17 January 2015 - QA 7

Is Art of Living a sect? How do you define a sect.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

You have said sect. You should define what a sect is. Sect is perhaps a very closed mindset where you feel you are special and the other person is excluded. And this is true with every religion. People of every religion on this planet feel a special right for themselves. The Hindus think that they are special. Jains think they are special. Muslims think they are special. The Christians or the Jews think they are special. Everyone thinks that they are special. That becomes a sect. But when one says that 'The whole world is my family and everyone is part of me' then how can you even call it a sect. Art of Living breaks all barriers of caste, creed, religion and nationality. Don’t you think so?

But if people insist that we are a sect, then it is okay. We are a sect of happy people. There are only two sects in the world. One is the sect of happy people and the other is the sect of unhappy people. There are people who are angry, upset, frustrated, irritated and unhappy, and there are people who are happy, content, compassionate and loving. You can choose to be a part of whichever you want — the stress free sect or the stressed sect.