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You are invited to join us for the New Year Celebrations with Sri Sri via webcast.

Date: 1st Jan 2015 | Time: 12:30 AM IST

Link: www.artofliving.org/webcast

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Real Conversion is What Happens Within

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The purpose of religion is to bring enlightenment to the individual, happiness in society and to move from limited individual identity to universality and communion with the Divine. At their core, all religions have wisdom and human values which are universal. Customs and traditions were moulded by people and their way of life at the time; that is why they are diverse. In terms of their origin, all religions are expressions of divine inspiration.

The whole idea of converting from one religion to another comes from a very narrow mindset — that one is better than the other. We need to see things from a broader perspective. Just like different flowers come up and blossom in different places according to their climate, different religions arose according to the need of the time and place throughout history. Similarly, just as a flower gives its fragrance to everyone equally, the wisdom in this world, from whichever religion it may be, does not belong only to one community; it is the collective heritage of the whole of humanity. Jesus’ message, Buddha’s teaching, the knowledge of yoga and meditation are relevant and beneficial to anybody in the world.

Converting religion does not bring salvation. The notion that you will be closer to God by changing religion is baseless. You get closer to God by feeling connected, internally. Inner transformation is real conversion. If you really want to convert, convert from violence and frustration to a loving and peaceful space within. Religions of the far east — Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Shintoism, Taoism — always existed in harmony. Their main goal was uplifting consciousness and giving knowledge. Nobody told people that their way was the only way and everybody else would go to hell. In fact, people who think they hold the key to heaven create hell for everybody. Due to the cultural diversity in India, religion and regionalism has been a significant factor in politics. Luring poor people to converting by tempting them with money and other short-term benefits is an act of exploitation and is only done for ulterior political motives. However, people are realising these sinister designs.

We need to educate people to take pride in whichever religion they belong to while honouring other religions; to broaden vision and deepen roots. This can be done by introducing multicultural, multi religious elements in education. If children grow up knowing a bit about all religions, they develop a sense of respect and belongingness with them. They do not grow up to be fanatics thinking that their religion is superior and others need to be ‘liberated’ and converted.

Our foremost identity is that we belong to One Divinity; we are all part of one human family. Then come these identities of gender, nationality and in the end, religion. Conflict arises when instead of identifying with Divinity, we identify with divisions. This sense of identity with humanness should prevail among all other identities. If we are able to focus on this universality, establish this sense of Oneness, then we would have achieved something great in this century. At a time like this when religious polarisation is driving people apart, all that the world needs is love and understanding.

Source: Speaking Tree

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Ishavasya Upanishad Discourse by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

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Ishavasya Upanishad is considered to be the superior most of all Upanishads.
All the other Upanishads are said to be commentaries on the verses mentioned briefly in the Ishavasya Upanishad. It contains many hints which show an extraordinarily piercing insight to who we really are. It contains a mystical description of the Self and both, the seen and the unseen, world.

As Sri Sri gives a commentary on the timeless wisdom of Ishavasya Upanishad in the Art of Living International Center, Bangalore, we invite you to watch it LIVE or recorded from wherever you are!

Date: 17th - 19th Jan 2015 | Time: 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM IST

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TODAY!

If the timings do not suit your time zone, you can still watch the recorded webcast according to the webcast package you choose.

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Christmas Celebrations - Join us Via LIVE Webcast

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Dear Ones,

You can be part of the Christmas Celebrations with Sri Sri via LIVE Webcast.

Date: 25th December 2014 | Time: 12:30 AM IST

Link: www.artofliving.org/webcast OR via Sri Sri App for Android and iPhone!

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Sneh Milan: Live Webcast at 6 PM IST today

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Dear ones,

Join us for Sneh Milan, an interfaith congregation to boost peace and harmony amongst people of all religions, from Art of Living International Center, Bangalore via Live Webcast at 6 PM IST on the 18th of December.

Watch on www.artofliving.org/webcast

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Sri Sri Ravi Shankar speaks on UN Declaration of June 21st as World Yoga Day

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I congratulate Hon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the United Nation’s declaration of World Yoga Day. It is very difficult for any philosophy, religion or culture to survive without state patronage. Yoga has existed so far almost like an orphan. Now, official recognition by the UN would further spread the benefit of yoga to the entire world.

India is the land where yoga was born and we must finally take the responsibility to spread it everywhere, starting from classrooms. This will help young people to move away from gun culture and violence.

Yoga is a lifestyle and should not be mistaken for only asanas. A disease-free body, quiver-free breath, stress-free mind, inhibition-free intellect, obsession-free memory, ego that includes all, and soul which is free from sorrow are the signs of a perfect yogi. As Krishna said in the Bhagvad Gita, “Samatvam Yoga Ucyate” – equanimity in the individual is a sign of yoga.

When Art of Living programs started in the early 80s, yoga was seen as being practiced by freaks and Himalayan yogis standing upside down or on one leg. That is one of the reasons why we called our program, the Art of Living, a generic term that people could relate to across races, religions and cultures. It was Paramhansa Yogananda, and then Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who brought respectability to yoga in the West. In the last 3 decades, the Art of Living has taken yoga to 152 countries and has 26,000 yoga teachers worldwide.

Source: Sri Sri's Official Website

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Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Speaks to Arianna Huffington

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Praising the government's decision to have a ministry for yoga, Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar told Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, that while India has a health ministry, traditional systems tend to get ignored in present scenario. ​Huffington interviewed Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Bangalore at his ashram on December 6, 2014. The two spoke on a range of issues, including the guru's recent visit to Iraq, conflict resolution, rebirth, the benefits of meditation and India's future prospects.

Q: The Indian people will rediscover all this tradition you teach about - I love what you said earlier about the country being like a plane ready to take off with ministers as pilot - do you see a real change?
Sri Sri: Let's hope. Already things are moving in the right direction with dynamic people with more enthusiasm. I think they will be able to do it.

Q: Is there something in the spirit of the times that is ready to accelerate the change?
Sri Sri: Yes you are right, the collective consciousness is changing, people are willing to take a step forward than being in the same routine thing; people are ready to plunge into action and that can make a difference.

Q: You have been talking about reducing stress and also about promoting peace - do you see a connection between stress and violence?
Sri Sri: Of course there is a connection. Violence happens on two occasions - one is when there is wrong indoctrination, if they think they kill someone they can go to heaven, then they do it. Second is if people feel upset, stressed or are tense, they have an inner wound or scar, then they they engage in violence.

Q: As you are engaging people in India, including young people, to do service, to give an hour to service, to improve the country, what is the response?
Sri Sri: See there is tremendous response; young people are coming in big numbers.

Q: You said that what creates depression is lack of idealism and being of service helps find balance. Is this so?
Sri Sri: Yes, service helps people. If you think only your problem is biggest problem then you get bogged down and depressed. But if you see you can be useful to many more people on the planet; that there are many more things you can do, then you engage in (constructive) activity.

Q: Even when you were in Iraq recently, you went to help people there in danger from ISIS and who are facing tremendous suffering - through meditation and service. That's very interesting as most people would not expect people in danger to be of service or meditate, isn't it?
Sri Sri: You can see that young people in those camps have started helping others in danger. Young women took to arms to protect themselves form and this is very stunning because ISIS believes one can never be killed by a woman for then, they would not go to heaven. When women yazidis and others took to guns then ISIS people ran away. We could help many women there who went through tremendous trauma because when they are in trauma meditation helps them come out of it and puts their life back on track rather than getting depressed and feeling the trauma always.

Q: How does meditation help one do that?
Sri Sri: This I don't know, but I know it does!

Q: You are also a scientist; you studied physics and now more scientific evidence is emerging of this connect between practicing meditation and staying calm.
Sri Sri: I leave it to scientists to do the research. Many scientists have said that meditation helps. I see this on a day-to-day basis; thousands of people come here (Art of Living Foundation, Bangalore) to meditate.

Q: And breathing and yoga, too, the way you practice it here?
Sri Sri: Yes, there are several sets of yoga practices and exercises, not one for everyone; it is designed according to age group -including for children.

Q: And therapeutic, too?
Sri Sri: Yes.

Q: You have spoken about how you came up with the breathing technique (Sudarshan Kriya) after ten days of silence and you said 'silence is the mother of creativity'. So, in this very noisy world, how can we find silence?
Sri Sri: We need silence to keep sane, so make it a priority. It is not necessary for there to be lot of silence; even three days (of silence) in six month is enough to rejuvenate your whole system and that's what happens here and in other places like in even in USA we have people in North Carolina ashram where people come for the weekend or week long retreat and they go back rejuvenated.

Q: Where does sleep fit into that?
Sri Sri: Sleep is essential because sleep gives different type of rest than meditation; both are necessary.

Q: So much of the modern world dismisses meditation as being not productive but you say it makes you more productive. How much do you sleep?
Sri Sri: I can manage with three hours of sleep. One hour is good enough for meditation but when you practice, a stage comes when meditation is with you throughout - you don't have to sit and do it but the calmness is present throughout.

Q: That's why you have the three day Art of Living course?
Sri Sri: That is the first introduction when you learn about seven aspects of our life like body, breath, mind etc and you learn better techniques to deal with stress and relationship problems. You can express yourself better. Then practitioners come for advanced meditation classes, a five day programme that is usually residential and more experiential, more about connecting with yourself, understanding your own emotions and working through them. We have another programme for expressing the potential dynamically in your social situation; that is more on how you can overcome your limitations or you can enhance your abilities.

Q: I love how you are smiling and you are teaching us to smile a lot. You say even if you don't feel like it, 'fake it and make it' and then little by little it becomes natural?
Sri Sri: I don't say fake your smile but it works when you smile in meditation, as it relaxes your muscles and the smile seeps into your system.

Q: Do you thing the new government, with its priority to revive traditions with a minister for yoga, will penetrate into villages to touch the people who are suffering?
Sri Sri: Good to have separate ministry for yoga. We used to have a health ministry; all this would come into that and in the big scenario traditional systems got lost. People never got the priority they should have got. And this is economically more viable also. If a woman in a village is suffering from anemia and there are remedies that can be made available at one-tenth of the cost with traditional medicine, then why not?

Q: That's why you have new products in your vedic school?
Sri Sri: We have a research institution, so we do come up with new products, from time to time.

Q: As you said, we cannot just hear the body we have to hear the mind, too?
Sri Sri: Yes, holistic approach is best.

Q: You have done so much in conflict resolution; is there a secret about conflict resolution that you can give us?
Sri Sri: What works is being unbiased and not having an agenda - when you go and meet people with open heart and mind and understanding, when you project that you understand them from where they come from, then you are able to build a bridge between conflicting parties.

Q: What is the hardest conflict resolution you experienced?
Sri Sri: Almost every one of them is difficult to handle. There were 23 million yazidis now reduced to one million people - their untold, unspoken suffering. they were being forced to convert, 'either you die or you convert' or 'either convert or become slaves'. You know about all this. It is painful to see that problem. And also in Sri Lanka when I was involved; that was tough, too.

Q: How do you deal personally with suffering?
Sri Sri: We have so many good volunteers

Q: How do you deal with absorbing the pain and suffering you see personally?
Sri Sri: In myself? No, it does not affect me at one level. I am not insensitive but I don't get affected or drawn into it.

Q: Is it because you cannot see those people or understand?
Sri Sri: Two things - seeing it from a broader perspective that there is a power in control of the whole world and something happening and another level this situation is there to show your compassion, your love, and your caring and so you should act on that.

Q: You talked a lot about death also and how death can help us find perspective on life. I am Greek and Socrates used to say said practice death daily and integrate it into your life (not in a morbid sense). What can we learn from bringing death into our lives, talking about it?
Sri Sri: The awareness that we are all going to die one day suddenly opens up a different aspect of our consciousness that there is something in you that will never die. You don't die. At the same time make life more vibrant and there is more presence remembering that one day you are going to die, you will not bicker over small things; mind will move away from negative impressions like anger, jealousy, hate and greed. You will see this is all so insignificant and nothing affects you then. Nothing, no event can make a dent in your consciousness. That's why love, knowledge of death and meditation are all synonymous; all have similarity, connection. Knowledge of death, not death itself;am last person to condone suicide am totally against suicidal tendencies, because you are hankering after some desire and your inability to cope with life you want to commit suicide - this is wrong. You need to understand death as inevitable in life and it will come at that time when it has to come and it only gives a larger dimension to your life.

Q: Was there a moment that you became sure that you are not going to die?
Sri Sri: We all are not going to die; that something will survive the body - soul, consciousness - I never doubted that.

Q: Since you were four years old when you recited the Bhagwad Gita?
Sri Sri: Yes, I know I have come here before.

Q: Is this your last life?
Sri Sri: If I want to come back, I can come back!

Source: TOI

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Secrets of Happiness

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Join in the Live webcast as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar reveals the 'Secrets of Happiness'!

Date: 4 Dec. 2014 | Time: 7 PM IST onwards

Link: www.artofliving.org/webcast

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