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Established
in 1982, The Art of Living Foundation is an educational and
humanitarian foundation, registered in the US as a tax-exempt
and nonprofit organization. It is not a religious organization,
but as one adhering to the basic spiritual principles of love,
kindness and unconditional service to the world. It carries out
numerous charitable, educational and humanitarian programs
throughout the world on the basis of donations.
All
the activities of the foundation are based on the saying of its
founder teacher Sri Sri Ravishankar—"a truly religious
person will be secular in nature. Secular means one who thinks
all human beings are his or her own."
The
Art of Living works in special consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN, and as such it
has accredited representatives at the UN in New York, Geneva and
Vienna. It also works in formal consultation with the World
Health Organization (WHO).
THE ART OF LIVING BASIC COURSE
It
offers practices that demonstrate the natural healing power of
breath. The practices strengthen and restore basic health and
enhance the blossoming of one’s full potential. The basic
course is a unique 20-22 hours practical workshop spread over a
period of 5-6 days. It offers techniques to eliminate stress,
improve vitality and expand awareness. The highlights of the
course are revitalizing breathing techniques to stabilize our
emotions and the Sudarshan Kriya. The practice of
Sudarshan Kriya reduces the frequency of the brain to alpha
state at which level both the hemispheres of the brain are
activated. This helps an individual to develop faculties like
creativity, intuition and imagination. Sudarshan Kriya
produces a deep calm in the mind while every sell in the body
becomes oxygenated and enlivened with energy. This cleansing
process powerfully dissolves stress. Just 10 minutes of practice
once or twice each day leaves one feeling renewed physically,
mentally and emotionally. With regular practice the benefits
grow and deepen bringing a fundamental improvement in one’s
emotional harmony, health and state of mind.
ADVANCED
COURSE
This
is usually a 5-7 day residential course held generally at
Bangalore in the international campus and from time to time at
Rishikesh. The participants who have attended the Basic Art of
Living Course are eligible to attend the Advanced Course. Sadhana
(practice), Satsang, Seva, Sadbhavana, Smile, Silence
and Sadguru form the integral part of the advanced
course. Through this a sense of belongingness, love and
unbelievable energy is created and one gets recharged for the
whole year. Additional practices and advanced knowledge
programmes are also a part of the course.
DOLLAR-A-DAY
PROGRAMME
From 1985, the Art of Living started supporting the Dollar-a-Day
service program, for rural children of India, which provides
them with the basic amenities of life and much more. This
innovative activity is pursued under Care for Children program
where children learn, other than the traditional courses, the
fine art of living, the skill of making friends, handling
negative emotions and value of service to the fellow beings. The
children are taught to take the studies as an enjoyable
challenge, pick up the habit of hygienic living and most
importantly, develop the skill of community living, a sense of
belonging to each one of it.
THE
‘5H’
PROGRAMME
One of its many commendable programs is the 5H Program, which
focuses on—Home, Health, Hygiene, and Harmony in Diversity and
Human Values. It aims at bringing about a social transformation
so that the complete potential of each individual is expressed.
Sri Sri Ravishankar is the inspiration behind the program.As
part of the seva activities of the Vyakti Vikas Kendra, the 5H
programme is being implemented in the rural parts of India.
Setting up of medical centres in various villages of India,
organising health check up camps, providing ambulance to remote
areas and alcohol de-addiction programmes are some of the
constituents of the health programme. Providing Toilets,
providing garbage bins and creating awareness among people about
hygiene make the Hygiene Programme. Several homeless families
have already been provided shelters.
ART
EXCEL
The
Art Excel program is perhaps the most popular program, which
offers courses for all round development of children and youth
(8 to 21 years old). Through simple play-way techniques and
awareness games the participants learn how to develop their
personal potential and manage stress in their life. This highly
admired program is currently offered in major Indian cities like
Mumbai, Delhi and Calcutta, and in countries like Canada and the
USA. The Art of Living program is working closely with UNICEF to
make this program available to the world community at large.
PRISON
SMART
Prison SMART is another laudable program providing
training on stress management and rehabilitation for juvenile
and adult prisoners, prisoners on parole and probation, victims
of crime, at-risk youths, and even the law enforcement officers
and probation staff. The Prison SMART Foundation Inc. that
carries out these services was established in 1992. This unique
foundation is the first of its kind in the USA and now has
gained national recognition to offer services in the prisons and
juvenile halls across the country. The foundation provides
vision, resources and a committed corps of talented volunteers.
THE
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR HUMAN VALUES
The International Association for Human Values is another
nonprofit outfit of the Foundation, which works for cultivating
and supporting basic human values in societies all over the
world. The association boasts of a network of well-trained and
motivated personnel to carry out its activities.
YOUTH
TRAINING PROGRAM
The Youth Training Program (YTP) in India focuses on the
education of the rural youth and encourages them to work for the
betterment of their community. Arranging medical camps,
distributing clothes to the poor, creating sanitation facilities
and setting up local cooperative groups. Working on the
principles of love and essential human connectedness as
delineated by their founder member, Sri Sri Ravishankar, the Art
of Living tries to follow a holistic way of living coupled with
humanitarian values. It teaches a wide variety of courses
including a meditation course called sahaja samadhi,
a natural and effortless meditative technique. It admits that
all its self-development courses and programs are a form of
yoga, which is nothing but a "union with the Self."
The sudarshan kriya
and other related techniques, propounded by the Foundation, are
all based on the ancient yogic science of breathing, which
explores the connection between mind, body, the emotions and
rhythms of breath. Over a million people in more than 100
countries have taken Art of Living courses. The
Foundation has Vyakti Vikas Kendras all over
India, to teach people how to revive love among themselves,
improve their interpersonal interactions and to reach out to the
world in a positive manner. Corporate courses are offered to
executives and all, to enhance their efficiency and team spirit.
CORPORATE
COURSE
The
Art of Living organizes corporate courses all over India for
company executives, senior management personnels and
businessmen. Participating organisations have given an excellent
feed back as the work atmosphere changes tremendously. There is
a sense of belongingness and commitment to work. The
participants become capable of facing stressful situations and
taking of any challenge with complete confidence.
INTERNATIONAL
TEACHERS
Two
Keralites, Raghu Raj Raja and Vinod Menon, natives of Thrissur
are on a mission to cleanse the dingy society through the
teachings of Guruji. They advocate the much-hailed message of
art of living, which provides room for the troubled souls a
sense of introspection. An engineer by profession, Raghu Raj
Raja was attracted to the spiritual teachings of Guruji while
studying at Thrissur Engineering College. Vinod Menon, who hails
from Mulankunnathu, met Guruji for the first time while working
in a firm in Bangalore. He wanted to be the disciple of Guruji,
but he was sent back home by his Holiness. After a brief stint
in Kuwait, he came to realize that he was not able to resist the
arresting appeal of the spiritual outlook and teachings of Sri
Sri Ravishankar. Now, he is one of the most sought after
disciple of Guruji who spearheads the mission for widening the
horizons of Art of Living Foundation. They conduct special
seminars, courses and workshops on the teachings of Guruji at
various corporate institutions and firms across the globe in an
attempt to relieve the stress. Established companies like Wipro,
World Bank, Tata and Cadbouries, which started the course on an
experimental basis, have already given contract for years.
RELATED
LINKS
www.artofliving.org
www.srisriravishankar.org
www.srisri.com
www.esatsang.net
www.artoflivingkerala.org
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