The founder of ‘Art of Living’ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a globally respected spiritual leader

Due to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s self-development programmes, millions of people around the globe are experiencing stress relief, peace and good health. These programmes, though based on ancient yoga techniques, aredevelopedas per current requirements. Independent medical research conducted by renowned medical institutions has recorded positive results such as reduced depression, reduced ‘cortisol’ hormonethat causes stress, and strengthened immune system.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a globally respected spiritual and humanitarian leader. He has led an unprecedented global movement for a stress-free, violence-free society. Through organizations such as the ‘Art of Living’ and the ‘International Association for Human Values’, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has reached 800 million people in 180 countries through various programmes and initiatives. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has developed unique, effective programmes to empower and equip people to face challenges at global, national, social and individual levels.

Born in South India in 1956, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was a gifted child. By the age of four, he had read the Bhagavad Gita and ancient Sanskrut scriptures. He often meditated at an early age. He has earned academic degrees in Vedic literature and Physics. In 1982, he observed a 10-day period of silence in Shivamogga, Karnataka. From this, the powerful breathing technique ‘Sudarshan Kriya’ was born. Over time, Sudarshan Kriya became the centerpiece of the ‘Art of Living’ curriculum.

1. As the founder

In 1981, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar founded the ‘Art of Living Foundation’. It is an educational organization that operates in over 180 countries. The foundation’s self-development programmes provide powerful tools for stress reduction and enhancing well-being.

In 1997, he founded the ‘International Association for Human Values’, a humanitarian organization that promotes social responsibility and human values ​​in political, economic and social spheres.

Both the International Association for Human Values ​​and the Art of Living Foundation collaborate in humanitarian initiatives such as conflict resolution, disaster and trauma relief, environmental conservation, anti-corruption, prisoner rehabilitation, youth leadership, women’s empowerment and universal education. Both organizations have been granted special consultative status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

2. Awards received by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Highest civilian award of Colombia

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has been honoured with many awards around the world. These include the highest civilian awards of Colombia, Mongolia, Paraguay, Suriname and Fiji.

He has been awarded the ‘Padma Vibhushan’ by the President of India. He has been awarded 27 honorary doctorates worldwide. He travels to about 40 countries every year.

3. International work

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has played a significant role in peace negotiations worldwide. From Kashmir, Assam and Bihar in India to Colombia, Kosovo, Iraq and Syria and Côte d’Ivoire, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s programmes have had an impact on people involved in armed conflicts in order to adopt the path of peace. In a world plagued by increasing violence and conflict, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar suggests another path, where the individual finds peace within himself, which becomes a source of peace and harmony in society. For example, thousands of Iraqis have benefited from ‘TraumaRelief’ programmessince 2003.

At the national-community level, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s programmes have attempted to address major social problems, for example, in the United States, under the ‘Youth Empowerment Programme’, cities and schools are tackling the problems of gang violence, drug and alcohol addiction. The famous ‘Project Welcome Home Troops’ has brought American war veterans a life-changing trauma relief experience.

4. Work in India

a. He was involved in the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi legal battle in India in 2001-02 and in the amicable settlement since 2017. Seeing his peace work, the Supreme Court appointed him as one of the3 mediators to resolve the Ram Janmabhoomi legal case. The 500-year-old battle finally ended in 2019.

b. He has led and supported movements like ‘India Against Corruption’ and ‘World Forum for Ethics in Business’ to revive ethics in public life.

c. He has started more than 1,327 schools in remote areas of India where free education is provided to the underprivileged. More than 1 lakh children are currently studying in these schools.

d. Under his leadership, 75 rivers and thousands of water sources in India are being revived for environmental protection. The volunteers of the Art of Living have so far planted more than 10 crore trees in 36 countries of the world and 26 States of India.

e. The Art of Living helps in the rehabilitation of prisoners. This work has reached more than 8 lakh prisoners around the world. In Uruguay, the Ministry of Home Affairs has reduced the prison sentences of prisoners who participated in the activities carried out in prisons by the Art of Living.

f. The vast global network of volunteers of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is known for working together for disaster relief in disaster-affected areas in countries like Mexico, Haiti, America, Germany, Canada, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Japan.

Prisoner Rehabilitation

This programme, which is ongoing in 60 countries, has transformed the lives of 8 lakh prisoners. Over 3.5 lakh prisoners in Indian prisons have participated in the programme. Over 60,000 convicts and 130 prison staff in Tihar Jail, the largest prison in Asia, have benefited from the programme.

Suicide prevention workshops and vocational skills training have rehabilitated 7,400 armed insurgents from militant organizations.

5. Organizing ‘World Culture Festival’

In a world divided by religious, social, national and cultural identities, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s overarching message is that the world is one family and that different religions, cultures and traditions are rooted in the same human values ​​of love, compassion, peace and non-violence. With this vision, he organized the historic ‘World Culture Festival’. More than 25,000 religious and spiritual leaders participated in this festival. More than 62,000 artists from different cultures and backgrounds from around the world performed in it. Through this, more than 7 million people came together and celebrated the diversity of all religions and cultures.

6. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s global work through his organizations

For more than 44 years, ‘The Art of Living Foundation’ and ‘IAHV’ have done the following work in more than 180 countries.

A. More than 80 crore people have been associated with these organizations.

B. More than 100 crore trees have been planted worldwide.

C. The ‘Prisoner Programme’ has transformed the lives of over 8 lakh prisoners.

D. The ‘Youth Leadership Training Programme’ has been implemented in India, Africa and South America, training over 3 lakh rural youth there.

E. So far, more than 1 lakh 65 thousand free trauma relief workshops have been organized, which have benefited over 56 lakh 88 thousand people.

F. More than 3 thousand 819 houses, 62 thousand toilets, 1 thousand 200 borewells, and 1 thousand biogas projects have been constructed.

G. More than 1 lakh sanitation camps have been organized, which have benefited 78 lakh 69 thousand 900 people, and 27 thousand 427 medical camps have been organized, which have benefited 5 lakh 77 thousand 400 people.

H. The ‘5H’ programmes of Health, Hygiene, Home, Harmony and Human Values ​​have reached 70,000 villages so far.

I. More than 2.2 million farmers in 22 States trained in organic farming.

J. More than 1.65 lakh people benefited from rural electrification. More than 700 villages adopted under the ‘Light a Home’ project.

K. More than 1 lakh children educated in more than 1,262 free schools in 2,032 villages in India.

L. More than 1.20 lakh students in 225 schools in the US have benefited through the ‘Yes! for Schools’ programme and more than 1.27 lakh students in 101 universities have benefited through the ‘S.K.Y. Campus’ programmes.

Rehabilitation of refugees and war veterans

Sudarshan Kriya Yoga has helped over 8,000 war veterans cope with post-traumatic stress disorder (stress that occurs after physical or mental trauma).

It has also benefited over 1.5 lakh war survivors in Iraq, Israel-Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka, the Balkans and Afghanistan.

(Source: ‘Art of Living’ website)

7. Overview of Art of Living service projects in India

A. COVID Response

1. More than 43,390 frontline healthcare workers were reached through mental health programmes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. More than 7,51,22,069 meals were provided to more than 2.5 million families in India as of May 13th, 2020.

B. Literacy Work: More than 1 lakh children were provided free school education in more than 1,327 schools in 2,322 villages in India. The ratio of girls to boys in these schools is about 48:52.

C. Environment-related work:

1. Tree plantation: 100 million trees were planted in 36 countries and 26 States in India.

2. 9 million trees were planted under the ‘Mission Green Earth’ initiative. More than 38,70,760+ Lakshmitaru (Simarouba glauca) plants are planted across India. In traditional medicine, the decoction of ‘Lakshmitaru’ is used in the treatment of cancer and tumors (lumps).

8. Natural Farming:

Volunteers reached out to stakeholders to create awareness about natural farming through seminars, training workshops, visits to model farms, awareness programmes and agricultural/farmer gatherings. More than 3 million people were trained in natural farming. Seed banks were set up across the country to promote the conservation of local seeds.

9. Water Conservation and River Rejuvenation:

Water conservation and river rejuvenation activities are being implemented in 75 rivers in the States of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana. More than 7 lakh trees have been planted under this project. This has increased the water storage capacity of the projects there.

10. Waste Management:

So far, 18 waste management plants have been set up at various places, through which 4.234 million kg of waste is processed every year.

11. Sanitation and Medical Camps:

More than 1 lakh sanitation camps were organized. This benefited 78,69,900 people. 27,427 medical camps were organized. Awareness was created about preventing female foeticide. 55 model villages are being developed by volunteers under the Youth Leadership Training Programme. Also, 3,819 houses, 62,000 toilets, 1,200 borewells and 1,000 biogas plants have been constructed.

12. Rural Development Programme:

More than 1 lakh cleanliness drives have been conducted by volunteers so far.

Under the project ‘Light a Home’, more than 1,66,100 people in 758 tribal villages in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Assam, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu have benefited from solar power.

190 schools in rural India were provided with solar power generation equipment. More than 5,000 youths were trained as renewable energy technicians to create renewable energy products. 98 new entrepreneurs in the solar energy sector were inspired to set up ‘Solar Battery Charging Stations’.

13. Skill and Vocational Training Programme:

In 14 years, more than 4,20,000 youths from more than 500 Districts in 23 States were trained in various vocational skills. Under this, 103 skill development centres were started for more than 48 posts.

14. Women Empowerment:

More than 1,11,000 rural women were reached through various initiatives. 5,000 rural women were trained in vocational skills. Sewing training centres were established in the States of Odisha and Assam.

More than 623 self-help groups were set up in the fields of food processing, bag making, sewing and embroidery, incense making. Over 1,15,800 girls benefited from menstrual health and hygiene workshops conducted by over 5,910 trainers under the ‘Pavitra’ project in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Cambodia, Bhutan and Africa.

Over 704 women in Mumbai and Bengaluru were trained under the ‘Shakti’ project. This project is a new initiative to empower women in terms of their entrepreneurial spirit and financial independence.

15. ‘Boond’ (Drop) 

Pure Drinking Water: 60 rural youths were trained as ‘Jal Sevaks’ to manufacture low-cost ‘Bio Sand Water Filters’. Over 45,000 people were provided safe drinking water in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha. 7 community ‘RO and Bio Sand Filters’ were established in Karnataka and Bengal.

16. Drug-Free India Campaign:

For the past 25 years, ‘Art of Living’ has been providing tools to individuals to overcome addictions. In the year 2019, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar formally launched the ‘Drug-Free India’ campaign. In 2023, the ‘Art of Living’ and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment signed an MoU to support the ‘Drug-Free India’ campaign by conducting awareness campaigns in educational institutions.

17. Others

a. 10 lakh people in India pledged to protect girls under the UNICEF-AOL campaign. Awareness was created among about 1 lakh people against gender testing of pregnant women.

b. More than 45 thousand people in 12 States of India have benefited from the ‘HIV/AIDS Awareness for Rural Adolescents’ campaign.

e. More than 350 indigenous breeds of cows are kept in the ‘Art of Living’ cowsheds (Goshala).

(Reference: ‘Art of Living’ website)