The making of a leader

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (57) Spiritual leader This spiritual pioneer spends only three hours of a 24-hour-day sleeping He is popularly known as Guruji and is the spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the man whose name and fame has spread across 152 countries in the world. Despite being a globetrotter, he follows a strict routine. Every morning, he wakes up at 4.30 am and meditates for half-an-hour to an hour. Then, he exercises but it's not a fixed regimen. He alternates between yoga, jogging and walking on the treadmill for half hour at the ashram. "It's important to stay fit," says Guruji. At 9 am, he begins to receive people. He skips breakfast on most days but if he does eat something, it's usually a bowl of fruits after meditation and exercise. Lunch is Sri Sri's most important meal where he has dal, rice, one sabji and two chapattis. "I don't avoid any veggies," he says. Every evening from 5 to 6.30 pm, he welcomes people where he takes time out to meet, interact and discuss various issues with them. "This way, I keep a channel open with the general public. I get to know them and their needs." After spending time with them, he interacts for an hour or two with members belonging to the numerous administrative departments at his ashrams across the globe. At the ashram every evening, he spends half hour singing spiritual hymns with his followers, after which they discuss various topics. At night, post dinner, Guruji reads the 700-800 odd e-mails that he receives on a daily basis. He even takes the effort of responding to most of them. At 9 pm, he has dinner if only he is hungry, otherwise he relishes a bowl of fruits. "Dinner is usually a light meal for me so that I sleep soundly," says Guruji. Reading is not an important activity in his life. The only time he makes time to read is when he is on long flights. The last book he read was Eben Alexander's Proof of Heaven. The one book that he loves reading repeatedly is the Bhagavad Gita. Guruji, who has an ever-smiling face, says, "People are my most favourite book. I read people. I wonder about their life and lifestyles." By the time he tucks in for the night, it is around 2 am. Three hours of sleep on a daily basis is enough to keep this spiritual guru going. Source: Bangalore Mirror                 Note: Unable to see the above images? Please click on 'Display images' in your mail Art of Living Universe: Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus | YouTube | Pinterest