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Degrees were conferred upon more than 800 students of JSS University during its sixth convocation held here on Wednesday.

Out of the 827 students, who were conferred degrees in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, bio medical sciences and management studies, a total of 440 received their degrees in person.

Also, 33 candidates shared 50 medals and awards for their exceptional performance while 21 candidates were conferred with Ph.D research degrees and four candidates given the medical super speciality degree.

“This is the first batch of students, who have graduated with super speciality degrees from this university,” said JSS University’s Vice-Chancellor B. Suresh.

Founder of Art of Living Sri Sri Ravi Shankar delivered the convocation address. Sri Shivarathri Desikendra Swami of Suttur Mutt and executive director of JSS Mahavidyapeetha, B.N. Betkerur, were also present on the occasion.

Source: The Hindu

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India Needs to Spiritualize Politics, Secularize Religion

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Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Monday said India needs to spiritualize politics, secularize religion and socialize business to create a harmonious society.

"Politics should have an element of spirituality. A spiritual leader with a compassionate heart would serve everyone, regardless of caste and religious affiliations," Ravishankar said, addressing the third international dharma dhamma conference.

The founder of Art of Living Foundation said Mahatma Gandhi was a great spiritual person. This helped him understand the depth of human plight and suffering. Leaders like Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya and Madan Mohan Malviya were spiritual scholars and had worked for human welfare.

Role of religion in the age of consumerism is to help us live a stress-free life he said, adding that dharma teaches us to control our desires and live a balanced life.

"Religion brings purity in hearts, clarity in mind and sincerity in our actions. Stress is the greatest killer of mankind today. According to statistics, seven people commit suicide in every two seconds. A person who understands 'darshan' and is spiritually enlightened, is unlikely to end his/her life," he added.

Highlighting the need to socialize business, Ravishankar said every big business house should work to help the poor in living a dignified life. The spiritual guru attributed rising crime and instances of violence to the decline in acceptance of religion.

"In modern times, people are swiftly drifting away from tenets of religion. We have never emphasized on value-based education of religion. This has led to the decline in faith among many of us. A person without faith in God can indulge in crime and violence," he said.

Advocating people to read and learn about dharma, Ravishankar said difference of opinions and diversity of beliefs brings happiness to the world.

"We have been kept away from religion and its fundamental teachings, and look where it has all landed us? Today, there is rampant corruption and intolerance for each other. Religion can never unleash violence or teach animosity. If there is tension in society, it is because we have abandoned religion and its teachings," he added.

Source: TOI

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Navratri Celebrations 2015 - LIVE Webcast

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Navratri, the festival of nine nights, is finally here. Get ready to soak in the bliss of ancient Vedic hymns and festivities, LIVE from the Art of Living International Center at Bangalore, India.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE COMPLETE NAVRATRI SCHEDULE

Watch the telecast of the celebrations exclusively on Anandam TV from October 13 - 22. You can also view the webcast by subscribing to www.anandamlive.com

For any queries related to the webcast, please write to admin@anandam.tv

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Sri Sri Inaugurates ‘Smart Village’ Project In Chikmagalur

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Art of Living Founder and Spiritual Leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar inaugurated a ‘Smart Village’ project in Sadarahalli village, Chikmagalur district on 1st October 2015.

Speaking on the qualities of an ideal village, Sri Sri said, “A village should be free of casteism and alcohol while maintaining cleanliness in its surroundings.Villagers are moving to cities for economic reasons. We should make our villages smarter and bring back our people. Everybody should work for our villages.”

The ‘Smart Village’ aims to have a yoga centre, ayurvedic research centre, digital library, food processing centre, permaculture centre, farmer training center, organic farming facilities herbal garden and a ‘Goshala’ for native cows.

Chikmagalur MLA, Mr. C.T Ravi, Ms. Gayatri Shantegowda MLC, Chikmagalure, Zilla Panchayat President Ms. Kavita Belliprakash, District Commisioner Mr. Shadakshara Swamy were also present.

A second Reverse Osmosis (RO) water purification plant has been set up which will provide pure drinking water to around 10,000 people in Lakya Hobli here. In May 2014, one such plant had already been set up.

“Farmers have been facing problems as the rivers are dried up due to lack of rainfall. We are working on methods that will supply water to the villagers with the same amount of rainfall,” said Sri Sri Ravi Shankar referring to the river rejuvenation projects.

Sri Sri visited the ‘Vedavathi’ Phase II project centre in Chikmagalur. The Art of Living volunteers along with the panchayat and villagers have helped bring up the ground water level from 600 ft to 50 ft over a 377 sq. km (spread across 49 villages) area during the Vedavathi Phase 1. The Phase 2 of the project is spread over 5000 sq km covering 1097 villages. This project which aims at reviving river Vedavathi, targets 100 days of employment to around 60,000 people who are below poverty line.

The Art of Living, which is better known for spreading happiness across the globe, has embarked on a unique rejuvenation programme to instill life into the “dying” rivers across Karnataka and Maharashtra.

In Karnataka, river rejuvenation projects are ongoing for Vedavathi Kumudvathi and Palar Rivers.

In Maharashtra, the organisation’s Jal Jagruti Abhiyan has worked in 11 districts of the state; addressing water issues in a concerted and effective way. The campaign, which is aimed at finding ways to overcome the severe drought situation in Maharashtra, has been working on eleven river projects across the state.

Source: AOL Global Website

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Private Schools Must Reserve 25% Seats for Poor

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Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar asked private schools not to be greedy and asked them to ensure that students from the socially and economically-backward sections get their 25% reserved quota in private schools as per the provisions of the Right to Education Act.

The founder of the popular global spiritual movement, The Art of Living Foundation, was invited as chief guest for a national seminar of private schools being hosted by all Goa government recognized unaided schools' association.

"Private schools are doing a good job. But please do not be greedy. See that poor students are given the 25% seats reserved for them. There would be no need to add that clause in the law if schools were already giving seats to poor students. Some private schools are doing it. Others too need to do it," Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, speaking to an audience running into hundreds of followers at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium in Taleigao.

The spiritual guru, who has a following in several countries and among those coming from varied religious backgrounds, was speaking at the opening event of a two-day seminar of private schools where they will deliberate on improving the quality of education in India. Provisions of the Right to Education Act will be one of the main topics of discussions. The private schools plan to send their suggestions to the Union human resource development ministry.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar told schools not to limit the discussions to only improving quality in the private and city-based schools during the seminar. "As you'll hold the deliberations, also deliberate on the quality of education in government schools and what can be done for them so that good education can reach every village in the country and India can become a vibrant place," said the leader, who runs several schools in rural areas in the country serving poor students.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also asked teachers to work more dedicatedly. "Teachers get two months' vacation annually, unlike any other profession. Their pay too is quite good now. It is one profession where the teacher can live his or her childhood throughout their career through the children they teach. Teachers should not just teach the curriculum and leave. They should bring creativity in their teaching by making use of their individual talent."

Source: TOI

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Download Sri Sri Calendar for OCTOBER 2015

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Dear ones,

Download OCTOBER 2015 Calendar with beautiful picture of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, by visiting the Art of Living Universe website: www.aoluniverse.org/SriSriCalendars. Available in 3 different screen resolution size.

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Unkown Lessons from the Mahatma

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Gandhi Jayanti is an occasion to reflect on what we can learn from Gandhiji. Everyone’s life teaches us both what to do and what not to do. The ideals that Gandhiji set are an inspiration for generations – a sense of sacrifice, acceptance for everyone, an unbroken faith in satsang and dedication to the higher cause of the country and the welfare of people. But there were aspects of his life that teach us what not to do as well.

My teacher, Pt. Sudhakar Chaturvedi, who is still alive at 118 years stayed with Gandhiji for a long time. Bangalori, as Gandhiji would call him since he hailed from Bangalore, used to teach him the Bhagavad Gita. They were together on the day Kasturba passed away in Yerawada Jail. Watching her in the throes of death, Gandhiji said, “Bangalori, your Bapu has to face the test of fire (agni-pariksha) today.” Panditji saw tears in Bapu’s eyes for the first time. As he read the second chapter of the Gita for Kasturba, she breathed her last. Gandhiji remarked, “I realize that I gave her a lot of pain and no happiness.” Kasturba supported him in his mission till the end. Perhaps he would not have been so remorseful had he honored and agreed to some of her wishes once in a while.

Gandhiji was also deeply pained when his son converted to another religion. He spoke a lot against conversion and admitted his regret that he could not give his children an education of values and respect for their own religion. He came to be regarded as the Father of the Nation but could not be a good father to his own sons. While aspiring to bring freedom to an entire country, he gave none to his own wife. Due to his rigidity, Gandhiji put his family through a lot of distress and his own children rebelled against him. Approaching every aspect of life with a fixed attitude is not practical. One needs to have different yardsticks for dealing with different people and situations.

Click Here to Read the Complete Article..................

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