The Master
Sri
Sri Ravi Shankar is a Human Potential Innovator, humanitarian
and an authority on the Science Of Breath. He is of exquisite grace, with
a rare combination of delightful wisdom and joy. He founded the International
Art Of Living Foundation, also known in India as Vyakti Vikas Kendra.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was born in an eminent family from South India. As a child of three, he was often found with eyes closed, rapt for hours in deep meditation. At the age of four, his parents discovered that he was already able to recite the entire Bhagavad Gita. He started his studies in ancient Indian literature at the age of eight. In his adolescence, he commenced his spiritual studies under the close guidance of several enlightened Vedic masters. Before age 20, he completed his studies in modern science as well as in Vedic knowledge.
In 1982, he emerged from a period of silence and seclusion, inspired to teach the Art of Living (AOL) Healing Breath Workshop. His multi-faceted teachings encompass breathing, meditation, yoga asanas, scriptures study, singing, dancing, service to others and much more. Through his gifts, people of different cultures and traditions have experienced tremendous transformation in their physical, emotional and spiritual life and have come to a deeper understanding of themselves. He has created workshops for organisations, students, health-care and prisoners' rehabilitation. The positive wide-ranging effects of his programs have generated tremendous interest in the Indian and North American scientific community, and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Scientific studies have found evidence of health improvements on a wide range of diseases including stress, cardiovascular, HIV / AIDS, substance abuse and mental disorders.
He has founded and has been the inspiration behind numerous educational and charitable organizations around the world. The Foundation is affiliated to the UN as a NGO and works in co-operation with WHO and UNESCO on community service projects. These include free education and medical care for needy students, vocational training for rural women, programs for individuals living with HIV and cancer, and rehabilitative training for prisoners and substance abusers.
At the invitation of the Drug Rehabilitation Bureau of India, the AOL program was introduced at a rehabilitation center in India. The program's extraordinary results lead to its propagation in other prisons in India. Over 3,000 policemen from the state of Karnataka have undergone the program with tremendous results. Under auspices of the Prison S.M.A.R.T. (Stress Management And Rehabilitative Training) Foundation, Inc., the AOL programs have been implemented for the rehabilitation of thousands of criminals in US prisons. The inmates could eliminate their stress, which is the root cause of violent behavior and drug dependency through the techniques. This program is being expanded to help troubled teens and youths.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has received several awards for his contributions to the betterment of human conditions and has chaired numerous International conferences around the world on health improvement and human relations. In 1986, he was honored by the President of India as Yoga Shiromani (Supreme Flowering of Enlightenment). He is the only non-Western member of the Council of the Divinity School of the Yale University, USA. He was guest speaker at the "Conference of Spiritual Luminaries Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations" in New York, August 1995. In 1996, he chaired the 'International Conference of Religions' at the University of Kyoto, Japan.
