Blessings All,
Two years ago I had the honor of being invited to Lisbon Portugal as an honored guest to open the very first United Nations International Day of Yoga for the world. The event, which was held in Lisbon, was given a special dispensation by the Prime Minister of India for us to be the first to open the worldwide event because the Guru, His Holiness Jagat Guru Amrta Suryanada Maha Raja, was the one who initiated the idea to create a World Yoga Day and who pressed the Prime Minister and the UN to create a resolution to recognize the great contributions that Yoga has made to the world.

Once the event was sanctioned by the United Nations (which passed unanimously), Guruji Jagat Guru Amrta Suryanada Maha Raja then invited me to present a speech and a blessing and to also have the World Peace Violin play to represent the first sound believed by Hindus to have initiated the universe. All in all it was a profound experience for me. There were nearly a hundred of the foremost yoga masters of the world present, and the Ambassador of India came to represent Prime Minister Modi.

The International Day of Yoga is now celebrated all across the planet, and standing on that stage that day and getting to play an initiating role in creating history, is one that I will never forget!

Peace & Blessings,
Patrick McCollum

From left to right:
Shri Veda Chaitanya, H.E. Reverend Patrick McCollum, H.E. Ambassador of India to Portugal Dr. Jitendra Nath Misra, H.H. Jagat Guru Amrta Suryanada Maha Raja, H.H. Param MHa Mandaleshwar Shri Swami Visveshwaranand Giri Ji Maharaj, H.H. Param Pujya Mahamandaleshvar Swami Paramatmananda Saraswati Maharaj at first World Yoga Day, Portugal