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Honorable Mr. Master Ānanda, Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I have the great pleasure of reading to you the letter from the President of the Republic of Croatia. "Dear Mr. Master Ānanda, As a witness to one of your many valuable peace initiatives, I wish to express my admiration for your untiring commitment to ideals for the welfare of humanity. Today, the world is faced with one of the most complex crises in history. Unfortunately, however, we must simultaneously face the truth that this situation has been created by man himself, by all of us together. Man, as the most developed creature on the planet, has abused his own capabilities. He has fortified his rights to the freedom of choice bestowed upon him through life as a human being, and in doing so, has almost completely destroyed the conditions for his own survival on Earth. People have been brought to this state by their indulgence in the base levels of human nature, such as greed, lust for power, hunger, jealousy, envy, and attachment to material things. Throughout history, small personal conflicts have developed into wars of global proportion, and today we can no longer overlook the causes of these disasters. Whether we reflect upon the workings of karma or gain a better understanding of, for example, Newton's law of action and reaction, the language we use to express it is insignificant. The truth is one and only. In ancient Greece, Pythagoras was ridiculed for his vegetarianism, and many others throughout history—such as St. Francis of Assisi, Leonardo da Vinci, Nikola Tesla, and Mahatma Gandhi—were also misunderstood and even persecuted. They spoke the truth, but others would not listen. Still, all is not lost, for as the wise man once said: there is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future. The time has come for us to understand the value of learning that undoubtedly leads to cognition, to that stage of evolution where man will truly, and with good reason, occupy the highest stage on the evolutionary ladder. When this consciousness awakens, what will be at work is Gandhi's message that non-violence is a weapon of the strong. This message originates from Sanātana Dharma, the Bible, the Quran, and the Haggadah. Religion will no longer be a dogma; the essence of religion will be love of one's neighbor. Let us together make a wish that we may live to see this time. I wish you all the best in your further work. Yours sincerely, Stjepan Mesić" Thank you for your attention.