A Divine Life - Swami Vishnu-devananda - Sivananda Yoga

Swami Vishnu-devananda – A Divine Life
32
m
THE
PEACE MISSIONS
‘And so, my boundary breaking mission came. It came to symbolically
demonstrate that the world planet is small. The time has come that this
idea of nationalism, of patriotism must disappear, and only one unity
should exist’ – Swami Vishnu-devananda
In 1968 Swami Vishnu-devananda had a
vision of the world being destroyed by fire,
of people fleeing in turmoil breaking down
the barriers between nations in an attempt to
escape. From that moment on, he embarked
on a series of peace missions whose purpose
was to show ‘that the idea of nationalism, or
patriotism must disappear, and only one unity
should exist.’
In 1971 he made dangerous low-flying
trips in his two-seater Piper Apache plane over
areas of serious conflict including Northern
Ireland, the Suez Canal and the India Pakistan
border ‘bombing’ these troubled areas with
flowers and leaflets calling for peace.
In 1983 he gained world-wide recognition
when he made an historic and perilous journey
across the Berlin Wall in a microlight airplane,
Autumn 2003
PLANET EARTH
PASSPORT
Designed by the
artist Peter Max,
Swamiji carried
this passport
only, on all his
peace missions
around the world
the first to be made by a private plane since the
wall was erected twenty years previously. His
courage and fearlessness in these missions and
in his work throughout his life can be summed
up in these words "Many people have died for
war; if necessary I shall die for peace."