Author: Akhilesh Kumar Singh
Publication: The Times of India
Date: January 28, 2007
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/At_Sangam_band_of_foreign_yogis_has_universal_appeal/articleshow/1489205.cms
Sasha Jezdic from Bosnia is better known by
her Vedic name Karmyogi. Serbians like Slobodan Milioenic have become Swami
Chidanand, Petar Putnik is Siddharth, Milorad Bera is Kailash Puri and Joran
Rakosic is now Chitrapuri. Women like Dina Putnik and Ashya Putnik prefer
names like Agni Devi and Purnima, respectively.
They are part of a group of over three dozen
foreigners spreading India's philosophy of Vasudhaiv kutumbakam across the
globe through yoga.
This group of foreign 'yogacharyas' teach
yoga in several countries. Even at their Sangam ashram, early morning yoga
sessions attracted hundreds of devotees.
An engineer, Jezdic (Karmyogi) takes yoga
classes at a Shiva temple in Atlanta, US. "Every morning, several people
from different nationalities assemble at the temple and at times even outnumber
Indians," said Jezdic, who works with a computer networking company.
Milioenic, an academician who belongs to Novi
Sad, a place near Belgrade, said he has been practising yoga for three decades
and teaching it in his country for 23 years. "I came across my Guruji
30 years ago during my first visit to India. Since then, yoga has become part
of my life."
He said his soul and spirit were 'Indianised'
due to the virtues of yoga. "Yoga is not part of religion but all religions
are part of yoga. Fortunately the world has gradually accepted this,"
said Milioenic.
