Journal Press India^®

Editorial

I am sharing with you about an organization which is present in 152 countries spread over 6 continents touched 360 million lives over a period 33 years. Yes I am talking about Art of Living (AOL) founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Art of Living promotes interfaith harmony with a focus on inner peace. It has worked for conflict ridden countries and is active in trauma reliefs. The Art of Living movement has spread peace across communities through diverse humanitarian  projects, including conflict resolution, disaster  relief, sustainable rural  development, empowerment of women, prisoner rehabilitation, education for all, and environmental sustainability.

AOL provides free education to more  than 40,000 children in more  than 400 schools in slums, tribal, and rural areas spread over 19 states of India.

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, a scholar, who had had a long-standing liaison with Mahatma Gandhi. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar holds degrees in both, Vedic Literature and Physics. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar 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, out  of this silence. With time, the Sudarshan Kriya became the center-piece of the Art of Living programs http://www.artofliving.org/ srisriravishankar). The most important program is the happiness program wherein Sudershan Kriya (SKY) is the most profound process which has helped millions of people to resolve their health related issues and bring inner peace. The most important experiment was done on convicts behind the bars by (http://www.artofliving.org/in-en/freedom-beyond-bars) teaching them SKY, wherein it was found that it works on them also and that it is possible to convert them from art of killing to art of living. AOL has a Vision for a Stress-Free, Violence-Free World through the Art of Living Happiness Programs. Several studies have been done on SKY and very strong relationship have been found by many of them.

The Art of Living has a few sister organisations which are also dedicated to the vision of a stress-free, violence-free world. The International Association for Human Values (IAHV),Ved Vignan Maha Vidya Peeth (VVMVP), Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Vidya Mandir (SSRVM),Vyakti Vikas Kendra India (VVKI), Sri Sri Rural Development Program (SSRDP), and Sri Sri Institute of Agricultural Sciences & Technology Trust (SSIAST) among others, formulate and implement humanitarian projects of The Art of Living globally.

The Art of Living is a multi-faceted organisation with one of the largest volunteer bases in the world. The international headquarter is located in Bangalore, India. Globally, the organisation operates as The Art of Living Foundation formed in 1989 in the United States of America and in Germany. Since then, local centres have been established across the world. In the Art of Living’s organisational structure, there is a board of trustees with a term of two years. Two thirds of the trustees change every two years. All the Art of Living teachers and the previous trustees are allowed to nominate a new board. There is a provision for an  advisory board that monitors and guides the  organisation. All the  accounts are regularly audited by an external auditor. Other than expenses, no trustee is entitled to benefits in terms of salary etc. Art of Living programs directly help to fund its humanitarian projects. The proceeds from  the  sales of The  Art of Living Publications and Ayurveda products are  also directed to social initiatives (http://www.artofliving.org/in-en/about-us).

Membership of AOL is with CONGO (Conference of NGOs in Consultative Status with ECOSOC of the United Nations), Geneva and New York; International Alliance against Hunger; UN Mental Health Committee and UN Committee on Aging, New York; International Union for Health Promotion and Education, Paris; NGO Forum for Health, Geneva; and many others. I strongly recommend that each human being should have experience of sky.