- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar; The two basic instincts in human beings are food and sex. These you have been doing in all the lifetimes – when you were an animal and now as a human being. You are born out of these two – food and sex. In India, it is so beautiful that they connected both these with Divinity.
- Some Lesser Known Facts About Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. After making a small Shivalinga at the age of five; he (with his sister) used to emulate the puja performed by his grandmother. According to his sister, during his childhood, he was a little bit naughty and humorous.
His vision of a stress-free, violence-free society has united millions of people the world over through service projects and courses of The Art of Living.
As a spiritual teacher, Sri Sri has rekindled the traditions of yoga and meditation and offered them in a form that is relevant to the 21st century. Beyond reviving ancient wisdom, Sri Sei has created new techniques for personal and social transformation.
These include the Sudarshan Kriya® which has helped millions of people to find relief from stress and discover inner reservoirs of energy and peace in daily life. In a mere 35 years, his programs and initiatives have touched the lives of over 370 million people in 155 countries.
Jennifer Stevenson
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a world-renowned humanitarian, spiritual leader, and an ambassador of peace and human values. Through his life and work, Gurudev has inspired millions around the world with a vision of a stress-free and violence-free world.
Nilendu Srivastava
An engineer by profession and an entrepreneur by nature, Mr. Nilendu Srivastava has been involved with, starting up, running, purchasing, and selling of a number of hi tech companies during the past four decades. He currently is the owner and CEO of Vascular Technology Inc., a medical device manufacturing company. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors for a number of both profit and nonprofit organizations.
Mr. Srivastava lives with his wife, Renu, in New Hampshire. They have two children, both physicians, and three grandchildren. Throughout their lives, the couple has been very active in both community and charitable causes. For the past 17 years, they have been closely associated with the world-renowned spiritual and humanitarian leader His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. They also travel extensively to aid with Sri Sri’s humanitarian projects that promotes women empowerment, children’s education and welfare and upliftment of human values.
Neelam Madaik
Neelam currently serves as the Secretary of Board of Directors and the DIrector of Community Engagement with the Sri Sri School of Yoga, North America.
She has been a faculty and volunteer with the Art of living foundation for more than a decade and has been an integral part of projects like the International Women’s Conference, World Cultural Festival, 2016 which brought together more than 3 million individuals from 150 countries in a celebration of love, peace and diversity. Nelam also visited Pakistan in 2005- 2006 as a part of earthquake relief project, bringing relief to hundreds of earthquake effects victims.
Neelam has served for many years as a full time traveling teacher for the Art of Living Foundation and and is a teacher of the Happiness Program, Yesplus Course, Sahaj Samadhi Meditation Course, Art Excel & YES Course and Sri Sri Yoga Course. She is accredited with Yoga Alliance as an E-RYT 200H for Sri Sri Yoga.
When not facilitating yoga or meditation workshops, Neelam likes to travel to new places and try different cuisines.
Andrew Keaveney
Andrew Keaveney is an Art of Living teacher and Director of Digital Media at the Art of Living Retreat Center in Boone, North Carolina. He graduated with honors from Stanford University with a major in film and Buddhist studies before moving to the Art of Living International Center in Bangalore, India, where he spent four years involved in service projects, film making, deepening his understanding of meditation and yoga, studying Sanskrit and learning and performing Vedic pujas.
Andrew has studied Sanskrit in a variety of forms. Over a period of six years, he first studied Vedic Sanskrit with pundits from Vega Agama Mahapathashala, then studied classical and spoken Sanskrit with Samskrita Bharati in India and the US. Andrew’s intensive study of Sanskrit allows him to bring a deep authenticity to his yoga teaching, due to the fact that the yogic tradition contains a great storehouse of knowledge, and the language of this wisdom is Sanskrit. Sanskrit texts contain detailed philosophy and guides to consciousness, self-inquiry, and methods for accessing subtler levels of the mind. Andrew finds that an understanding of Sanskrit helps us to understand this great tradition on its own terms and through its own lens. Besides being a beautiful language of consciousness, the practice of Sanskrit is also a path to uplift one’s own mind and raise one’s energy level. Studying Sanskrit as part of yoga training helps us honor this vast tradition, understand it a little more, and and deepen our practice.
Andrew has been meditating for 17 years and practicing yoga for 15, providing him with an understanding of the student’s perspective. He completed a 200-hour Yoga Alliance teaching certification and has been teaching yoga for 4 years. Along with yoga, Andrew has been an Art of Living teacher for 9 years and teaches courses such as the Happiness Program and Sahaj Samadhi meditation from Boone, NC and around the United States. In addition to teaching, he also has an interest in film, creative writing and landscape painting.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a humanitarian leader, a spiritual teacher, and an ambassador of peace. His vision of a stress-free, violence-free society has united millions of people the world over through service projects and the courses of The Art of Living.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Basic Courses
Numerous honors have been bestowed upon Gurudev, including the highest civilian awards of Colombia, Mongolia and Paraguay. He is the recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India’s highest annual civilian award and has also been conferred with 16 honorary doctorates from around the world.
Gurudev is the Chancellor of Sri Sri University and the Chairman of the Quality Control of India Yoga Certification Committee. He is also a member of the Amarnath Shrine Board (appointed by Government of Jammu and Kashmir, India). Gurudev was the Chairman of Reception Committee for the 500th anniversary celebrations of the Coronation of Krishnadevaraya (by Government of Karnataka, India).
Kamlesh Barwal
Kamlesh Barwal is an International Trainer with the Art of Living Foundation. She travels worldwide teaching people of all backgrounds, cultures, and religions how to effectively manage their mind and emotions, eliminate stress, live in harmony amid diversity and bring greater peace and joy into their lives through simple yet profound yoga techniques. Over the past fourteen years as a teacher with the Art of Living Foundation, Kamlesh has taught extensively in India, Kazakhstan, the Middle East, China, Russia, and Europe.
Kamlesh is known for her graceful asana practice, and her classes are a blend of simplicity, fun, humor, and artistically-explained yoga philosophy and knowledge. Apart from teaching a wide range of Art of Living courses, she is the Director of the Sri Sri School of Yoga, training yoga teachers and coordinating the global network of Sri Sri Yoga teachers. Kamlesh has completed the advanced level (500 hour) teacher training program through the Yoga Alliance, and is an examiner for the QCI Yoga Teachers Certification Program through the Government of India. She holds the high distinction of being a recipient of the Vishalakshi Award for Contribution to Yoga.
Kamlesh was born in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh in India, where she received her Bachelors in Business Administration from Himachal Pradesh University. There she first encountered the Art of Living courses, which she found to be a means of dealing with the stress, anxiety, and challenges of her college years. What started as a mere practice to deal with the stress of student life blossomed into a way of life.
Kamlesh’s multifaceted teaching style extends beyond yoga and meditation; she employs her management skills as Head of Human Resources for The Art of LIving International Centre in Bangalore, India. Kamlesh has also directed and been featured in multiple yoga tutorial videos.
Beyond teaching, Kamlesh has coordinated five International Women’s Conferences since 2005, bringing thousands of female leaders together to discuss ways in which to empower women.
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We offer comprehensive training encompassing deep understanding asana, breathing/pranayama, meditation and yogic wisdom.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has founded courses that provide techniques and tools to live a deeper, more joyous life. He has established nonprofit organizations that recognize a common human identity above the boundaries of race, nationality and religion. His goal is to uplift people around the globe, to reduce stress, and to develop leaders so that human values can flourish in people and communities.
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May 28th 2018
“I Meditate Africa” is an Art of Living Foundation initiative, inspired by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, to promote meditation/quiet time, as part of peace building, across the African continent.
Africa has many burning issues of violence, conflict, & crime. In tackling the challenges facing Africa, the benefits of meditation can be given more consideration as being part of peace building. Meditation is not the answer to everything, & cannot provide direct solutions around poverty, hunger or unemployment, but it provides one with basic inner strength, and stability of mind. Behavior, attitude, decision making & problem solving all stem from inner strength and clarity of mind, so it becomes a useful tool in peace efforts. Building inner safety and security is imperative to address outer safety.
I Meditate Africa conducts mass peace meditations/prayers for Africa at schools, colleges, universities, prisons, factories, churches, corporates, for an entire month across the continent, culminating with a guided Peace Meditation on Africa Day with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Part of the campaign is to encourage learners across the continent to recite the African Union Anthem in a bid to create more belongingness amongst the countries.
2017
Over 1 million people from multiple locations in 24 African countries participated in “I Meditate Africa” event in May 2017. Many more people from other countries also joined the online guided meditation by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
“Our brain functions on vibration. Mass meditation creates a positive vibration, which impacts not only on us but on our surroundings as well. Recent research shows meditation impacts on the grey mater in the brain. There is much research on meditation to show its impact on human consciousness and society at large.” – Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
2016
In May 2016, over 750 000 people from 23 African countries contributed to peace building during the month of May. Prisoners at Luzira Prison from Kampala-Uganda joined Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s in the guided online Peace Meditation to mark Africa Day.
“When you meditate in a group, then the desires you have in your mind gets fulfilled. And when this desire is for a better and safer planet, the collective intention and energy of so many people is sure to manifest. There is a definite strength in the union of the hearts and minds of people.” – Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
2015
During May 2015, over 500 000 people across Africa meditated for Peace in Africa. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar marked Africa day celebration on May 23rd, by uniting 25 African countries in a global online peace meditation for the prosperity of the continents people, resources, animals and natures.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Courses In Bangalore
2014
In Africa Month, May 2014, over 100 000 people from 24 African countries meditated for Peace for the African continent. Support from the international community was welcomed with a total of 76 countries participating in this effort. The largest contributors to the peace campaign were the educational sectors across the continent.
“Africa is known for its rhythm. Meditation is the rhythm of the soul & life; the way to bring a wave of Happiness on the planet. Thousands meditated for peace & prosperity in Africa & also across the world. May our intention for a peaceful & conflict-free Africa materialize. ” – Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Bio
2013
“On Africa’s 50th anniversary of unification in 2013, an estimated 10 000 people from 23 African countries, 30 African cites and 54 International countries were led into a peace meditation for Africa, with humanitarian & Global Peace Ambassador Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Participating countries were: Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Cameroon, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Tunisia, Nigeria, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Namibia, Mauritius, Morocco, DRC, Zambia, Ethiopia, Togo, Sudan & South Africa.
“Every action begins with a seed. That is intention. We have sown the seed for a prosperous and peaceful Africa. We now have to nurture this by our actions “, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar after guiding the Peace Meditation in Africa on 25th May 2013.