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Part 1: Addressing the United Nations: The Work of the Śrī Svāmī Mādhavānanda World Peace Council Viśvagurujī, ladies and gentlemen. Viśvaguru Paramahaṃsvāmī Mahāśwarananda Purījī, or Viśvagurujī, as his disciples affectionately refer to him, belongs to the spiritual master lineage of the Om Śrī Alakh Purījī Siddha Pīṭha Paramparā, founded and established by Śrī Ādi Śaṅkarācārya. Viśvagurujī, the spiritual successor of Hindu Dharma Samrāṭ Paramahaṃsvāmī Mādhavānanda Purījī, Holy Gurujī, established the Śrī Svāmī Mādhavānanda World Peace Council to commemorate and pay homage to his master. Holy Gurujī lends the sense, the motivation, and the strength to Viśvagurujī. He is the driving force of our beloved Master, who founded and directs Yoga in Daily Life, the comprehensive system that integrates over 2 million yoga practitioners globally. The board members of the Śrī Svāmī Mādhavānanda World Peace Council chose three motivational quotes: "One in all and all in one" from Holy Gurujī, "Helping hands have more value than folded hands" from Viśvagurujī, and "Be the change you want to see" from Gandhījī as the moral cornerstones of the NGO’s operations. Gandhījī was a supporter of the Declaration of the United Nations and of the international organization at its very inception. In Harijan of the 14th of June 1942, he said that the "first act" of free India "would be to enter into a treaty with the United Nations." And at the same time, he also said that "India would be morally bound to help the United Nations." The Śrī Svāmī Mādhavānanda World Peace Council and Yoga in Daily Life, two of the numerous humanitarian and philanthropic NGOs overseen by Viśvagurujī, have taken up Gandhījī’s goal and have been committed to contributing to its success. They have supported the MDGs since 2010, and further have been supporting the UN’s post-2015 development agenda and the global goals since 2012 and 2015. This is to briefly assess the Śrī Svāmī Mādhavānanda World Peace Council’s and Yoga in Daily Life’s major UN-related activities. In 2002, to contribute to the achievement of universal primary education, on the premises of the Om Viśvaguru Svāmī Mādhavānanda Āśram Education and Research Centre, Om Āśram, Jadan, Rajasthan, a primary school was established to enroll the underprivileged children of rural India. Jadan School now delivers education from preschool levels to bachelor’s degrees for over 1,000 students. The Gyānputra scheme of Jadan School provides free transportation, textbooks, uniforms, and free meals to the most deprived children to help them emerge from extreme poverty. 68% of the pupils who enjoy full financial coverage of their education are girl students. The Śrī Paramahaṃsvāmī Mādhavānanda College, an institution of higher learning that bears the name of Holy Gurujī and was erected on the grounds of the Om Āśram, has been affiliated with the United Nations Academic Impact since 2011. On one hand, Viśvagurujī chose his master’s name to be given to the college to guarantee success to the institution. On the other hand, the choice of Holy Gurujī’s name reflects the commitment to gender equality and also to the elimination of the caste system. To further promote gender equality and the empowerment of women, Jadan School and the Śrī Svāmī Mādhavānanda Hospital, an additional charitable institution on the grounds of the Om Āśram, offer a joint community healthcare educational program for women. In line with the UN’s 2030 Development Agenda, voluntary health mentors are trained at the hospital to protect and empower children, disabled and older persons, the most vulnerable people in society. To improve maternal health, ensure healthy lives, and promote well-being for all at all ages, the Śrī Svāmī Mādhavānanda Hospital operates with numerous departments, including a 24-hour ambulance service, helping people with serious, life-threatening conditions and providing treatment for tuberculosis, malaria, hepatitis, and other waterborne and communicable diseases. Under the framework of ensuring environmental sustainability, the Śrī Svāmī Mādhavānanda World Peace Council launched its Desert Rainwater Harvesting Initiative at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, 2002. The program, which was further introduced at the Rio+20 and the Budapest Water Summit, ensures water for drinking and agricultural purposes to resource-poor rural communities in a state that spans 10% of India’s geographical area but which has only 1% of the country’s water resources. The water gained through the Desert Rainwater Harvesting Initiative is additionally taken advantage of by the program’s 24-hour fire and resource rescue services. Climate change is directly affected by the carbon released into the atmosphere due to deforestation and forest degradation. The joint forestation and tree planting program of the Śrī Svāmī Mādhavānanda World Peace Council and Yoga in Daily Life, which led to the planting of well over 15 million trees, was initiated by Viśvagurujī as an integral part of the voluntary commitment titled "Awareness Action, Peace Conferences, Tree Plantings, Cleanups, and Vegetarianism," pledged at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio, 2012. To protect, restore, and promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems and halt biodiversity loss, a seed bank initiative has been recently established. The project primarily focuses on the protection of native heritage seeds and medicinal herbs. Again, in line with the 15th global goal, a campaign titled "Save the Birds" was launched to draw public awareness to how unsustainable agricultural production patterns and equally unsustainable consumption models endanger the lives of uncountable bird, bee, and butterfly species. The moral impetus for animal protection derives from the principle of non-violence. The Śrī Svāmī Mādhavānanda World Peace Council and Yoga in Daily Life International Fellowship run and fund the so-called Gaushala sanctuaries that shelter and provide veterinary care for abandoned cows, horses, and goats in four districts of Rajasthan, India. Fifteen years ago, Holy Gurujī chose to leave his physical body. He entered into Mahāsamādhi. His teachings remain with us through Viśvagurujī, to whom I should like to thank on behalf of all members of the Śrī Svāmī Mādhavānanda World Peace Council for having the opportunity to be present today at this auspicious event and venue. Holy Gurujī’s principles further live with us by the means of his bhajans, spiritual songs, that all entail a fundamental commitment to the love of nature and to global and universal peace, the notion that urged the establishment of the United Nations. Thank you. Thank you very much, Dr. Esther Lucas. Now I’d like to invite the Deputy President of the Śrī Svāmī Mādhavānanda World Peace Council USA, Mr. Chandra Sukhwal. Hari Om, Pranām Gurujī and His Holiness Dr. Śrī Mahāśwaranandajī, all our special guests, and all our respected members. It is a very special and proud day that we are in the United Nations. So our goal is unity. Yoga and Svāmījī, all objects are unity and peace. Svāmījī did a lot of jobs and work in the world, and he performed a miracle on earth. He is proud of India, proud of the world. People go to India and see the Taj Mahal. And at that time, Svāmījī thought, "What can I do for all of India? The people are coming to see something special." And he did it: the Om Āśram. Svāmījī did a lot of work for women’s education, animals, and hospitals. And Svāmījī is such an important thing, and he is very, very kind-hearted. Respect for the government, respect for VIPs, safety. So I’m really thankful to Svāmījī. You work hard, you give new opportunities, new directions for the world, for the poor, for education, for the hospitals. And thank you very much again, everybody. Hari Om. Thank you very much, Mr. Chandra Sukhwal. I would like now to ask for the opening remarks of the co-organizer, Ms. Denise Escoto, Chair, International Day of the Yoga Committee at the United Nations. Your Holiness, Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, and Friends, on behalf of the UN SRC, Enlightenment Society, and the International Day of Yoga Committee at the UN, I am delighted to be able to welcome you here today and to say how important this initiative is. Thank you so much for being here and for allowing us to have this kind of dialogue. I also want to recognize Ms. Denise Lucille, who is with Yoga in Daily Life and who has been a strong supporter of our International Day of Yoga Committee and the events that we have been able to organize to promote the fullness and richness of yoga here in the UN and in the greater UN community. I would like to just stress a few key points, rather than speak and read my whole intervention and statement. Law is an important tool for change. I’ve been a practicing attorney for 25 years or so. It’s hard for me to even believe that, but that’s the case. And I have practiced law in many capacities, including working on international law here in the United Nations. So my experience shows me that law is very significant because law allows society to be very orderly, to be very smooth and effective in many ways. But I also know that the law does not allow people to really change their behavior. The law doesn’t make things really happen. My experience is that what really changes people’s lives is having a shift in their understanding, a change in their consciousness. It’s a change in their mind about something. And it happens also with the heart, when the heart opens and has an expansion and has an understanding that is different, about something that is greater than oneself and about a connection to other people. Now, I would say that yoga is an intensely spiritual practice if we really take a look at this ancient practice and ancient tradition. And as many of you know, because of all the teachings, there are many ways to really have these practices. We know of the eight limbs of yoga, and we know of these different kinds of tools to help us. So, the way yoga can really help us is to have this connection to something greater than ourselves. It can really help us to realize what is important in life. To have a simple life with things that are very meaningful. To allow us to have a connection to the greater world, to the natural world, and to all living things. To allow us to understand that we’re all together, to see our humanness, our very human self in you and me and everyone who may be different from me. And at the end of the day, I think the yogic values that arise are those values that really mirror the principles of the United Nations, the principles of the Enlightenment Society, the principles of the International Day of Yoga Committee, and the principles of yoga and daily life. Harmony. We heard unity, right? We hear about all of this stuff about peace, you know, and building a culture of peace and nonviolence, with tolerance being a very first step. So with this, I leave you. I welcome everybody, and I am so appreciative of being part of this incredible dialogue today, and I look forward to learning from everyone. Thank you so much. Thank you very much, Ms. Denise Escoto, and now I would like to invite another co-organizer, Mr. Ramu Damodaran, Chief, United Nations Academic Impact. Of each woman, child, and man, the individuals who constitute the world, when I came in, my good and respected friend Ambassador Imnadze said to me, "I," meaning Kaha, "am only one of 193." What he meant was that we have 193 members of the United Nations, and Georgia is one of them. And he said to me, "You are one of one." And I thought of that wonderful metaphor because that’s true of each of us. We may belong to communities, to groups, and indeed to Viśva, to the world, but we are each one of one. And to understand that, to appreciate that, it requires, as Denise so eloquently said, a shift in our understanding. Because if we are able to shift that understanding, then we come to the premise of how yoga, in its truest sense, in a sense that transcends the physical or the medical or even the spiritual, is the idea of uniting thought and action in the person of each human being. I’m very grateful to all of you who have taken the trouble to come to the United Nations, particularly as always happens in New York when you’re warned not to travel but find that there’s not very much danger when you do travel. But thank you all for coming here, and I find so many friends from Hungary, and I’m particularly touched because today, March the 7th, happens to be the 6th anniversary of the first UNEI conference at Pázmány Péter University, I think, in Hungary. On March 7th, 2012, you had a conference on the Millennium Development Goals, and now your focus has shifted to the Sustainable Development Goals. And again, if we look at all that we have in this room, and the fact that to be a human being today is not only a matter of responsibility, but also a matter of pride. Some years ago, I was watching the Steve Colbert show, if some of you are familiar with it. And I chanced upon a very unlikely person in that show, Dr. Uma Mysorekar. And Steve Colbert asked her, "So, do you go about converting people to Hinduism?" And she said, "No, we don’t convert in our religion." He said, "That’s a bit of a soft sell, isn’t it?" What she said in reply, I think, goes far beyond Hinduism. She said, "We are just content with who we are." Once you are content with who you are, and you realize that what you are or who you are has a capacity for change, for improvement, for the exercise of yoga of the body and mind, then you don’t worry about how other people are. Because other people will follow you if you are the change that they want to be. If we again take this metaphor a step forward, my distinguished friend Dr. Kothari once remarked that the remarkable thing was not that Columbus discovered America, but that he knew there was something to discover. And I say this with all respect to the United States of America, please don’t get me wrong. But that, I think, is again, as I’ve tried to suggest in my contribution, why we should also see yoga as an acronym for the years of global action. These are the years of global action for the United Nations, starting in 2015 and with our destination of 2030, Mahāprabhujī Karatā Mahāprabhujī Karatā... He Kevalam. The world has set for itself between 2015 and 2030. So let us now look at 2023 as an opportunity to look back and forward, not on how nations have worked on the Sustainable Development Goals, not on how communities have worked, but on how individual women and men have worked. How the change that we have brought to our lives, to our perceptions, He Kevalam He Kevalam... He’s so eloquent. As a matter of fact, what I wanted to say when I was sitting here, I was thinking of the intervention I was going to make, and I had something in mind, and then Ms. Koto came up, and she said what I wanted to say. Apparently, we do have this unity here, because we think in a similar way. As a practitioner and a bureaucrat, I’m also a believer in law, rule of law, and law and order. I don’t believe in the internal goodness of men, but I do see that if that is possible, it is really possible through yoga, because yoga does bring out that good part that every person has, and it really makes life worth it. In this organization, we do have unity in a sense that even the countries that take different positions and could be pitted against each other at points, their permanent representatives do speak to each other. And there comes the moment when I myself, as one out of 193, and my colleagues, we do transcend our national boundaries and try to do something for the community. The United Nations stands on three major pillars: security, development, and human rights. Without development, there won’t be security, and vice versa. But human rights are the foundation of it all. Part 2: Yoga, Education, and the Path to World Peace If one quickly browses through this wonderful brochure, one can see how much this organization truly does and can do in terms of attaining sustainable development goals. As a good friend of mine and our former president of the General Assembly, Peter Thompson, very aptly said, Agenda 2030 is the master plan for humanity’s survival. It is indeed a master plan because, in this turbulent world we find ourselves in today, we do need to make a change. Change really starts with each and every one of us, as Mahātmā Gandhījī said. If I do not see the world the way I want to see it and work on it, and if you do not do it, there will not be any government or any other organization that can do it for us. We all have to do our fair share. In that spirit, as a student of yoga myself, I am humbled to be here. Three years ago, the largest number of co-sponsors ever co-sponsored the resolution that established the International Day of Yoga. After that, we started to live not only from September to September but also from June to June—meaning not only the General Assembly but the Yoga Day and another Yoga Day. This day, which is also auspicious, coincides with the beginning of the week of the women, which we will start practically from tomorrow. Equality is something this world really needs: a realization that every woman, every child, every man—we are all truly equal citizens of the global world. Thank you very much for inviting me here and for sharing with you some of the feelings I have this morning. I want to apologize if I will not be able to stay with you for the whole length of this event, but I want to assure you that the spirit in this room, which I am taking with me, will enable me to work with my colleagues today even harder to attain global peace, as it is said, in this world—to manifest peace as much as I can. Thank you. Gurujī, distinguished guests, I was not meant to speak, but since I was given the opportunity, I will try to do my best. What I can tell will be only from my own experience, because anything else is something I have heard or seen, but I have lived through my own experience. I can somehow feel a connection to it. I met Swāmījī approximately 13 years ago while I was posted in India, completely unattached to anything like yoga. I was meeting Swāmījī for several years before I somehow got the notion of what yoga means in daily life, and only then could I see his vast effort and the work he was able to carry out in the whole world. Day by day and year by year, I was trying to incorporate the teachings of yoga and a little life into my own life, and I could see the immense change I was able to produce in my immediate surroundings, in my own family, in my own office. I was able to see how a positive attitude towards each individual—a woman, child, or man—can change the whole atmosphere in the immediate surroundings. I could see that then the change was reproduced in the families and in the surroundings of the other people. This is my personal experience, and I completely agree that the change we would like to see—all of us—can be brought into the world only through our own actions and nothing else. So I can personally thank faith, or Swāmījī, or however we can call it, that these inspiring ideas were brought into my own life, and I can be the witness of the changes in the world. I would like to wish that more and more people would start being inspired by thoughts of yoga or different spiritual paths. Thank you very much. Namaste to everybody. Respected Swāmījī, friends, brothers and sisters, my humble salutations at the lotus feet of the divine cosmic Viśvagurujī, and my congratulations to the organizers of the WPC conference for demonstrating that yoga and meditation are important tools for world peace. I am honored to be present in this distinguished gathering. As many have already echoed, a healthy and happy life are the most important goals of everyone. The Indian sages of Vedic times, the ṛṣis, had discovered the supreme science of yoga and guided the practical ways of accomplishing total well-being. The word yoga means union. In the spiritual context, it implies the union of the individual self with the absolute, eternal Self. The philosophy of yoga teaches that a life, when lived as per the will and the disciplines of the supreme creator, becomes a life united with his supreme powers. Yoga itself is not a religion, but more like a science of life. It is an ancient physical, mental, and spiritual practice, the oldest system that the world has known for personal development. Healthy people are always an asset for a nation. No amount of wealth and other resources can make us strong and progressive if we are sick and weak. It is the responsibility of the leaders of the nations to be physically, mentally, and spiritually fit and to make others around them aware of the importance of a disciplined lifestyle and balanced exercises for the mind and body system. In view of its enormous efforts, the dissemination of knowledge of yoga and training in its practices would be a commendable effort for social welfare. I would like to conclude with a quote from Swāmī Vivekānanda. He says that the soul has to be heard, it has to be reasoned, and it has to be meditated upon. To hear the soul, the mind must be at rest, peaceful, pure, and clear. This state is achieved by working in a yajña spirit in our day-to-day life. Thank you. Respected Paramahaṃsa Maheśvarānanda, respected Viśvagurujī, it is a great honor to be invited to the conference titled "Yoga and World Peace," organized at the premises of the United Nations. On behalf of Széchenyi István University in Győr, Hungary, which has been a supporter of the peace initiatives of the Śrī Svāmī Madhavānanda World Peace Council for over four years now—Viśvagurujī visited our university twice, first in September 2014 and next last year in 2017. On the first occasion, we jointly planted a world peace tree in front of the university library, and Viśvagurujī gave a public lecture in one of our buildings that is related to the automotive industry. The automotive industry is a very important thing in our life; it is a driving factor of the unique development of our city, our region, as well as of the Hungarian economy. On October 2nd, 2015, the United Nations International Day of Non-Violence, I was invited by Viśvagurujī to the United Nations office in Vienna to deliver a speech on how higher education institutions may contribute to the notion of non-violence. Széchenyi University, as a founding member of the United Nations Academic Impact, adheres to the ten basic principles of the initiative, the seventh of which—a commitment to advancing peace and conflict resolution through education—resonated with the aim of the conference organized at the UN Vienna. It is in line with the focus of today’s conference at the UN headquarters in New York. While Széchenyi University, with a narrower outreach, operates and envisions its future very similarly to the United Nations. The most comprehensive international organizations integrate businesses, industry, children, youth, farmers, local authorities, NGOs, the scientific and technological community, women, and workers, as well as trade unions, into their operational mechanisms. Mahāprabhujīp Karatā He Kevalam Mahāprabhujīp Karatā. In fact, our academic involvement is mostly based on the infrastructural background of Audi, an international carmaker, a German car manufacturer that has been operating in our city for over 25 years now. Audi is owned by the Volkswagen Group, and the city of Győr is located in the center of the European automobile industry and region. In line with our region’s industrial disposition, our university’s primary academic focus is engineering. I must stress academic focus, because there are other focuses as well, which I will be telling you a bit later on. The academic focus is engineering, with three major faculties specialized in vehicle engineering, mechanical engineering, informatics, electrical engineering, as well as architecture, civil engineering, transport science. And there are another six faculties covering scientific fields such as economics, law, political sciences, agriculture, food sciences, education, social science, musical arts, health, and sports sciences. Let’s talk a little bit about money. The most dominant source of income for the region is the vehicle industry, driven by the supply chain system operated by Audi. It is a relatively big factory, but actually the biggest engine manufacturing factory in the world, producing more than 2 million car engines a year. For this reason, because of the strong connection, we established a faculty at our university that holds the name of the Hungary Faculty of Vehicle Engineering. I believe that our future depends on the organic and deep interaction among the actors that formulate our local society: business, the university, central and municipal government, civil society, and also individuals as well. We often say that we are working on the 21st-century higher education model, and we see this model as vital living tissue, where all the individual cells are embedded and interconnected. How we envision the long-term operational model for the university, in a sense, resembles that of the United Nations. In Győr we often say—there is a slogan in Győr saying that "the future is being built in Győr." It is an expressive grammatical structure, and it refers to the fact that somebody must act on it. Things do not happen by chance, and if they do, that is just not good enough. The future is being built for the next generation, and we must involve them in that process. We must teach them all the crucial, vital things we feel responsible for: peace, health, healthy food, yoga, respect. Respect your own mind, respect your own body, respect other people’s minds and other people’s bodies. Respect yourself as an individual, and respect the rest of the people as individuals. That is what we are doing at universities, or at least we should be doing. Universities should be doing these things. In that sense, we can say that the mission of a university is a lot more than issuing degrees. They must take responsibility for the future of mankind. So why is that? Because there are special entities in the world, special entities like the United Nations. Mahāprabhujīp Karatā He Kevalam Mahāprabhujīp Karatā He Kevalam... It is a lucrative thing when we care for the young generation, when we care for the students. We often say that it is not only to teach them technological things, but we care for their health, their spirit, their mind, and their body. And why is that? Because it is profitable as well. What makes a university a good university? The funny thing is that a good university is not made by the big professors and the Nobel Prize winners. The good university is made by the good students. That is true. Finally, I would like to congratulate Viśvagurujī on organizing this milestone event at the United Nations headquarters in New York, and I would further like to congratulate him on receiving the title of Doctor of Letters by the Swiss University of England. Thank you very much. My humble praṇām at the lotus feet of Swāmījī, honourable members of the World Peace Council, eminent speakers, thinkers, and scholars from all around the world. When I received an invitation from Gregor that I had to speak at the World Peace Council conference, I asked him what my topic would be. He said, "Swapnil, you have to speak on world peace." Coincidentally, my thirteen-year-old son was standing in front of me, and he asked me, "Dad, what do you mean by world peace?" I looked into his inquisitive eyes and realized that he is too young to understand the dynamics of this topic. How can a 13-year-old boy understand what Russia’s interests in Syria are and what America’s interests in the Middle East are? So I devised a simpler definition for him. I said, "Sarth, look at your mom, my wife." My wife is my world, and if my world is happy, I am at peace. But if my world gets unsettled, she makes me rest in peace. So my first advice for world peace: keep your wives happy and be at peace, else rest in peace. Now, I have a bad habit of starting my speech with a joke on my wife. So this time, yesterday, my wife gave me a little suggestion. She said, "Swapnil, since tomorrow you are speaking at the UN Headquarters in New York at such a prestigious podium, such a prestigious platform, don’t try to be too charming, don’t try to be too witty, don’t try to be too intellectual. Just be yourself." I will be myself. Namrata, I will be myself. I will not give a long speech because they say it is good to leave your audience before your audience leaves you. A good speech should be like a comet; it should be dazzling, eye-opening, and it should be over before you know it. Now I will speak something serious also, otherwise Swāmījī will not invite me to the conference next time. The first part of my speech, I want to raise certain elementary questions, I want to raise certain fundamental questions, I want to raise certain basic questions. Why, in today’s time, do people think too much and feel too little? Why in today’s time do we find more clever people and fewer kind people? Why is intelligence so common these days, and why is compassion so rare? Why is instant gratification so glorified these days? And why is sacrifice of any kind not looked upon? Why are people successful, and in spite of being successful, why are they lonely and unhappy? Why are relations within families strained while all social networking platforms are growing at a meteoric rate? These are elementary questions. We should think on these questions. For one minute, let’s keep aside these questions. There is one very important aspect we need to think about. Why are people on this planet feeling a different kind of void? You meet a businessman, you meet a student, you meet a housewife, you meet a government employee, you meet a retired government employee, you meet a peon, you meet a driver. Everyone is feeling a different kind of void, a different kind of emptiness, a different kind of restlessness. Now, there is some problem. There is some fundamental mistake. There has been a strategic failure. And no discussion on world peace can take place until and unless we identify and locate that strategic failure. Viśvagurujī, I will be very honest and very straight. In spite of being an educationist, I will take this responsibility. This strategic failure is the strategic failure of the educational fraternity. This is a strategic failure of teachers, this is a strategic failure of schools, colleges, universities. I myself own a university, but I will assume responsibility. The education fraternity has developed minds, but it has failed in the development of hearts. A developed mind without a developed heart is responsible for all unrest in this entire world. Part 3: The Heart, the Mind, and the Path to Peace A developed mind without a developed heart is a perfect breeding ground for all poisonous ambitions. A developed mind in the absence of a developed heart becomes a competitive mind, becomes a ruthless mind. And this ruthless competitive mind—whether it is a Russian ruthless competitive mind, a North Korean ruthless competitive mind, an American ruthless competitive mind, or an Indian ruthless competitive mind—is the biggest hindrance to world peace. How do we handle this situation? Can we do anything about it? Again, it is the responsibility of teachers. We people, we teachers, owners of colleges and universities, we have to tell the new generation that the most powerful thing, the most impactful thing, the most influential thing in this universe is selfless love. And love is love only when it is selfless. When you are in love, you want the person you are in love with to win, grow, achieve, and excel. You don’t pull him backwards in competition. You want to pull everyone backwards and you want to excel, but when you are in love, you take a step backwards. And you want the person you are in love with to excel. That’s what our parents do, that’s what our teachers do, that’s what our gurus and mentors do. So I have a point here: only a person who has not been loved properly can hate; only an unloved person can hate. We need to develop minds, and parallelly, we need to develop hearts if we want this world to be a better place to live. Now, the second part of my speech: I want to discuss mindset. This word is very important: mindset. We need to discuss something about mindset—the mindset of individuals, the mindset of society, the mindset of nations. And yes, societies and nations also have a mindset. This entire world, whatever we see in this world, is an enlarged projection of our little mind. Is there anything which happens in this world which does not happen in our mind? No. So we need to work on mindset. Now, what’s the basic problem? There is a question which I want to raise here. There is a problem upon which I want to throw light. Whether it is the mindset of an individual, the mindset of a society, or the mindset of a nation, our mindsets justify reaction. As an individual, as a society, as a nation, we find pride in reacting. Reaction gets glory. You hit me, and I will hit you. You kill my people on the border, and I will kill your people on the border. You throw a missile at my country, and I will throw a missile at your country. You burn my worship place, I will demolish your worship place. And where have we landed? We are almost on the verge of a crisis; we are almost on the verge of the next world war. So reaction is not leading us to world peace; this is for sure. What’s the alternative then? The science of yoga says that it’s an inner journey. You have to travel inwards. But you cannot travel inwards if you get identified with something. When you get identified with something, the way you think and the way you feel is influenced by what you are identified with. Let us, for example, say that something happens. I am an Indian, I have an Indian point of view. There is an American, he has got an American point of view, and there is a Russian point of view, and there is an Israeli point of view. We all have our point of view, which is possible, that is rational, and is quite possible; it is not rational. And these points of view finally convert into reactions. Now we need to understand one thing. Reactions are instinctive, and responses are intellectual. Reactions lack empathy, and responses are the result of patient and empathetic thinking. Reactions would always lead to war, and responses will always lead to peace. There has to be a difference between stimuli and a resultant action. There has to be a gap between stimuli and the resultant action. If there is enough thinking and contemplation between what has happened to me and what will happen through me, we would always get responses. And we need to think, what have reactions given to this world? World War I, World War II, the Gulf War, the Cold War, nuclear programs. And what have responses given to this world? The Indian Freedom Movement was based on non-violence, and it was a response to the British exploitation. Satyāgraha was a response. Savinaya Avadya was a response. "Andrezo Bharat Chhodo" was a response. It was not a reaction. It was a response, so what we need is a habit. We need to inculcate a habit that we will respond rather than react. The last part of my speech: I have a very interesting story to share. Once a young man entered a restaurant, and he was wearing a very nice suit. He was carrying a branded laptop, wearing a good girdle, and he ordered chicken. An old waiter came, and he served chicken. This young person was very arrogant, and after five minutes, having two or three bites, he said that this chicken is cold. Now, the old waiter was a little frustrated. A young person asked, "Why is this chicken cold?" The old waiter was frustrated. He replied, "This chicken died two weeks ago. It’s bound to be cold." Right? Now this young person kept quiet. Five minutes later, he again called the waiter and said, "I have been observing this chicken. One leg seems to be shorter." Now the old waiter was really frustrated. He said that one leg is shorter. You want to eat chicken, or you want to dance with chicken? Now, that’s what is happening to him. The young generation is asking silly questions with full attitude, and the old generation is giving disillusioned replies full of frustration. If you want disillusioned replies, you can do it. If we want this world to be a better place to live, the young generation has to ask the right questions with the right attitude, and the old generation has to give the right answers with patience. If we want this world to be a better place to live, the young generation has to ask, "Is a Syrian life less important than an American life or a Russian life?" And the old generation has to answer: human life is human life. Until and unless we value each and every human life, each and every human life will be in danger. The young generation has to ask, is religion the propelling force behind any kind of terrorism? And the old generation has to answer, no, religion is not the propelling force behind any kind of terrorism. Behind any kind of terrorism, there is only one propelling force, and that is economics. The young generation needs to ask that: are leaders passionate about liberty and democracy only until they come into power? An old generation has to answer yes. They change when they come into power because power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The power arena is like a food chain; there is only one rule: hunt or get hunted. And the younger generation has to ask an elementary question: what makes a nation a great place to live? Mahāprabhudīp Karatā Mahāprabhudīp Karatā He Kevalam Mahāprabhudīp Karatā He Kevalam Mahāprabhudīp Karatā He Kevalam... Part 4: Yoga: The Path to Harmony and World Peace Many of you here attended the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro along with Viśvagurujī and assisted him in organizing programs there. One of our most noteworthy events was a very well-attended meditation session for the conferees, in which Viśvagurujī led a beautiful, long guided meditation. This helped the people there immensely—they were exhausted and somewhat discouraged by the negotiations and how they were proceeding. The session provided them with grounding, centering, focus, and inner peace, which greatly helped them continue their work. It was wonderful. We also work with our International Yoga and Daily Life Society, whose president you just heard, planting trees worldwide under Viśvagurujī’s initiative. We partner with Buddhist organizations to provide community education on protecting the planet and engage in many other activities. This has been our life in the service of others. This is the way to happiness and peace taught by all spiritual traditions. Yoga keeps this path ever foremost in our minds through our daily practice and through our years of global action, working together. Thank you very much, Viśvagurujī, and all honored guests, for this time to celebrate the truly important role that yoga plays in bringing about the peace we wish to see in the world. Thank you. And now, let me humbly invite Viśvagurujī Paramahaṁsa Maheśvarānanda, founder and president of the Śrī Svāmī Madhavānanda World Peace Council and author of the Yoga in Daily Life scientific system. Viśvagurujī, the floor is yours. Oṁ Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ, Śāntiḥ. Salutation to the cosmic light, Lord of our hearts, omniscient and omnipresent. Salutation to our holy masters, Alakhpurījī, Devpurījī, Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī, and our beloved holy Gurujī, Svāmī Madhavānandajī Mahārāj, my Gurudev, my master. We have him in front of us. He used to say, "Don’t think of yourself, but think of others if they are hungry or if they are in some trouble." The world is one, but there are different creatures. According to that, there are 8.4 million different creatures. Out of that, one is the human. Humans have a very powerful intellect. Other creatures also have intellect, but just to survive. They cannot change one to another. But we humans have that intellect, and we can use it for the well-being of, first, the humans. For what? To protect and love every creature, to feel that everyone needs food, everyone has pain, and everyone feels it if we are torturing them. Gurudev said, "Every creature has that blood, which has the same color, whether humans or other creatures." Therefore, my Gurudev said, "Love, protect, feed them, don’t eat them." On this globe, we humans, according to our understanding and our limitations, have created different religions. Religion is only one. That’s only one. That’s God. It doesn’t matter which path we go on; our destination is there to achieve. There is only one gate to the Supreme. Every religion tries very hard to bring harmony, peace, understanding, and love. It is said in the Quran, "If you kill one human, you kill the whole humanity." Do we understand that word, what is written in the Holy Bible? Similarly, also in the Bible, if someone gives you a slap on the cheek, offer the second one. It is said, Mahātma Gāndhījī, we hate the sin, not the sinner. That we know who is really without any mistakes or any sin. It is said that you have to throw the stone at someone, but it is said, "Please, let the one who has no sin or no mistake throw the stone." Everyone, step back. So, human, every country, every religion, every culture, every family, we humans try to come together, but somehow, always the river comes between an island, and it separates the water. But sooner or later, that water, after the island, will come together again. So maybe there is a misunderstanding, maybe different reasons, but one day we all will come into that oneness. We have this word for yoga, for world peace. Our Honorable Pradhān Mantrījī, Narendra Modi, with one word, one voice from his heart said, "It is yoga which can bring the world together with peace and harmony, and without overthinking." The whole country said yes. That, for me, is this: that every country would like to be in peace, would like to be healthy, would like to be spiritual, and they want to live in harmony. The families or the whole society? Yoga, yoga. How do I realize what my master said, what my grandmaster said? And so, there is something our sister spoke very nicely about yoga. The 2nd sister, she is bringing the message and yoga and teaching, and she said one word which I didn’t like, I am sorry. But she said it is correct in certain cases. But you know, sister, every soul is brilliant, shining bright, not black. So, it is not good; it is discrimination for people to make differences based on color, caste, or what we call different kinds of people. Now, the modern people in science have declared that out of 8.4 million species, one is human. So, there is no different caste, color, etc. Only one human, and we are all one human. Second, there is no difference in the spirituality, in God, in the divine, whatever we call it. There is no difference between the genders, only physically. Otherwise, we are all that one soul of the Supreme. And therefore, we should not make distinctions based on a human’s color, what we call race, etc. We are human. Yoga for us, and today while sitting, our one sister, Uma, sister, she went because she had to walk, and one sister, what’s her name, Denisha, what she said. The next conference at the United Nations we should have, and that is all yoga teachers and all yoga practitioners join in oneness, like our neck, this mālā, or what we call the garland. We are all trying to come together as the thread of these pearls of this necklace. Every pearl is a little different, but that thread is one. Everyone has their yoga schools, everyone has their own yoga names, they have all different ways of teaching, but finally, it is yoga. We said yoga in daily life; others will say other yoga. The name is okay; it is for our idea. Otherwise, yoga is yoga. When we come and when we want to achieve peace, harmony, understanding, love, and liberation, then we have to see first that oneness. Anant Brahmāṇḍa, in Sanskrit, Anant Brahmāṇḍa: endless universe, endless universe. And "Anant," endless, means we are limited, but as far as we go, is that far it will be? Like a horizon, how far is a horizon? We want to go and touch that horizon, but we cannot. As far as we will go, the horizon will... As far as we are still, so that anant, that universe, space, empty space, and what we call all that we want to achieve, the higher consciousness, the God consciousness, whatever. So sometimes I am thinking, is the space in the consciousness, or is the consciousness in the space? Well, my opinion, my thinking, my feeling, is that the consciousness is within the space. As our president of the Fellowship of Yoga and Alive, he said in the Upaniṣad about this peace mantra. So, it is said, "Mātṛ Devo Bhava"—the first God is the mother. First is what you call here, feminists. Okay, if we say they are women, then still they are the first. So, mātṛ devo bhava, first is God, his mother. Pitṛ deva bhava, then his ancestor as a father. Achārya Devabhāva, like our Hungarian friend, the rector, but the name is forgotten. Sorry, yes. And our Swapnil, what he said. He is an ācārya. Ācārya is a degree, like a professor or doctor, etc. Then comes the ṛṣi, the master, the spiritual guide. So first is the mother. So for me, the definition of yoga begins there. First, the space, and within it is that consciousness. But again, there comes the question: there was no one, nobody. In other yugas and yugas, we shall look in the Vedānta. Through Google, nowadays we have found out about yugas, the ages, etc. So then the question came, "Cetan ke to icchā nahī̃, aur jaḍ se kush nahī̃ hotā." Chetan ke toh ichchhā nahīṁ, chetan means the consciousness, pure consciousness. But that pure consciousness has no desire. No desire. And the matter cannot create anything. It means between mother and father. Therefore, it is said, "Eko’haṁ bahusyāḥ": I am one, and now I will multiply. Then, who is that one? Who is that? Who am I? Nothing. See, we don’t see anything. So then, between the space and consciousness, it is said there are three principles. Harmony, balance, and unity. This is the definition of yoga. Harmony, balance, and that is the principle: bringing together to think someone, still there is only energy, nothing else. And in that comes Nāda. Nāda means resonance. And so the Vedas are saying, Nāda Rūpa Parabrahma. The form of the Supreme, God, is the resonance. And that resonance, the music is also there. So we said Aum, you said Āmana, etc., in different religions, everywhere. Finally, we are on the same path, and we have the same destination. But some, our, every country has all this, so what to do? Now, what can bring together the peace in different countries? And that is, of course, a little difficult. How? One person brought about a hundred frogs, little, little hundred frogs. And now he put on the weights, kilos, scale this side and this side, a hundred. And now we want to see how many kilos it is. Three jumps out. Again, we catch them and put them there, and ten run away. So, this world is like the frogs. My country is good. My this, that, and that is the problem. And therefore, that is the formless supreme Brahman. So first comes the resonance, the light, the elements, and that’s called space, fire, air, water, and earth. And we are all coming further, so I’m not going to tell the whole story. In all this, yoga is not a religion. Yoga is a harmony, balancing and uniting between our body, our mind, and our consciousness. But as humans, we have to come and realize that we must awaken the awareness. Awareness. And now every country has every good idea. The United Nations is also giving this aim, that we have to get water, children, etc., etc. What our organization is working for, that also with helping. So, awareness. Today, our aim is this. And we would like to come here in the United Nations, our NGO, and we have special status. But why? We can have a conference everywhere, but we came here to bring the awakening of awareness toward world peace. And peace begins within ourselves. If we don’t have peace, everything is in pieces. And so we are coming together. We want to do, and we want to follow the instructions of the United Nations. We want to understand every country. We want to understand every religion. And we want to have a peaceful world and environment. Now, there is a lot of pollution in the world, different. Many children are suffering, have no medicine, are hungry, etc., etc., in different countries. And if we can ask our many countries what they are using billions of dollars for the weapons for. And that’s why we have our sign on this book, which is what we have in this. This symbol, what we gave here, you have everyone that twisted these guns in different way, and there is nothing in. Let the children play with this to jump up and down, or let’s go to the ocean and deep in the ocean throw it there. So, how many billions of dollars are spent because of the fighting? My territory, your territory, it is mine, it is yours, and we don’t know what we want to do. So we want that government, every government of the world, should come out of all this fighting and be together in peace and harmony. Yoga brings this. Yoga changes humans, gives good health, harmony, understanding, and peace. Then comes the love automatically. Yoga is the science of the human consciousness, body, mind, and soul. So yoga is not a religion, but if religion is part of yoga, it is because yoga does not talk about this god or that god, or your religion or my religion. We are the science of the body to become healthy. One of our speakers, Arjun Purī from Croatia, his mother is my disciple also. I have my disciples in Europe, fifth generation, and I am still young. So how many will there be? I came to Europe in 1970, not 1972. In 1972, beginning, I came to Austria, and Austrians always tell me that I am 72 years old, but it doesn’t matter, no problem. So that yoga will bring harmony, peace, and understanding, and our saṅkalpa is this: that we shall help to bring peace and help others also. So we say it in India, if your stomach is full, it does not mean that others’ stomachs are also full. I am full, but there are many who are hungry. So my grandmaster said, "Give first food to everyone." Has everyone gotten eaten? Then he said, "Okay, now bring me, I will eat." And personally, he used to go person to person. If someone is sitting somewhere, others outside, he goes there and says, "Did you eat?" They said, "Yes." Others said no. Then he said, "Come, hold the hand and go and give the prasāda." This was one of the big chapters of my grandmother, father, Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī. So, feel the pain of others. Feel the unhappiness of others. This is the best. So, Gurujī said, don’t make differences. We are all one. And that’s why he said, "One in all and all in one." So, we are one ātmā, one soul. We have exactly five elements. Everything, we have hunger, we have thirst, we feel pain, we feel fear, etc. We have everything, but the inner soul, what we have, that pure one, that one would like to come out from these worldly desires and problems, to come to harmony and peace. This is the aim of yoga, and this is the aim of our conference today. My dear sisters, brothers, and the children waiting outside, thank you very much. And I want to say, our dear sister Kṛpā Devī. Kripa Devi, I gave her this name. Kṛpā means merciful, and Devī means divine mother. So, Kṛpā Devī, she worked three months very hard. She always came here, and look, there are some sisters—this one, that sister—they all became her friends, and she is working very hard to bring us together here. Also, our dear brother Rāmu Dāmodara, thank you, and our dear brother Swapnila Kothārījī, thanks to him very much. He is working in India, I am in Europe, and I was not in Europe, I was in New Zealand, Fiji, etc. Many other countries I came here. This year, I didn’t concentrate more on this. Our Dr. Rādhājī and Swapniljī made beautiful, beautiful articles for this magazine. Thank you very much to you, both of you, and all here. Our dear Vice President of our Śrī Svāmī Madhavānanda World Peace Council, he is also a very great supporter. But this time he couldn’t because he had a little bit of physical difficulty. Everyone could have, I was also, a lot of coughing and this and that. So thank you everyone very, very much. Thank you for coming. God bless you. God protect you. And God gives you great, great support and super higher consciousness. Thank you, sisters and brothers. Hari Om. Śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ. Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ, sarve santu nirāmayāḥ, sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu, oṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ... All be happy, all be healthy, and all should live in harmony and peace. Peace, peace, peace. Please take your seats. Thank you. I don’t know which one you are. Thank you very much, Viśvaguru Paramahaṁsa Maheśvarānandajī. Respected audience here in the United Nations Headquarters, as well as dear audience globally around the world via our webcast, I would like to thank you all for attending and watching this conference. Let me just conclude with one sentence: let us all give peace a chance. Thank you very much, and see you at our next conference and programs.