Ravi Shankar ~ Celebrity

Ravi Shankar (Tamil: ஸ்ரீ ஸ்ரீ ரவி ஷங்கர்),^[1] usually known as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, born Ravi Shankar Ratnam, on May 13, 1956, in Tamil Nadu, India, is a spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living Foundation (founded 1982), which aims at relieving both individual stress and societal problems and violence, and which is an NGO (non-governmental organization) with UNESCO consultative status. Frequently referred to simply as "Sri Sri" (honorific) or as Guruji or Gurudev,^[2] he also established in 1997 a Geneva-based charity, the International Association for Human Values, an NGO that engages in relief work and rural development and aims to foster shared global values.

Life

Born in 1956, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's father is R. S. Venkat Ratnam, in the automobile business^[3] and director of a rural women’s empowerment NGO as well as a scholar of Indian languages. His mother's name was Vishalakshi Ratnam. He was named Ravi (a common Indian name meaning "sun") because his birth was on a Sunday, and Shankar after the 8th century Hindu saint Adi Shankara, with whom he shares the birthday.^[2]^[4] He received a bachelor of science degree at the age of 21 from St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore University.
After graduation, Shankar traveled with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, being invited by Maharishi to give talks on Vedic science, arrange conferences on the Vedas and science, and set up Ayurveda centers.^[5] He was earlier addressed as "Pandit Ravi Shankar" (or "Punditji") but in the early 1990s changed his name to "Sri Sri Ravi Shankar" (literally "Mister Mister Ravi Shankar") after the renowned sitarist Ravi Shankar objected that the guru was using the name he had made famous.^[2]
The 1980s saw Shankar initiate a series of practical and experiential courses in spirituality around the globe. Shankar says that his rhythmic breathing exercise sudarśana-kriyā (Hindi: सुदर्शन क्रिया) came to him in 1982 "like a poem, an inspiration", after a ten-day period of silence on the banks of the Bhadra River in Shimoga (state of Karnataka), adding, "I learned it and started teaching it".^[3]
Shankar says that every emotion has a corresponding rhythm in the breath and regulating breath could help relieve personal suffering.^[6] After realizing Sudarshan Kriya, Shankar started sharing it with others through the Art of Living Course, first held in Shimoga.
Shankar inspired his father and several other prominent citizens of Bangalore to found Ved Vignan Maha Vidya Peeth, an educational and charitable trust, in 1981. Under the auspices of this trust, he opened a school south of Bangalore for local rural children, which now provides free education for 2,000 such children.^[7]
In 1983, Shankar held the first Art of Living course in Europe in Switzerland. In 1986, he travelled to Apple Valley, California in the USA to conduct the first course to be held in North America.^[8]

Teaching

Ravi Shankar (center of the photo)

[edit] Spirituality

Shankar teaches that spirituality is that which enhances human values like love, compassion and enthusiasm. It is not limited to any one religion or culture, but forms the heart of the world's religions. Hence, it is open to all people.^[9]
Shankar emphasizes breath as the link between body and mind and, therefore, as a tool to relax the mind, emphasizing both meditation and service to others. According to him, science and spirituality are linked and consistent. Emphasizing that joy is only available in the present moment, his stated vision is to create a world free of stress and violence, and his programs are said to offer practical tools to help accomplish this. In his view, "Truth is spherical rather than linear; so it has to be contradictory."^[10]

Peace and humanitarian work

In the nineties, Shankar initiated a number of humanitarian projects, which continue to this date, under the auspices of the Art of Living and its numerous national organizations. In 1992 he started Prison programs to rehabilitate prison inmates and help them reintegrate into the mainstream.^[11] 1997 saw the beginning of the International Association for Human Values, a humanitarian organization, and its 5H program, which aims to bring sustainable development to rural areas and revive human values.^[12] After the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center towers in New York City, the Art of Living Foundation offered free courses in stress reduction to New Yorkers.^[6] The group also ran a relief program in Kosovo for the war-ravaged population and for public health, university and UN personnel. The organization also started an operation in occupied Iraq in 2003 aimed at relieving the stress of the Iraqi population, particularly the rising population of traumatized widows.^[13] A similar program was implemented in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2006 teaching war victims as well as UN and NGO personnel. In 2007, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar visited Iraq at the invitation of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki and also met with Sunni, Shia and Kurdish leaders.^[14] He visited Pakistan in 2004 and met with some political and religious leaders there as a part of his efforts to promote global peace.^[15] Many volunteers have assisted the 2004 tsunami victims and Hurricane Katrina victims. There is a prison stress management and rehabilitation techniques program, known as SMART, which assists many prisoners and prison staff worldwide. He is also interested in interfaith dialogue, and currently sits on the Board of World Religious Leaders for the Elijah Interfaith Institute.^[16]

Sudarshan Kriya

Sudarshan Kriya is a "breathing-based technique"^[17] that is a core component of the Art of Living courses and "the cornerstone of ... [Art of Living Foundation's] trauma relief programs".^[17]
In some of his talks Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has described Sudarshan Kriya as a rhythmic breathing exercise that cleanses and harmonizes the physical, mental, and emotional levels.^[18]
A number of medical studies on the technique and its preparatory practices have been published in international peer-reviewed journals. A range of mental and physical benefits are reported in these studies, including reduced levels of stress (reduced cortisol—the “stress” hormone), improved immune system, relief from anxiety & depression (mild, moderate & severe),^[19] and increased antioxidant protection, enhanced brain function(increased mental focus, calmness & recovery from stressful stimuli), among other findings.^[20]^[21]
Persons enrolling for the courses sign a non-disclosure agreement with an undertaking not to teach the learned techniques (including Sudarshan Kriya) to other people without "personal training from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the Art of Living Foundation"