Gurudev, what do you think of the caste system. Can the caste of untouchables be integrated into The Art of Living?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It is already done.
Do you know, the constitution of India and all the scriptures do not allow untouchability? Our main two scriptures Ramayana and Mahabharta are written by so called untouchables.
Untouchability increased after the British arrived in India. They had this policy of divide and rule. Only two hundred years back it became more compounded. Now only in politics it is there.
If anybody wants to go to a doctor, they don’t ask, 'What caste you are'. The caste system is only for the convenience of profession. That’s all. If you go to any European country, they have the chamber of commerce where only people dealing with commerce will go. And they have a philosophers club, where only intellectuals will go. They also have labour unions where only the labour class will go. Then there are the members of Parliament, they have their own club. Like these professional clubs, families got attached to a hereditary system. And then the walls became rigid at some point of time.
If you really go back to history, or go to different places, you will find that it is much different than ground reality.
In Art of Living there is no caste. Everybody is one; one humanity. You will find people of all religion here, of all castes, races and from every part of the world. And we believe in one human family, One World.
You can see, in the dining hall here, and everywhere, the people of all castes are working in harmony. If you go to Delhi, you will find people doing the lowest jobs are from the uppermost castes. There are many research articles, videos, and films on it. This myth has to be broken that people from lower caste are doing lower jobs. It is no more the same from last 60 years. Everything has turned around and become much different.
Do you know, the constitution of India and all the scriptures do not allow untouchability? Our main two scriptures Ramayana and Mahabharta are written by so called untouchables.
Untouchability increased after the British arrived in India. They had this policy of divide and rule. Only two hundred years back it became more compounded. Now only in politics it is there.
If anybody wants to go to a doctor, they don’t ask, 'What caste you are'. The caste system is only for the convenience of profession. That’s all. If you go to any European country, they have the chamber of commerce where only people dealing with commerce will go. And they have a philosophers club, where only intellectuals will go. They also have labour unions where only the labour class will go. Then there are the members of Parliament, they have their own club. Like these professional clubs, families got attached to a hereditary system. And then the walls became rigid at some point of time.
If you really go back to history, or go to different places, you will find that it is much different than ground reality.
In Art of Living there is no caste. Everybody is one; one humanity. You will find people of all religion here, of all castes, races and from every part of the world. And we believe in one human family, One World.
You can see, in the dining hall here, and everywhere, the people of all castes are working in harmony. If you go to Delhi, you will find people doing the lowest jobs are from the uppermost castes. There are many research articles, videos, and films on it. This myth has to be broken that people from lower caste are doing lower jobs. It is no more the same from last 60 years. Everything has turned around and become much different.