On the morning of July 4th, Daaji arrived from the United States to Lisbon, Portugal. Despite being a weekday, several practitioners were at the airport waiting to warmly welcome Daaji to Lisbon, marking his return to Europe with great joy. After the airport welcome, Daaji went to a hotel by the river to rest before evening meditation.

In the evening, nearly 500 participants arrived for a special outreach event, entitled "Open Your Heart: Empowering Mental Health, Peace and Regeneration through Heartfulness Meditation." It was heartwarming to see so many people turn up for this event; during his last visit to Lisbon in 2015, the gathering was small, with just 50 people.

During the event, Daaji conducted a meditation session and then answered questions from the attendees.

Heartfulness trainer Vasco Gaspar introduced Helena Marujo, Chair of the UNESCO Chair on Education for Global Peace Sustainability from Lisbon University, to Daaji after the meditation. Marujo expressed her joy and happiness to be present with Daaji and the amazing Heartfulness community.

Ms. Marujo facilitated a Q&A with Daaji. In response to the first question, “How do you envision the growth of Heartfulness in Europe aligning with the Heartfulness initiatives?”, Daaji emphasized that the fourth Heartfulness maxim is about being in tune with nature. “Lead a life that is simple and in tune with nature.”

Daaji then said, “When I'm about to go to sleep, and in order for me to make my sleep productive and more restful, I simply connect myself and make a suggestion that I am resting in love of the Divine, or I'm resting in the lap of God, or I'm resting in the lap of my mother and go to sleep. Just an idea. It's like a switch that you flick on to create a light in the room, like that. To create that awareness, I begin with the suggestion that all through the night I will be in osmosis with the divinity. So even sleep becomes productive that way. When I wake up, meditate. So this is a cycle. Everyone in our community, especially, goes through this cycle, some more intensely, some less, and some periodically, but that's okay. The idea is to transform ourselves at our own pace and evolve ourselves at our own pace. And we would like to create many such Oasis. And that's why I'm here.”

Another question was on how can we promote transformation, hope and connection in our communities, especially when people are resistant to listening, slowing down and meditating.

Daaji said, “Observation in my personal experience shows that it's very difficult to transform anyone, including personal self. When I make an ambitious call for myself that I would like to transform myself and become better and better with certain spiritual practices, certain contemplative practices, and a very healthy way of life. But how many of us, Though, despite of having such a vision, are able to transform ourselves? When we are not able to transform ourselves rapidly, how in the world are we going to change the others?”

Daaji later shared the exciting news about the development of a new Heartfulness Institute Retreat Center in Portugal, similar to Kanha Shanti Vanam. This initiative is possible thanks to the generosity of two kind-hearted individuals who offered land and a retreat house.

After the Q&A ended, Daaji thanked everyone present and said, “You have a beautiful community here and I pray that there will be many more craving hearts coming together here in Portugal and make a very light community full of love.”

After the session, Daaji had the pleasure of meeting the house's current owner, acknowledging her heartfelt contribution. This beautiful gift, part of a traditional village network, is located in one of Portugal's most picturesque areas and is known for its pure water source, right in the heart of the country.

The day ended with a meal offered by a macrobiotic chef, who traveled for three hours just to serve Daaji.