TV Channel

Oṃ Sukhinaḥ Sarve Santu Niraḥ Hṛdayāni Paśyantu Ceduk Bhāg Bhave. Salutations to the Cosmic Light, Lord of our Hearts, Omniscient and Omnipresent. In His divine presence, my dear brothers and sisters, good morning. I express my warm thankfulness for the message of peace sent to this International Conference of the Yoga and Daily Life World Peace Summit. My gratitude extends to His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Croatia; His Excellency, the President of Slovenia; the Ministry of Environment and Foreign Affairs. Thank you, Your Excellency, for bringing your President's message. To His Excellency, the Ambassador of India, the Governor of South Moravia, and the respected MP from Zlín, I offer my thanks. I also wish you great success and offer my humble homage to the heroes of your country who gave their lives in war. My very dear brother, Rabbi Schottendorf, we work together on three levels: the material and physical, the mental, and the spiritual. We strive to be a drop in that pot, hoping the nectar of joy, peace, enlightenment, and contentment will one day be realized. To Your Excellency, the Ex-Defense Minister of Slovakia, Shri Jasvandr Singh, respected engineers, professors, Dr. Chelko, and my brothers from the Buddhist tradition—once more, my dear brothers and sisters. Buddhism is another beauty of the Sanātana Dharma, as are Sikh Dharma and Jain Dharma. Sanātana Dharma has given birth to many dharmas. It is a universal religion, not man-made, based on universal principles found in every faith. Sanātana Dharma does not speak of a personal God, but only the one universal God. As my beloved Master, His Holiness Dharmasamrāṭ Swāmī Madhavānandajī, used to say: "One in all and all in one." That cosmic light is in every creature. The source of everyone's life, every heart, is that one truth, one God. All are coming from that one. One in all, all in one—that is Sanātana Dharma. The most ancient principles concern the body, mind, consciousness, and the soul. And that is yoga. All visible and invisible elements in this endless universe are balanced by a divine power, Śakti. That balancing principle is yoga. All five elements, our body, mind, emotion, intellect, memory, speech, and movements must be balanced. This balancing principle is called yoga. Where there is balance, there is harmony; where there is harmony, there is oneness. Therefore, yoga means union—the union of individual consciousness with cosmic consciousness. This harmony or balance we call inner peace, inner contentment. Peace begins in one's own heart. If there is no peace within us, we cannot create peace in the world. We search for happiness and peace in material life. I often say: in the joy of joy, there is less joy than the sorrows that follow that joy. In the last century, humans sought development. We speak of the 'developed world,' but in which direction do we develop? A wise American Indian said: when the last tree is cut down and the last fish dies, only then will man realize he cannot eat his dollars. This modern, industrial development has created distraction, disaster, and wars. Guru Pratap Singh Ji said—as told to us by son Jashwinder Singh—"throw the weapons in the ocean." Lord Jesus said, "Thou shalt not kill." Mahātmā Gāndhījī said, "We will not fight with the weapon." That is it. If you are a Christian and support a weapons industry, you are not a Christian. If you carry weapons, you are not a Christian. We must become real Christians, real Hindus, real Muslims. In the Holy Quran it is written: if you kill one human, it is as if you kill all humanity. I do not call this 'development' in so-called developed countries; I call them destroyed countries. And unfortunately, we support making developing, third-world countries create pollution and industries. Be sure, money will never bring happiness, and this is not what we want. We need to develop love, understanding, and tolerance in religion. We know what has happened in the past in religion's name. We must remember the middle way is tolerance. Tolerance is important. My God, your God, their God—it is no different. God is one God. Respect every culture. That is crucial: multiculturalism, no discrimination. Every country has its problems with different cultures. The Czech Republic and Slovak Republic have challenges with the Roma culture. In many countries, we need to offer a hand, not neglect, and understand other nations and their situations. This is what we wish to realize. Mahātmā Gāndhī said something I like very much: "Be the change you want to see." I try very hard to change myself, but it is very difficult. Sometimes my inner self makes distinctions between religions, countries, and languages. But we must cross these borders. Dear brothers and sisters, we are in a country called the land of milk and honey. I am deeply thankful. I have traveled here since 1973 and perhaps know it better than my own India. I have thousands of friends here, and often feel at home in Czechoslovakia. I still have difficulty dividing Czechoslovakia into different countries—please excuse me, all politicians present. Thank you for coming. I desire only one thing: that we help each other and, through any means, realize world peace. Yes, it will be possible. We will move that rock, and we will not only see the water behind it, but will all drink together the water of peace and happiness to quench our thirst. I wish this Czech Republic divine blessing and protection. God bless you all. I pray for the whole world, that God protects and leads us. Asato mā sadgamaya. (From unreality, lead me to reality.) Tamaso mā jyotir gamaya. (From darkness, lead me to light.) Mṛtyor mā amṛtaṁ gamaya. (From death, lead me to immortality.) Śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ, śāntiḥ. (Peace, peace, peace.) This I wish for everyone. Regarding the United Nations Millennium Goals for sustainable development: for me, sustainable development is not money, buildings, or technology, but the sustainable relationship between humans and nature. God bless you, my dear brothers and sisters. Thank you.