1 The Founder - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Biography

An Introduction to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a renowned humanitarian leader, spiritual teacher and ambassador of peace.

His vision of a stress-free, violence-free society has united millions of people the world over through service projects and the courses of The Art of Living.

The Beginning

Born in 1956 in Southern India, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was a gifted child. By the age of four, he was able to recite parts of the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient Sanskrit scripture and was often found in meditation. His first teacher was Sudhakar Chaturvedi, who had had a long cooperation with Mahatma Gandhi. By the age of seventeen, in 1973, he had graduated with degrees in, both, Vedic literature and physics.

Founding The Art of Living and The IAHV

Sri Sri entered a ten-day period of silence in Shimoga, located in the Indian state of Karnataka. The Sudarshan Kriya, a powerful breathing technique, was born.

With time, the Sudarshan Kriya became the center-piece of the Art of Living courses.

Sri Sri founded The Art of Living as an international, non-profit, educational and humanitarian organisation.

Its educational and self-development programs offer powerful tools to eliminate stress and foster a sense of well-being.

Appealing not only to a specific population, these practices have proven effective globally and at all levels of society.

In 1997, he co-founded the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) to coordinate sustainable development projects, nurture human values and coordinate conflict resolution in association with The Art of Living. In India, Africa and South America, the two sister organisations’ volunteers are spearheading sustainable growth in rural communities, and have already reached out to over 36,000 villages.

Inspiring Service and Globalizing Wisdom

A noted humanitarian leader, Sri Sri’s programs have provided assistance to people from a wide range of backgrounds - victims of natural disasters, survivors of terror attacks and war, children from marginalized populations and communities in conflict, among others. The strength of his message has inspired a wave of service based on spirituality through a huge body of volunteers, who are driving these projects forward in critical areas around the globe.

As a spiritual teacher, Sri Sri has rekindled the traditions of yoga and meditation and offered them in a form that is relevant to the 21st century. Beyond reviving ancient wisdom, Sri Sri has created new techniques for personal and social transformation. These include the Sudarshan Kriya® which has helped millions of people to find relief from stress and discover inner reservoirs of energy and peace in daily life. In a mere 29 years, his programs have raised the quality of life for participants in 151 countries.