Sri

Sri Ravi Shankar Biography

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a spiritual leader and the founder of the
Art of Living Foundation. Explore this article to learn more
about his life, works, achievements and timeline.
Quick Facts
Famous as

Spiritual & humanitarian leader

Nationality

Indian

Born on

13 May 1956 AD

Zodiac Sign

Taurus

Born in

Papanasam, Tamil Nadu, India

Started Art of Living Foundation (AOLF) and

Works &
International Association for Human Values
Achievements
(IAHV)

Im age Source : http://elartedevivirtuciudad.blogspot.in/p/sri-sriravi-shankar.html

My vision is a violence free, stress free world, stated the

spiritual leader and humanitarian ambassador, Sri Sri Ravi

Shankar, who has long been working towards building peace
among nations. He is the founder of the Art of Living
Foundation, which is one of the worlds largest humanitarian,
non-governmental organizations and is known for its great
services to mankind. As a child, he was extremely gifted and
always dreamt of building a peaceful world. Today, he
propagates his ideologies through the countless ashrams and
Art of Living institutes all around the world. A universally
revered saint, Ravi Shankar is a multi-faceted social activist and
his humanitarian initiatives include conflict resolution, trauma
relief and poverty assuagement. He claims deep meditation and
a potent breathing technique known as the Sudarshan Kriya
can be directly integrated in ones daily life to calm the mind
and to bring about positivity and vigor. His preaching and
ideologies have reached out to over 300 million people around
the world through personal teachings, social interactions, public
events and Art of Living workshops. Numerous honors have
been bestowed upon this great personality for his unequivocal
contributions to humanity.
Early Ye ars & Education
Ravi Shankar was born to Smt. Visalakshmi Ratnam and
R.S. Venkat Ratnam in Papanasam, Tamil Nadu, India. A
child prodigy, he was able to recite verses from the
Bhagwad Gita, an ancient Sanskrit text and also started
practicing meditation with his parents by the age of four.
He began studying Vedic literature with Sudhakar
Chaturvedi and simultaneously attended the school at
MES in Bangalore. In 1973, at the age of 17, he graduated
with degrees in both Physics and Vedic Literature.
Rise To Fam e
After graduation, he travelled with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
under whose tutelage he started giving sermons on Vedic
science in Ayurveda centers. During this period, he
became the Maharishis close friend and confidante.

T hrough the 1980s, he travelled around the world and

preached spirituality wherever he set foot. He established
the Art of Living Foundation in 1982 and in 1983 he held
the first Art of Living course in Europe, Switzerland. In
1986 he travelled to California for an Art of Living
workshop and soon became extremely popular with the
masses in America.
Towards the end of the 80s, he introduced a series of
effective breathing exercises called the Sudarshan-Kriya.
It is said that the inspiration to come up with a new
breathing technique, came to him while he was meditating
on the banks of the Bhadra River in Shimoga, Karnataka.
In 1997, he founded the International Association for
Human Values (IAHV), a humanitarian organization that
aims to bring sustainable development to rural areas and
revive human values and morals.
Te achings & Philosophie s
He is one of the greatest advocators of spirituality and
has emphasized time and again that spirituality fosters
human values such as love and compassion and can be
embraced by people of all faiths. In his view, a violencefree society can be achieved through spirituality and not
solely through religion.
He believes that meditation should be practiced every
single day, in order to feel rejuvenated and re-energized.
He also arranges for Satsangs (group meetings) where
his innumerable followers can listen to his discourses and
meditate in unison.
According to his philosophy, omnipresent God lies within
everybodys heart. He preached that every religion has
three features associated with it, viz. customs, symbols
and values, all of which are essential ingredients for
building a peaceful and united world.
One of his other standpoints is that it is easy for humans
to judge others and that people should not become too
rigid when it comes to forming opinions or viewpoints.

T his could affect their morals or character and can in turn,

affect society at large.
Hum anitarian Efforts & Curre nt Activ itie s
He has been globally recognized as an ambassador of
peace, receiving numerous awards and accolades for the
same. He spreads his vision of non-violence through the
Art of Living Foundation and to date, involves himself in
countless other charitable works.
In 1992, he started the prison program, to rehabilitate
prison inmates and help them get respectable jobs after
their release.
He visited Pakistan and Iraq in 2004 and 2007,
repectively, and met political and religious leaders to
promote global peace. It was after this, that he became
involved in interfaith dialogue and is currently a member
of the Board of World Religious Leaders.
In the wake of the 2004 Tsunami, volunteers from the Art
of Living Foundation provided the tsunami victims with
aid, food and shelter. Apart from this, his volunteers have
also been a part of the Hurricane Katrina relief team.
Shankar launched Volunteer for a Better India initiative
on December 5, 2012, following the brutal Delhi Gang
Rape Case in 2012.
Recently, he launched the NONVIO Movement with the
aim of eliminating violence for good. It encourages
individuals to pledge against violence with the help of
social and online media.
Major Works
Sri Ravi Shankar has reached out to millions of people
worldwide through a powerful and unique breathing
technique

called

Sudarshan

Kriya,

continuous

breathing rhythm that harmonizes the body and mind and

helps individuals find inner peace. T he core of all Art of
Living courses, the Sudarshan Kriya breathing technique
were reviewed by a number of medical institutes and has

been accredited for improving ones immunity and

enhancing brain function.
Celebrating Silence, a book by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is
regarded as one of his most influential publications to
date. It is a collection of the weekly discourses in
chronological order from the years 19952000. T he book
sold over 1.4 lakh copies in the first two weeks and still
enjoys great popularity.
Aw ards & Achie v e m e nts
He was conferred the title of Yoga Shiromani by the
President of India in 1986.
He was awarded the Guru Mahatmya Award by the
Government of Maharashtra in 1997.
He was presented the illustrious, Global Humanitarian
Award in Illinois, USA in 2005.
He was honored with the Leadership Award for
Extraordinary Promotion of World Peace and Harmony by
Amity University, New Delhi in 2007.
In 2009, he was listed as the 5th most powerful person in
India by the Forbes Magazine.
In 2010, he was presented the Atmajyoti Award for his
humanitarian efforts in New Delhi.
He was honored with Paraguays highest civilian award,
the National Order of Merito de Comuneros on
September 13, 2012.
Le gacy
Today, the Art of Living Foundation is present in over 152
countries, with over a million followers. T here are a
number of other institutes and ashrams, such as, Ved
Vignan Mahavidyapeeth, Sri Sri Ayurveda, and T he Sri
Sri School for Performing Arts and Fine Arts and Sri Sri
Pre-University College which carry forward his legacy
Triv ia
T his spiritual leader s Art of Living course is a part of the

training program for NASA Astronauts.