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Deeply understanding the causes and effects of human restlessness and the wars it generates, His Holiness Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Māheśvarānandajī, the author of the world-famous Yoga in Daily Life system, leads a tireless battle for peace. Following several conferences for world peace which he organized or participated in, Swāmījī and the Yoga in Daily Life Association granted this conference in commemoration of the first anniversary of the Mahā Samādhi of His Holiness Dharma Samrāṭ, Paramahaṁsa Śrī Svāmī Mānavānandajī, and to reaffirm the message of Mahātmā Gandhi. In the presence of 3,000 participants from all over the world, with like-minded thinkers and friends from numerous nations and religions, Swāmījī breathed new life into peace as the highest ideal, without which all other ideals are unreachable. The summit commenced with a prayer for peace, in which world peace summit flames were lit by spiritual leaders and representatives of all major world religions. Oh, may there be light. God, don't leave them alone. First, light their steps with the light of your knowledge, and comfort their hearts with your love. Truly, you are their helper and Lord. After the prayers, Bhaktī Devī from Vienna performed a classical Indian dance. The inauguration and opening words were given by His Excellency Sri P. S. Raghavan, the Ambassador of India to the Czech Republic: "As we meet today, we reflect on a theme of the most compelling relevance in this new millennium: the pursuit of peace, tolerance, and spiritual serenity in a world increasingly torn by conflict, held hostage by terrorism, riven by religious and ethnic differences, and divided by increasing economic and social disparities. In the world of today, when we are frequently subjected to the stresses and strains of punishing work schedules, buffeted by insecurities, and wracked by moral dilemmas and ideological doubts, yoga offers a soothing tonic of physical fitness, mental calm, and spiritual solace." The presidents of several countries addressed this summit through their ambassadors. A letter from the President of the Republic of Croatia, Stjepan Mesić, was read: "Dear Master Ananda, as a witness to one of your many valuable peace initiatives, I would like to express my admiration for your untiring commitment to ideals for the welfare of humanity. Man, as the most developed creature on the planet, has abused his own capabilities and fortified his rights to the freedom of choice that has been bestowed upon him through life as a human being. Thus, he has almost to the end destroyed the conditions for his own survival on Earth. When this consciousness wakes up, what will be at work is Gandhi's message that nonviolence is a weapon of the strong. This message originates from Sanātana Dharma, the Bible, the Quran, the Haggadah. I wish you all the best in your further work." Dr. Janez Drnovšek, President of the Republic of Slovenia, stated: "Ladies and gentlemen, participants of the World Peace Summit, allow me please to address you with words of hope for peace and prosperity in the world, and also to express my support for realizing the idea of peace through personal commitment and through setting an example for others. I believe that meetings such as these are an important contribution to the awareness of the unity of mankind, the indivisibility of its faith, and its inherent interrelatedness. Yet this will and courage to carry out the necessary changes can be, and ought to be, found first of all and above all in ourselves. Finally, I would like to express my most sincere support for your endeavors to spread the idea of peace, and I wish you much success in your work." Several ministers of the government of the Czech Republic sent messages of support. Dr. Cyril Svoboda, Minister of Foreign Affairs, wrote: "Allow me, at least in this way, to greet all the participants of this conference. I wish you a lot of strength and patience in your effort to support mutual understanding and harmony between people and nations, which today's world needs so much. Once again, I wish you a lot of health at your conference." Libor Ambrozek, Minister of the Environment, added: "Dear friends, I wish you great success." A spiritual representative proclaimed: "God has given us a great opportunity to do good. We have to prepare. But by 2015, all children in the world, the 150 million who cannot write, read, and do arithmetic, will have basic education. A billion people who are thirsty, with contaminated water in their reach, will have fresh water. We from the spiritual world have to become the vanguard of a new time. A time where our identities in Judaism, in Christianity, in Islam, in Buddhism, in Hinduism, in humanism, in all our different identities are not a division, but are a synthesis of life." The profound goodwill from the summit participants culminated in an embrace. Sādhguru Pratāp Siṅghjī maintained that world peace cannot be possible without protecting all the animals, the poor, and the downtrodden from human cruelty. He stated: "The present-day conflicts are man-made. Nature and God do not differentiate man from man. All conflicts can be eliminated by protecting others' rights and by willingly donating a part of your own right. I wish this summit on world peace all the blessings and success." Then came the moment to be touched by the living light of Advaita, the unity of everything in existence, through the words of Swāmījī: "We are working together on three levels: on the material level, on the worldly level, on the physical level, on the mental level, as well as on the spiritual level, to help. To be a drop in that pot, which we hope that the heart of the next generation, nectar of the joy, peace, enlightenment, and contentment, will be realized one day. And my beloved Master, His Holiness, Dharamsamrat Swāmī Madhavānandajī, used to say, 'One in all and all in one.' That cosmic light is in every creature, everyone. The source of everyone's life, every heart, is only that one truth, one God. Where balance is, there is harmony. And where there is harmony, there is oneness. And therefore, yoga means union. And yoga means unity, the unity of the individual consciousness with the cosmic consciousness. And that harmony or balance, we call the inner peace, inner contentment. The peace begins from the own heart. If within us there is no peace, we cannot create peace in the world. For me, sustainable development is not the money, not the building and the technology, but the sustainable relation between humans and nature. God bless you, my dear brothers and sisters." This was met with an applause of hope and longing for peace. The local folklore group, Hudsi from Kyiv, granted moments of beauty and joy. A participant affirmed: "We shall never forget our ideal. We shall always stand for what we believe. If you believe in peace, live in peace. Never give up." The gathering sang the glory of the Creator, in whom we all are one. "Shabbat Shalom." It was expressed that perhaps the sound of this trumpet of peace will win over the trumpet of war. A message from Italy reiterated the principle of Sanātana Dharma: "Hindu culture has always thought that humanity is one and only family, Vasudeva Kuṭumbakam. Peace is not a compromise, a truce, or an armistice. Peace is love and service. It is consciousness of oneself in the other. In fact, what we call the other is nothing but our own self in another form." Again, Yogīrāj Swāmījī emphasized that world peace is in our hands: "We have learned many things. Now our duty is to put them into practice. A ton of theory is nothing compared with a grain of practice. Peace is not a religion, not a philosophy, and not a politic, but it is a universal principle. Peace, contentment, happiness, and love, these are the universal principles. And everyone has rights to that." The final resolution of the Yoga in Daily Life World Peace Summit outlined clear steps for world peace to become a blessing in our lives: 1. Tolerance: To take more active responsibility in establishing the peaceful coexistence of all religions and cultures through tolerance, respect, and understanding. 2. Non-violence: To follow Ahiṃsā, non-violence, as a basic principle of human ethic. 3. Multi-culture: To foster the awareness among people that we should preserve and cultivate our cultural and religious diversity as a richness and beauty of our existence. 4. Safe drinking water: To provide access to safe drinking water by setting an example of how to protect our environment by preserving natural resources. 5. Sustainable development: To promote development goals with an emphasis on issues that would lead positively toward an environmentally sustainable economy. 6. Animal protection: To promote and support activities to protect wildlife and take an active part in preventing endless animal torture and suffering. 7. Equality in education: To foster universal primary education and gender equality as basic human rights, as well as a powerful instrument for reducing poverty and inequality. 8. Unity in diversity: To help people of all nations to experience their oneness, believing that the only virtues that make lasting world peace possible are tolerance, respect, understanding, and love. 9. Be the change you want to see: To uphold and apply directly to our own lives the appeal of Mahātmā Gandhi, and be the change we want to see. 10. One in all and all in one: To put into realization the message of His Holiness Dharma Samrāṭ Paramahaṁsa Svāmī Madhavānandajī for achieving unity and peace. "We declare world peace can only become a reality when all people rise above national boundaries, politics, religion, and ideologies. This World Peace Summit has given hope and strengthened our resolve to replace the culture of war with a culture of peace." These words of commitment and hope, strengthened by the applause of the heart and the embrace of souls, are a token of the future flowering of peace on this planet.