All people dream but a few achieve their dreams. A man once dreamed to bind the whole world into a single family and to create a stress-free, violence-free prosperous society. It was really a big task for one man to achieve and yet he did it. The man is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. His followers refer to him as guruji with love. Guruji has coordinated a worldwide mass movement for a stress free and violence free society by founding ‘THE ART OF LIVING’ organisation which is currently operational in 155 countries. He has effectively touched the lives of 370 million people and counting through his arsenal of unique development programs with the help of his volunteers. Its just fascinating to be even thinking of grasping the multitude of skills, peace of mind, determination and leadership that is required to achieve such a feat. Men like him are born once in a millennium. His philosophy is that ‘love moves the world’ and he is a stark example how.
The programs under ‘The Art of Living’ organisation are really fun and have been a pivotal guide into shaping the youth towards constructive work for the society and at the same time the mind relaxing and meditation techniques that they share are a great experience. The Sudarshan Kriya technique developed by guruji has been scientifically proven to be an effective tool for mental well being.
If you want to experience a week long stress free environment and a break from your hectic life you should definitely enroll for the YLTP [Youth Leadership Training Programme] of the Art of Living. The fees are nominal and as a personal experience very less for the spiritual experience you get (INR 2000-3000 for a 7-day course). Its like a spa for the mind. You meet new people, learn yoga and meditation techniques, serve and there are a lot of fun activities. I was never into spirituality and couldn’t sit in one place at a stretch and i loved it, you would to.
You will find all necessary details of the programs on their website.
As mentioned on Sri Sri’s official website:
Impact in numbers:
Across IndiaPlayed a key role in bringing about the Anti-Corruption movement and inter-faith harmony in India
58000+ children given free education in 435 schools in rural and tribal areas of India
37 rivers and thousands of water bodies all across are being revived bringing ground water levels higher, benefitting millions of villagers.
40,500 cleanliness drives, 52,466 hygiene camps, 27,427 medical camps, 165,000 stress relief camps benefiting 5.6 million people
16,550 toilets built, 3,819 homes, 1,200 bore-wells and 1,000 bio-gas plants.
27,000 youths trained in vocational and entrepreneurship skills.
760 villages electrified through renewable energy in remote parts of India and Nepal.
More than 2,03,220 rural youth have been trained in leadership program who reached out with various development projects in 40,212 villages.
4,500 armed insurgents from extremist-affected regions of India de-radicalised, renouncing violence and reintegrating into mainstream society.
More than 2.2 million farmers and youths from 22 states have been trained in natural farming practices.
In Iraq, 50,000 people have been provided with life skills and trauma relief programs. 4307 Iraqi women have been provided with vocational training. More than 200 peace ambassadors have been trained to provide trauma relief to those affected.1,50,000 plus war survivors including child soldiers in Iraq, Israel-Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Krygztan, Sri Lanka, the Balkans and Afghanistan have benefitted from trauma relief programs
In the United States
Since 2008, 73,432 students and 2,317 teachers have participated in the YES for Schools program in 147 schools across 22 states.
1,586 veterans and family members have benefited through SKY meditation workshops conducted through the Project Welcome Home Troops program, a restorative mind body resilience program for veterans and military members giving them tools to reduce chronic and post-traumatic stress.
Since 1992, more 10,000 inmates, correctional officers and law enforcement staff have experienced the benefits of the PRISON SMART program, that effectively transforms the mindsets, attitudes and behaviours of offenders, thus aiming to break the cycle of violence at the root and reducing re offending.