Croatian Tour, autumn 2004
From the four millions inhabitants of Croatia about 10% are practicing Yoga according to the System "Yoga in Daily Life". The centres of the scientific and worldwide renowned Yoga system can be found throughout Croatia. On television "Yoga in Daily Life" programs are broadcast twice a day. In celebration of the 20 years of "Yoga in Daily Life" in Croatia, the author of the system, His Holiness Swamiji was invited on a lecture tour where he gave numerous speeches on the subject of "Kundalini and Chakras" to an audience of thousands of spiritual seekers.
In Zagreb His Holiness was cordially invited to a breakfast meeting with the President of Croatia. President Mesic expressed keen interest in Swamiji's humanitarian projects and his tireless efforts for the protection of the environment and for world peace while conversing on various topics from India as well as from Croatia.
Zagreb's biggest hall, Vatroslav Lisinski, hosted Swamiji's first public lecture on September 22 and was filled to the last place. Swamiji thoroughly explained the topic on energy centres, using the slides from His newest book called "Hidden Powers in the Human". During the press conference just before the lecture, Swamiji received thanks and acknowledgements from the "Croatian Society of People Suffering from Leukaemia and Lymphoma". According to Swamiji's wish, income of the previous public lecture in Zagreb (in May 2004) was donated to this society. Total income of the present public lecture was dedicated to the "Touch – Croatian Association of deaf-blind persons" from Zagreb.
Another Swamiji's lecture venue was University of Zagreb. The Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, Prof. Dr. Curko welcomed Swamiji with the words: "To exchange our views, it became a tradition at our faculty to invite world famous personalities from different fields of knowledge to deliver lectures to our students, and His Holiness continues this tradition in the best way." The Dean and his experts then discussed about some technical matters of Swamiji's "Rainwater Harvesting Initiative", where an artificial lake for collecting the Monsoon rains has been constructed in Rajasthan, India as a pilot project in order to solve the water shortage during the dry seasons. In his speech Swamiji emphasized the great responsibility of the students who are going to be the industrial experts of tomorrow. He requested them to develop only "beneficial" technologies that respect and follow the laws of nature and ensure a sustainable development and a progress without destructive "side-effects".
In the ancient town of Pula in Istria, a semi-island located in the west of Croatia, the Town Mayor, Dr. Delbianco welcomed Swamiji with great respect and expressed his appreciations for Swamiji's humanitarian work. In his thank-you speech the Mayor stated that a close connection between India and Istria must exist, since this part of Croatia is said to be a "small India" because its shape is very similar to that of the sub-continent of India. Swamiji donated the entire income of His public lecture to "Society of Handicapped with Cerebral and Child Palsy" in Pula.
In the city of Labin in Istria Swamiji was again received with honour by the Vice-Mayor of the town and a group of Istrian national dancers and musicians. Here, in his speech Swamiji expressed the importance of a solid, happy and healthy family life and of maintaining of culture and traditions.
Finally, Swamiji's tour through Croatia ended with a big international gathering and yoga seminar on the Adriatic Coast with nearly two thousands participants from all over Europe, from Ukraine and from the US.
