Zidanje Slovenskega Templja – interview in Misterija Magazine, Slovenia, May 2019

INTERVIEW WITH MOHANJI BY THE RENOWN SLOVENIAN MAGAZINE ‘MISTERIJA’ ABOUT THE NEW SPIRITUAL CENTER IN SLOVENIA AND HIS, DEVI’S AND DAUGHTER MILA’S NEW LIFE IN ST.ANA, SLOVENIA

“BUILDING OF THE SLOVENIAN TEMPLE”, MISTERIJA, MAY ISSUE 2019

-What is your spiritual teaching based on?

Mohanji: “Self-acceptance. That is the key step to self-actualization. We are our strongest critics and greatest judges, who prevent us from recognizing ourselves as a wonderful, bright child of the Universe. Everything begins with self-acceptance and ends in total liberation. Acceptance of ourselves with all our strengths and weaknesses is essential for attaining contentment on a daily basis as well as freedom in the whole life. No acceptance means no freedom.”

-What do you want to tell people?

“I tell people around the world that they themselves are the heaven that they have been searching for. Heaven is in our contentment factor as well as goodness, kindness, compassion factor. This means, they are the core substance and everything they encounter around are just their projections. A beautiful mind sees beauty everywhere. A mind filled with anger will only see disappointments everywhere. Our world is exactly how we are.”

-How do you help people? What is your mission?

“I look at beings of all species as people, because all beings are unique creations and they have their own personalities. I live for the world. My world is within me. I have found all that I need within me. I guide people to an existence of responsibility more than rights. I believe that a responsible life will purify our existence completely. Responsible existence means unselfish, unconditional and compassionate existence. In that mode, the only question would be “what else can I do for the society, nation and the world?” Our focus will not be on our green, on what we need from the world, instead, what we can give to the world. This is true existence, a liberated existence. We share what we have and feel rich inside.

True richness is a mental state, a feeling. We can share money, wealth, knowledge, time, love or whatever we have in abundance. This makes us rich inside. My whole existence is dedicated to value addition.

Whichever country I go to, I try to make a positive difference in that world, at least in a few people if not bigger groups, without asking, expecting or taking anything from them. Non-violence is my path. No violence in thoughts, words and actions makes us a refined human being. Acceptance, tolerance and companionship follows. We have various meditations and methods, retreats and pilgrimages, which help people attain that inner state of fullness. Our meditations are free to download from www.mohanji.org in various languages. We also continuously inspire people to apply love and peace in action through social activity/charity platforms such as www.actfoundation.org and www.ammucare.org; affiliations and participations in forums such as Peace Pledge Project (based in Netherlands, www.peacepledgeproject.org ), Parliament of World Religions (UN-based, www.parliamentofreligions.org ), World Consciousness Alliance (www.worldconsciousnessalliance.org), which are all platforms for bringing peace and harmony at the grassroots level. I believe that if we cannot make a positive difference on earth, we have not lived at all.”

-Why did you choose Slovenia as the European center of your work? And why did you choose St. Ana in Slovenske Gorice?

“Slovenia was a natural choice. I fell in love with the nature, the people and the peace of the country. My wife Devi Mohan, who is now based in St. Ana near Maribor, told me about Slovenia and how she liked the energy and openness of the people there to universal spirituality. Later, we decided to make our European base in Slovenia, after looking at various options including UK, France and Switzerland. We have our activities and Mohanji Foundations registered in United Kingdom, South Africa, USA, Canada, India, Switzerland, Serbia, Macedonia, Romania, Croatia, Bosnia and soon in Peru as well.

Since we moved to Slovenia I have been travelling a lot, but I do get to see and feel Slovenia through the eyes and experiences of my wife Devi and our 7-year-old daughter Mila, who just adores her school, teachers and the environment. My wife Devi teaches Yoga, conducts free meditations and charity initiatives, and is thus doing her best to add value to the society in her own way. She is also our Mohanji Foundation Ambassador, representing the teachings and core values that we stand for at various global forums.

We landed in St. Ana through a Slovenian friend of ours called Mojca Fanedl. She has been a great help and has provided sincere assistance in relocating my family to St. Ana. She and her family were extraordinarily kind and supportive to us so that we could finalize everything quite rapidly. We also met the Mayor of St. Ana, Mr. Silvo Slaček, who is a warm, friendly and resourceful person with extraordinary clarity. After I met Mr. Slaček, I did not look any further. A true, selfless leader is a true asset to any country. With regards to the land on which our European spiritual centre is going to be built, meeting the Mayor of St. Ana really helped us to stabilize things in no time. I especially liked St. Ana because of the noiseless, clean space and environment, beautiful hills and nice energy. I like its tranquility and homeliness too.”

-What do you want to bring, spread into the Slovenian, European space?

“I have been conducting retreats and programs in Europe since 2010. Usually, we have “gatherings of awareness” and peace projects in most countries. In Slovenia, if everything goes as planned, I intend to create our own space where people will be able to come, stay and rejuvenate themselves through simple and peaceful methods of cleansing. As I mentioned earlier, our methods are all for assisting the development of stress-free, selfless, self-sufficient people who will do good for the world around them. I always make sure that wherever we are, we add value to that society.

I am therefore looking at having our spiritual center where the world can come to, plus programs and conferences such as peace gatherings, inter-faith programs, art/music programs and activities which stabilize not only Slovenia, but the region through Slovenia. We also intend to bring to St. Ana, to Slovenia, personalities of the world who are synonymous for goodness factor. I believe there are no limits to the activities that we can do in Slovenia. I sincerely hope that this base which we are now starting to build in St. Ana will not only bring the positive presence of Slovenia onto the global map, but also contribute to the country’s economy and the overall well-being, in my humble way, within my capacity.”

-What will happen in the center? What will all be available to visitors to the center?

“Center at St. Ana would be an eco-center with peace and harmony as the primary aspect. Our space is envisaged to harmonize the positive energy in individuals and create a peaceful existence, allowing people to totally detach from the usual social emotions such as greed, anger, hatred, jealousy, comparisons, competitions, etc. This would be a center which will increase the goodness factor, with natural practices such as connecting to oneself through yoga, meditation, breathing methods, Kriya, Mai-Tri Method of cleansing and harmonizing, Conscious Walking, Conscious Dancing, conscious consumption of food, coherent water (water with life), etc. All these methods are designed for the overall well being of every individual. We are actively supporting the coherent water system developed by two Dutch scientists who became our friends. Coherent water is water with life and it rejuvenates us at the cellular level.”

-When do you expect the center to be open?

“We are looking forward to opening the center, at least in a minor way, within January 2020.”

-In June you will lecture in Slovenia. What do you want to tell the Slovenian people?

“Yes, I will be conducting a program in hotel Otočec on 8 June. My main message would be “Give more to Slovenia than you ask from your country. Your presence in the country should be valuable for the country.” Each and every citizen can contribute for the well-being of the country, its resources and nature. Our strength is in sharing what we have been gifted with. Our net-worth is in what we are able to share, not what we acquire from the Mother Earth, because whatever we acquire goes away from our hands when we die. We cannot carry even a pebble from earth when we die. We can only carry some memories and some experiences. Hence, we should share whatever we have so that we remain rich inside. Slovenian people, whoever I have met so far, have been very kind and loving. Just share the highest qualities that you have unconditionally. That is all it takes for glory in a lifetime. Today we remember Gandhi and Mother Teresa because of what they gave to earth, not what they took from earth. All we have to do is remember that. I am with the people who share. I walk with them.”

Thank you.

Tatjana Svete