May no one suffer. Om peace, peace, peace. We no longer have to officially send these missions because of the presence of spiritual gurus and masters like Svāmī Maheśvarānandajī. You are all on the spiritual path and know the value of spirituality in the modern world cannot be overemphasized. When Buddha attained enlightenment, he was asked what he gained. Lord Buddha smiled and said he did not gain anything, but he had actually lost everything. It is only when we lose all our preconceived notions, prejudices, hatred, and negative tendencies that we attain peace and can spread peace. It is only then we feel oneness. We feel yoga, the union. It is only then we do not become greedy, are not jealous, don’t fight, or send jihadists to kill innocent people. We do not look at women with disrespect. It is only then we can take care of our environment, develop respect for Mother Earth, for the air and rivers. It is only then we are not feverish for enjoying the material world and develop sustainable lifestyles. This is the need of the hour, and this is what is being done by spiritual masters like Viśvaguru Maheśvarānandajī. As they say, there is no formula for peace and happiness except that if you do something for others, if you help with someone’s problems, you will automatically feel happy and be peaceful. Svāmījī and all of you are the ambassadors of India. You are not just representing Indian culture but are living examples of how to lead a life of service and selflessness. I congratulate all of you for choosing such a beautiful path to bring peace to the world. Hari Om. Thank you.