Entrepreneurs

Meet Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Spiritual Leader Gurudev

He is making headlines because he is a world-renowned spiritual leader and breathwork expert who has touched millions of lives in different parts of the world through his several initiatives. The global humanitarian and spiritual leader founded The Art of Living Foundation in 1981 and has grown it to become one of the biggest volunteer-based organizations in the world. Gurudev’s unique approach to wellness has endeared him and his teachings to millions of people across the globe, with accolades and recognitions from several international bodies. In his over 40 years of practice as a healing expert, Gurudev has impacted over 500 million lives, teaching breath-based meditation techniques for health and well-being.

“Emotions are something you are born with. You just need to have a say over them. When emotions dominate, they cause disasters. When intellect dominates, it can harness the emotions.” – Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Gurudev has done tremendously well with promoting wellness as a teacher and in person, with millions of people testifying experiencing calm, peace, and inner resilience in the face of adversity through his programs as projected through The Art of Living Foundation and other similar initiatives. The Art of Living currently operates in 180 countries in different parts of the world. The organization has built a reputation for creating a stress-free, violence-free society, with Gurudev and his team championing causes and educational as well as self-development programs and tools. One such innovation is Gurudev’s SKY Breath Meditation technique, which has gained global prominence for its mental health and overall well-being benefits, helping people to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma.

SKY Breath Meditation technique was developed by Gurudev, to help individuals raise their energy, manage emotions, and find lasting calm. Over the years, Gurudev has helped people to harness the benefits of SKY Breath Meditation to transform their lives and ultimately become powerful agents for social change. Consequently, he has been able to inspire a wave of volunteerism and service for a better society, further reiterating his passion for philanthropy and touching lives, irrespective of location or status. With over 30,000 active teachers and more than a million volunteers engaged in building conscious and caring communities, Gurudev has undoubtedly exemplified the goodness in supporting people to reach their full potential and inspire others to greatness. Gurudev’s works with the SKY Breath Meditation technique, combining ancient Vedic wisdom with a modern sensibility for a new paradigm of leadership and living has caught the attention of researchers and institutes, with the likes of Stanford, Yale, Harvard, and UCLA exploring the diversity and all-inclusivity of the therapy.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has established that finding peace starts from the individual and consequently took a deliberate effort to build bridges between beliefs and religions, universalizing wisdom and building greater compassion, love, and mutual understanding for a stress-free, violence-free society through philanthropy. In his tradition, Gurudev has taken a unique approach to humanitarianism, looking beyond the monetary and material aspects to stand for Gandhian values of non-violence. Consequently, he has advocated for peace in crisis-stricken countries across the globe, with his efforts noticeable in Sri Lanka, Iraq, Venezuela, and Colombia.

He has also helped to empower about 70,000 students, giving them access to quality education and practical tools for mental health while transforming 7,400 terrorists and reforming over 800,000 inmates, integrating them into society as responsible individuals.

In the Middle East, Gurudev worked to ensure over 20,000 war-affected individuals-Syrian refugees and survivors in Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq get succor through trauma relief workshops. Thousands of Yazidis and religious minorities have also been rescued from the brutality of terrorism. One of his most recent efforts includes the appointment by the Supreme Court of India as one of the three mediators to resolve a 500-year communal Ayodhya dispute that finally ended peacefully in 2019. Combining his love for philanthropy with environmentalism, Gurudev has helped in planting more than 81 million trees in different parts of the world while reviving 49 river systems through community involvement in India.

The works of Gurudev with individuals, organizations, and leadership spans a range of sectors across 160 countries. His efforts have not gone unnoticed as he is a regular feature on several speaking engagements at the United Nations, the European Parliament, and the World Economic Forum, as well as at universities such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Georgetown, and the University of Southern California. He is also the recipient of about 40 governmental awards, with a long list including the highest civilian honors in Colombia, Mongolia, Suriname, and Paraguay, as well as the Padma Vibhushan, India’s highest annual civilian honor. 24 universities have also awarded him honorary doctorates for his humanitarian and conflict resolution initiatives. For more information on Gurudev visit www.srisri.org

www.artofliving.org

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