The very sight of Guruji is enchanting. With a long and spotless white robe encircling his slender frame, flowing hair and a trademark disarming smile, the Guruji is as simple and natural as his prescription for the art of living one's life to the fullest. Addressed as 'Guruji' by millions of his devotees the world over; Sri Sri Ravishankar presented the world with his sudarshan kriya technique and the organization—The Art of Living.

Guruji's ability to connect with people is perfectly effortless and his spiritual appeal irresistible. To use the words of one of his ardent followers, Sri Sri is as compassionate as Jesus, as playful as Lord Krishna and as erudite as Adi Shankara. He has this uncanny ability of helping people unburden their stress-filled minds. His invaluable sayings act as balms for wounded souls. Here's a sample: " Life is a ball in your hands to play with. Don't hold on to the ball."

Sri Sri Ravishankar is a unique combination of wit and wisdom, seriousness and playfulness, which would provoke you to "celebrate while you are alone, celebrate when you are with people, celebrate the silence and celebrate the noise. Celebrate life and celebrate death." It is not surprising then that, the Art of Living is all about accepting life in its totality and its motto is to "only connect". To connect people across all communities and countries with love, to turn the tides of time by reviving human values and strengthening it to make our times special. A South African member of the Art of Living teaching program says, "After the Art of Living course, racial tolerance is no longer an issue. We've moved beyond tolerance to unconditional acceptance and love. Love has no dislikes, no boundaries."

Sparks of the spiritual master's striking personality caught peoples' attention right from his childhood, which was an extraordinary one by all accounts. Ravishankar was born on May 13, 1956, in a spiritual family in Papanasam, Tamil Nadu, and India. His father R. S. V. Ratnam who is well versed in Sanskrit, Tamil and English, is also a devout social worker besides being very spiritually oriented. It is an interesting coincidence that Ravishankar was born in a place named 'Papanasam', for it means—the removal of all sins. To add to it all, he was born on Shankara Jayanti, the birthday of Adi Shankara (the 8th century Vedantic philosopher and founder of the Advaita theory of Truth) and was christened on the 11th day of his birth, which also happened to be the birthday of Ramanuja the renowned preacher of bhakti or devotion. Certainly, an interesting combination of knowledge and devotion, in the consciousness of the newborn!

At the age of four, little Ravishankar was discovered chanting the shlokas of The Bhagavad Gita, and by the age of 17 he had completed his graduation in science as well as his mastery over the Vedas (Hindu scriptures). His extreme spiritual bent of mind also caught the attention of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement, under whose tutelage Ravishankar blossomed into the spiritual figure we know so well.

In fact, soon after his college days, he came into contact with many renowned spiritual teachers and leading intellectuals. The decision to embark on an ascetic path instead of regular materialistic life was taken at this point of his life. He remained in Rishikesh, India, with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for several years, however, before going abroad to complete his doctoral degree in the science of the Vedas.

Having completed his research, Sri Sri Ravishankar presented the world with the sudarshan kriya technique—a unique breathing process, which removes stress and negative toxins from the body by rejuvenating each and every cell. The technique is said to have been revealed to him during a spell of silent meditation that he had gone into for 10 long days in 1982. It was the same year that he started the Art of Living Foundation, which propagates his programs in over a 100 countries. The Foundation aims at fostering health at every conceivable human level-mental, physical, emotional as well as spiritual. Sri Sri Ravishankar, also, started off a number of educational and humanitarian organizations for the service and all-round upliftment of society. Besides the Art of Living Foundation, the Prison SMART Foundation, Inc., Dollar-a-Day, Art Excel and 5H Program are all the outcome of this selfsame and wholehearted commitment towards humanity. But modest soul that he is, Guruji perceives these programs to be nothing more than, seva or services for fellow human beings who are merely reflections of our own 'selves'.

According to Sri Sri Ravishankar, even though the world is a mixture of happiness and sorrow, it shouldn't deter any one from seeking enjoyment in whatever one does. He elucidates, "It is written in the Upanishads, the Atman, soul, is Satchidanandamaya (complete bliss). Spirituality is not boring. It is the Rasa (flavor) of life."

This blissful state can only be attained when one follows the religion of humanity, or in Guruji's term—Manav Dharma, by spreading love in each human soul. Beloved Guruji has even unfolded the path to this state, simply follow it: "How far to Heaven? Just open your eyes and look. You are in Heaven."