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Welcome to Yoga in Everyday Life, the International Fellowship. On behalf of the Fellowship, the Hungarian Yoga in Everyday Life, all its member associations, and all our friends following Yoga in Everyday Life, I extend a warm welcome. I would also like to convey regards on behalf of the Mayor of Szombathely, who cannot be with us today but will join us for the tree planting tomorrow. Everyone in Szombathely, in Vas County, and in the city is happy that once again this beautiful town is where we are, and where we will—today, tomorrow, and the day after—meditate on peace and act for peace. I would like to separately welcome all our dear guests who have honored us with their presence here today to achieve our common goal: to use our inner peace to provide answers to the questions of the world. Thank you very much. Today, the meeting of cultures and cultural identity will be the focus of this evening. That is, Indian, Far Eastern, and Hungarian dance and music, and how beautifully they can coexist. This is how people should coexist in the world as well. Thank you very much. Now, I will introduce our first performer, Bhakti Devī. She will perform a North Indian dance. She also attends music festivals in Vienna and London, and will be touring Asia, performing in France and Qatar. This is a very important ceremony in the history of life. Let us see her, and on to the music. The second dance will be in praise of Lakṣmī, the goddess of blessing. Her eyes are like the lotus. She is the wife of the god Viṣṇu, who shines in eternal glory. In this dance, we beseech the Goddess, in all her spiritual and material aspects, to grant us wealth. And now, onto the music. Thank you very much. The members of the Music Academy and the Kőbányai Institute are the founders of traditional and modern jazz music. They have created their own style, which is mostly based on the new jazz genre. The members are Ferenc Lakatos and Zongora Révész. Please welcome them. The 55-year-old Hungarian Ska Dance Association group started in 1999 and currently has 27 members. Its members are young people who feel that Hungarian folk dance and the preservation of folk traditions are important, as well as their presentation and further development. They are second-generation participants. They regularly take part in national, regional, and local festivals, where they achieve outstanding results. Next, the Mákvirág Dance Group is coming. The Mákvirág Dance Group is the largest group of the Erdő Péter Art School. It is the junior group of the Ungareszka Dance Ensemble, which is already 55 years old. The Mákvirág dance group was formed in 1999 and has 27 members, who feel the preservation of Hungarian folk traditions is important. We regularly attend regional, country, and national festivals with much success. Leaders of the group are Andrea Pintér and József Horváth. They will now present dances from two regions of Hungary: Mezőföld and Rábaköz. Please welcome them. Thank you very much for the traditional dance from Hungary. And now we will hear some folk music from Hungary. The singers are members of the folk song studio of Vas County. Tamás Németh is a folk musician. He plays a special Hungarian instrument called the tárogató and the flute. Now they will play Hungarian folk songs and prayers. This year, the group is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its foundation. Please welcome them. [Hungarian folk songs performed.] Thank you for the folk songs. And now, let’s listen to the Bhajan Band’s performance. Bhajans are holy songs which are sung in a group. Bhajans can direct the human mind towards God and can make people enthusiastic. Singing bhajans in a group has a powerful effect on the people who listen. Sounds and feelings are harmonized. These positive vibrations will fill and purify the atmosphere. Please welcome them. [Bhajans performed.] Let’s thank the bhajan band. And now, Bhakti Devī is coming. She will dance for us again. The name of the dance is Śambhu Śiva. The melody, the rāga, is Kāmas. The rhythm, the tāla, is Supaka. In the dance, Śiva is the whole of God. It is a special, typical Indian movement. First, we will show the movements, and then we will ask the musicians to perform them. Bharatanatyam, spiritual dance, is the manifestation of wholeness. It springs from the Hindu religion, but its message is universal. You can understand it independently from religion or culture. It is karmic dance music. Every beat of music, every step of dance has its mathematically calculated position. The dance is called Śambhaśiva. Its melody, rāga, is Kāmas. Its rhythm, tāla, is supaka. The dance shows the completeness of the god Śiva. It is a special, typical Indian composition. Please welcome her. [Dance performance with narration in Hungarian and English:] I offer flowers to God. To you above all others. Half woman and half man, you are complete. I glorify your name. He is the most compassionate one. He gives blessing. Śiva burnt Kāma with his third eye. Gives attention to Pārvatī, his love. Lord of dance, Nāṭarāja, all negativity is destroyed with the Tāṇḍava dance. Feeds the world by drinking poison. Śiva is the one supreme teaching guru, eternal energy, whom we glorify. Only the Guru, eternal energy, we glorify, O highest one. You are Mahāprabhujī, who frees from fear. I cannot forget him. I carry him in my heart. The moon is in his hair. Without you I cannot exist, oh Śiva. My love flows from my heart. To your lotus feet. I meditate on your form. And purify myself. Let me be selfless. Every your name is like a mantra to me. Wish. Repeat. Always. Thank you. And now, please, have the music and welcome her. Thank you, Bhakti Devī, for the wonderful dance. Thank you so much. And now let’s watch a short video about the Yoga in Daily Life system. [Video Narration:] Yoga is a permanent quest for strength, happiness, and peace. Far beyond the reach of human memory, there was and there is a science of accomplishment, the science of yoga. The cradle of yoga, the cradle of the science of living, is India, mother of wisdom and home of the truth. It was from here that the world was blessed by the Yoga in Daily Life system. The author of the system is His Holiness Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Mahāśvarānandajī, or simply as he is known all over the world, Swāmījī. Paramahaṁsa Mahāśvarānandajī is one of the most outstanding spiritual masters of our time, who dedicated his entire life to the service of all creatures. His realization of the holy science of yoga was gained through disciplined sādhanā and the devotion of his heart to the guru-paramparā, the spiritual lineage of his masters. Here, in this ashram, in the village of Kailāśa, in Rājasthān, lived and taught Svayambhū Paramyogeśvara Śrīdevpurījī. Bhagavān Śrīdīp Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī, the successor of Śrīdevpurījī, lived in the ashrams of Barikattu and Bola Guda, located on the edge of the Thar Desert. The stories about his divine life are collected in a biography entitled Līlā Amṛta. His successor was Hindu Dharma Samrāṭ Paramahaṁsa Śrī Mādhavānandajī, an exemplar of true devotion. In India and throughout the whole world, his disciples affectionately know him as Holy Gurujī. Śrī Mādhavānandajī entered into Mahāsamādhi in 2003, rendering his spiritual heritage to Śrī Mahāśvarānandajī. Swāmījī’s profound insight and deep understanding of the problems of humankind led him to create this unique, comprehensive, and highly practical system for yoga sādhanā. Visible and invisible, all elements are balanced in a perfect way. And that balancing principle, that is what I call yoga. The Yoga in Daily Life system is a gradual and safe system, elaborated on the basis of authentic yoga heritage. It is a holistic system of health for the strength and harmony of body, mind, consciousness, and soul. The system aims to establish physical, mental, social, and spiritual health. In other words, to offer all that one requires in the search for strength, peace of mind, harmony, and fulfillment in life. To make these goals accessible to everyone, Yoga in Daily Life is structured as a graded system of learning. It contains eight progressive levels. Physical health is fundamental for one’s sense of strength, happiness, and ability to lead a successful life. To promote physical health, the system begins with a series of exercises designed to warm up, to stretch, and to improve physical strength and flexibility. Regular practice of āsanas will awaken and balance many functions of the human body. But more than that, yoga practitioners will become more aware of the subtle link between the physical and mental aspects of their being. The system also contains Yoga Nidrā, a profound deep relaxation technique, and Haṭha Yoga Kriyās, highly effective techniques for the detoxification and revitalization of the body and mind. The breath exercises and meditation help to relax and control the mind and make us more aware of our mental condition. We can then better overcome restlessness and improve our memory and learning capacity. Social health is the ability to communicate with others without conflicts, to act responsibly for the community and society in which we are living, and at the same time to be able to relax and experience the beauty of life. [Testimonial:] My whole life, practicing yoga. As I said, from eight years, thanks to my mother, I practice yoga and met Paramahaṁsa Mahāśvarānanda and, as we call him, Swāmījī. And he taught me how to become a vegetarian, how to think positively, and how to practice yoga in daily life, as the system is called. Thanks to vegetarianism, for example, I can say that I passed all the hard medical checks, and I am ready to become a cosmonaut. And also, thanks to yoga, I gained the strength of harmony and peace in my mind. [Video Narration continues:] Today, Yoga in Daily Life is taught by certified yoga teachers at over 4,000 locations on all continents. In Slovenia and Hungary, Yoga in Daily Life is an acknowledged diploma course at the university level. Apart from the regular ashrams and yoga centers, it is also taught in sport and fitness clubs, athletic training programs, hospitals and rehabilitation centers, and at all levels of education. Spiritual health: An integral component of the Yoga in Daily Life system is the self-inquiry meditation technique. This is a unique step-by-step guide for deepening self-awareness and self-confidence. Through self-inquiry meditation, we deepen our understanding of ourselves and others. We learn about how we are in order to realize who we are, to realize our divine origin. Spiritual realization makes a yogī a citizen of the world, a real human who understands and promotes respect and protection of life, and mutual understanding among all religions, cultures, and nationalities: the protection of global peace, human rights, and values; the protection of the environment; and the preservation of nature. To support those goals, Śrī Mahāśvarānandajī tirelessly participates in most global summits dedicated to humanitarian and noble ideas. In 2000, he participated in the United Nations Millennium Peace Summit in New York. In 2004, in Barcelona, the Fourth Parliament of the World’s Religions was organized in association with UNESCO. Yoga in Daily Life had its workshop in this festive celebration of cultural and spiritual diversity, this demonstration of understanding. Swāmījī also participated in the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. Here, Yoga in Daily Life presented its Desert Rainwater Harvesting Initiative. Swāmījī was not only a most welcome participant at global summits all over the world, he has also organized numerous conferences dedicated to world peace, health, education, ecology, multiculturalism, and multi-faith understanding. In 2002, His Holiness started the first World Peace Conference with the message of Mahātmā Gandhi: "Be the change you want to see." It took place in Vienna, Austria, under the patronage of the Indian ambassador in Vienna and the foreign minister of the Republic of Austria, under the sponsorship of the World Conference of Religion and Peace. In 2003, the World Peace Forum took place in Sydney, Australia. Honored guest speakers at the forum included spiritual leaders from several world religions, as well as Australian politicians, environmental experts, and humanitarians. In 2004, the World Peace Summit organized by Yoga in Daily Life took place in Brno, Czech Republic, under the patronage of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. The summit promoted the values of the Earth Charter Initiative for sustainable and peaceful development. The message of Holy Gurujī, "one in all and all in one," was indicated as a way to achieve unity and peace. A highlight of the 2005 World Peace Summit in Zagreb, Croatia, was the planting of a peace tree in the city park. By planting this tree, summit participants joined the global forestation action initiated in India by Śrī Mahāśvarānandajī. The next annual World Peace Summit, given by Yoga in Daily Life, took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia. As has already become tradition, the conference was dedicated to the memory of Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Mādhavānandajī and to the reaffirmation of Mahātmā Gandhījī’s message. Due to the increasing need for the promotion of non-violence and tolerance, Swāmījī initiated inter-religious prayers for world peace as a manifestation of unity in diversity. Due to his love for India, Swāmījī is very creative in many humanitarian fields in his motherland. Here, in all the vast beauty of Rajasthan, near the village of Jāḍol, he is building the Śrī Viśvadīp Gurukul Mahāśvarānanda Āśram, an educational and research institute. The main purpose of this center is to promote the science of yoga and the invaluable treasures of Vedic culture. The heart of this Gurukul will be this building in the form of the ancient Sanskrit symbol, Oṃ. One hundred and eight compartments and residential units will form this monument, which will be the largest man-made symbol of Oṃ in the world. In 2002, a school was opened in the ashram, which now accommodates more than 2,000 pupils. Here, in this oasis of spirit, these children were given a first-rate facility and high-quality attention and education. They have been offered a future. The ashram provides a free mobile ambulance and first aid service to the surrounding rural area. The Śrī Svāmī Mādhavānanda Hospital, providing residential health care to the neighboring districts, is soon to be completed. In the deserts of Rajasthan, many cows are abandoned and lost. Hundreds of those helpless animals found their refuge here in the gosala of the ashram. The fire truck and volunteer crew are another form of free help provided by the ashram. When it is a question of saving lives, property, and harvests, the crew knows no tiredness, as in any desert. Here in the heart of Rajasthan, the key word is water. This is why construction of this man-made lake has begun in the ashram, as a key part of a wider rainwater harvesting project. This is now a reservoir of life, not only for the ashram, but also for many villages in this thirsty region. During the drought, the ashram’s firefighting vehicle participates regularly in a water supply scheme for many villages in the larger surrounding area. In recognition of his humanitarian and spiritual merits, Swāmījī has received many thanks, awards, and titles of honor from all over the world. At the Mahākumbha Melā in Haridwar in 1998, he was consecrated as Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara of Pañcāyatī Mahāniraṇjinī Akhāṛā. The honorary titles of Doctor of Yoga and Professor of the Science of Yoga were bestowed upon Swāmījī by the World Religious Parliament in New Delhi. In 2001, Śrī Mahāśvarānandajī was consecrated with the title of honor, Viśvaguru, by the assembly of professors and scholars of the Sanskrit University of Benares in the presence of His Holiness Śrī Śaṅkarācārya. Presidents of many European countries have officially expressed their respect and gratitude to Swāmījī’s service for the advancement of the physical, mental, social, and spiritual health of their citizens. The President of Croatia, His Excellency Stjepan Mesić, awarded him the Danica Order of Croatia decoration. His Excellency Mr. Mike Rann, Premier of South Australia, heartily invited Swāmījī to Parliament House. During his official visit to India, the President of Austria, Heinz Fischer, met with His Holiness Mahāśvarānandajī in New Delhi. India’s kings, and now her politicians, always had high respect for its Mahātmās. Such respect gives continuity of integrity to this great nation. The President of India, His Excellency Dr. Abdul Kalam, has met Paramahaṁsa Mahāśvarānandajī several times. Their meetings passed in valuable conversation about social and spiritual topics. After almost 40 years of Swāmījī’s tireless teaching, the Yoga in Daily Life system has proven to be a source of strength, balance, and health in all fields of life. It has become a bridge that unites different people and cultures from around the world. If we are wise humans, we will use yoga in daily life to understand and to fulfill the beauty of human dharma. Now, before we ask Swāmījī to speak to the audience, I invite Kovács Károly, or Kṛṣṇānanda, to announce tomorrow’s programs. First, thank you for all that we spent this night together. Tomorrow morning will be very nice, because in the morning from half past five to half past six, there will be meditation at Vép. And we invite all of you. And after, of course, there will be breakfast, and after we come here, because at nine the conference will start again. The speakers will talk about the summit and the summit’s program. And after, in the break, of course, there will be the planting of the peace tree. After the dinner, at Vép. And at three o’clock in the afternoon, the summit will again start. And now, as everybody is waiting for Swāmījī to tell us something. Thank you. Okay. Salutation to the cosmic light, Lord of our hearts, omniscient and omnipresent. Good evening, dear brothers and sisters. Your excellencies, your holiness, all the dignitaries, and brothers and sisters from the different parts of the world, welcome to this most beautiful country, the Republic of Hungary. A very historical city, Szombathely. We are coming here for one purpose: that we should understand ourselves. To create peace, love, understanding, and tolerance in the world. We have got many, many scientists and experts on this subject. I’m looking forward to hearing them tomorrow. We have our Buddhist monks coming from Bangladesh. We would like to welcome them. Many of you have heard. And you see, the father of the nation, India. Many people were asking, "How is he?" And how would it be if Gandhījī were still living? That I can’t answer. But I have something very interesting, very unique. Very original from the roots. The branches which came, the fruit, the fruit and root are united together, the fruits and the roots. So we have among us the grandson of Mahātmā Gandhi, who spent time also with his grandfather, Mr. Arun Manilal Gandhi. Peace is not easy. Peace has its price. In the Bible, it said you have to die in order to live. Mahāprabhujī said, "You are living like a dead body, but conscious, active." Freedom, love, and peace. Who doesn’t want this? You know, for many centuries, India never created a war against any culture, religion, or nation, because India sees the whole world as my family. But sometimes there are some elements which disrupt this. Three weeks ago, I was on the Adriatic coast swimming, and then I got some kind of sound in my ear. Today, I went to the doctor for the ears, nose, and throat, and the doctor asked me only one question without looking, "Did you swim?" I said, "Yes." He said, "So he knows there was some infection, and it has to be treated. It has to be treated. Treatment, okay? Thank you. Sorry." Well, similarly, there are some infections in human societies, infections, yes. They need... A very strong treatment, sometimes we have to get treatment from the heart, but it looks for others like it’s very cruel, but it is not cruel. In Indian history, in the last century, there was a very great personality. A devotee of the nation, a Bhakta, a devotee of the nation who fought for the freedom of India, hand in hand with Mahatma Gandhi, well known, a great brave personality, his name was Subhash Chandra Bose, hero. Again, I have something for you: the roots and fruits together. So I have again the grandson of Subhash Chandra Bose, Surya Bose. Please welcome. Thank you. And you know our dear Ramu from the United Nations, Ricardo from Canada, the General Director of the Police, Rajasthan. Kanelal Berwa, the Vice Mayor of Budapest, and two very great personalities. You know, good things come after also. Sweet, sweet, please. His Excellency, the Ambassador of India, Ranjit Rao. And Her Excellency, the Ambassador of South Africa to Hungary and Croatia. And a very great scientist for the climate. Also an advisor for the United Nations and author of many books. Our friend, Professor Timi Atsimovic. Dear brothers and sisters, I think this conference will be very unique, very successful. Don’t delay, come ten minutes earlier so that you find the place. A quarter to nine you should be seated well. Where the human is, there is a culture, and where the culture is, there is a human. The beauty of human life is culture. And culture is traveling with humans. This evening was dedicated to the multicultural. So you saw today the multicultural performances. Beautiful. I thank all the artists and look forward to seeing you tomorrow. I wish you a very pleasant good night. God bless you, and come safely to your destination. By quarter to nine, you should be here already. Otherwise, somebody else will sit on your seat. Thank you, and God bless you. We are all in oneness. We are all in oneness. Don’t feel like two. Our universal worship, holy Gurujī, said, "One in all and all in one." In body we are many, but in ātmā we are one. So this conference is dedicated to our beloved Holy Gurujī. For the sake of peace, harmony, and happiness on this globe. Where the wise words and teachings of Gandhījī will also be. And many other saints, philosophers, and peacemakers. It must not be that we are only limited to Gandhījī and Gurujī, without limitation. And thank you, and this will be our moderator tomorrow, Andriás. She is a very famous actor and film star in Hungary. Good night.