Sri Sri’s vision for the world is to “create a stress-free mind and a violence-free world.” This motto has given birth to many service initiatives spearheaded by the Art of Living and its sister organisations which have protected the sanctity of every human life be it the right to diginity, right to work, right to education or right to equality.
Addressing the root of the problem, he says: “Who violates human rights? Those who do not respect human values.” Sri Sri has dedicated himself to promoting human values. His Universal Declaration of Human Values is a clear proclamation of the same.
Sri Sri’s initiatives have a single goal: Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam , a One World Family where the dignity of every human life is respected and the whole of humanity is one.
“It feels like breathing out all the stress of war and breathing in a new life. I am now ready to face the challenges of life.” - Ahmed Hinoon, Iraq, after the Art of Living programme
In war and strife, and the stress of contemporary life, the dignity of human life is compromised. Sri Sri’s service in the area of conflict resolution aims at bringing peace, dignity and respect for all those people affected by conflict and strife.
In Sri Lanka, the Art of Living is bringing peace and respect for Tamils on the island. Traumatised people in Iraq have got relief from stress and gained a chance to start life again through Sri Sri’s empowerment initiatives. While in Jammu & Kashmir, reformed militants and prisoners are being given stress-elimination techniques, through which they can be free from the ghosts of the past and start life afresh. The Art of Living is rehabilitating civilians and children of war as well as ensuring that youngsters do not fall prey to anti-social elements.
The Art of Living’s disaster management and trauma care plays a major role in helping people regain their dignity and rebuild their lives: the tsunami of South East Asia in December 2004, the Sichuan Earthquake of May 2008 and the Bihar floods in India in August 2008 are a few instances.
The Art of Living has also participated in the Stand Up, Speak Out event in 2007 and 2008 in support of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), with special emphasis on poverty elimination.
Helping positive people make a new beginning, the Art of Living also works in the field of HIV/AIDS .
Sri Sri’s service initiatives have helped rural and underprivileged people gain occupational skills and find employment. These have put over 30,000 villages in India on the path of economic development.
Sri Sri’s community development interventions are two-pronged. One is giving youth leadership and entrepreneurial skills, self-confidence as well as a commitment towards social good through the Youth Leadership Training Programme (YLTP). The other is the implementation of the 5H programme (which develops villages in the key areas of homes, health, hygiene, harmony in diversity and human values).
This two-pronged approach helps in establishing economic, social and cultural development, along with helping people gain their right to work.
“It helped me to regain my confidence. There was a time when I used to lease my land to other farmers. The chemical-free farming skills I have learnt have given me the confidence to cultivate my own land.” Pravin Thakre, a farmer from Vidarbha (a region which had soaring farmer suicide rates), Maharashtra, India
Over 67,629 youth in villages across India have undergone the YLTP. These initiatives have also been implemented in Brazil, Cameroon and Ivory Coast, South Africa, Kenya and the United States of America.
The Art of Living has also helped to solve some of the food problems that have arisen and has helped people attain their right to food.
Sri Sri’s interventions have transformed underdeveloped areas into success stories.
A four-year drought in the village of Kapsi in Maharashtra (India) between 2000 and 2003, had adversely affected the crop production. The Art of Living began a multi-pronged intervention programme in 2003 to address the scarcity of crops, among the other social and economic challenges faced by the village. Through chemical-free and zero budget farming practices along with stress elimination techniques, the Art of Living helped to increase the crop produce manifold. Check dams to store rain water and women empowerment measures have been some of the other initiatives in the village.
The 5H and YLTP programme have proved successful globally.
“Sri Sri's initiatives consider human beings in their entirety, and heal the body, mind, and spirit. The Art of Living is one of the rare NGOs which works at the grassroots level, close to the population and goes to the core of the problem.”
Djedje Dano Sebastien, Minister of National Reconciliation, Ivory Coast at a Peace Conference in Duékoué
Sri Sri often says: “No one should remain uneducated, especially women.” With the belief that a good education gives a firm foundation to an individual for life, Sri Sri has taken the responsibility of giving as many underprivileged children a good education for free.
For the last 28 years, a school at the Art of Living International Centre in Bangalore, India, has been driving the aspirations of children from 51 neighbouring villages. Little girls and boys, mostly first generation learners, receive holistic education, completely free of cost. Spared from a future that would have been marked by odd jobs in the fields or at local shops, these children now dream of being doctors, engineers or teachers. The Ved Vignan Maha Vidya Peeth school has been the nerve centre of all this change. Established in1985, this school is the first among many free schools which have been started in various parts of India for rural and tribal children who would not otherwise have had access to an education.
In Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum, located in the Indian city of Mumbai, the Art of Living began the first English school. The Art of Living has set up 86 tribal and rural schools in the remotest parts of India. These schools provide free, quality and value-based education to children from the marginalised sections of society, saving thousands of them from being forced into child labour. In all, nearly 10,000 children from economically backward areas,benefit from this initiative every year. By nurturing little minds, the Art of Living is striving to ensure that every child is given quality education.
Sri Sri has been advocating the importance of children’s rights, with a special emphasis on educating people on the ills of female foeticide and sex selection. Sri Sri addresses this issue in his public gathering and encourages all people to pledge support for the female child and shun female foeticide.
Through walkathons and door-to-door campaigning, the Beti Sneha Sanjeevani Yatra educated people in different parts of India, especially the Northern Region, about the girl child. In 2007, Sri Sri signed an MoU with UNICEF on Child Protection and has active and specific state AOL-UNICEF Collaborations in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa. The Art of Living has also partnered with the UNFPA on the issue of sex selection.
Sri Sri has been tirelessly working towards ending the practice of social discrimination on the basis of one’s birth. Through various forums, service projects and awareness campaigns, Sri Sri has been striving to give Dalits an equal place in society.
Although the Dalits comprise around 25 percent of India’s population, their community has been historically marginalised in Indian society. In partnership with civil society organisations, Sri Sri hosted the ‘Truth and Reconciliation’ Conference in New Delhi, India in March 2007. Around 5,000 people including Dalit and caste Hindu leaders of 25 communities were present at this meeting. The event garnered support for Dalit rights and emphasised the equality of all human beings.
Sri Sri told the gathering.
Inspired by Sri Sri, the gathering adopted a seven-point action plan which aims at spreading the spirit of reconciliation across India. As a symbolic implementation of the plan, the leaders partook in a community feast or samuhik priti bhoj. This was a leap forward in achieving harmony, especially since the groups would not even sit together previously.
On numerous other occasions, Sri Sri has brought people from both communities on the same platform and encouraged dialogue and a sense of togetherness. says Sri Sri. He has been impressing upon politicians and policy-makers to bring in measures that will connect the country together and remove inequality at all levels.
Sri Sri’s plan for Dalit-Upper Caste Hindu Reconciliation
- Ensuring temple entry rights for Dalits
- Collective celebrations including community festivals
- Abolishing the practice of segregating the utensils used by Dalits
- Empowering women and educational facilities for the economically weaker sections of society
- Providing spiritual and religious education to Dalit children
- Emphasising equality and justice for all
Sri Sri believes that education in human values such as love, compassion and harmony will provide the foundation for the bridge between discriminating societies.
To help the assimilation of Dalits into mainstream society, Sri Sri has maintained a strong focus on the education of Dalit children in all the schools run by the Art of Living. These schools are spread in 14 states of India, covering a range of hamlets in Tripura, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Punjab, among others.
Says Jaba Soren, from Jharkhand, India, “My daughter, Dukhi, is the first person in our entire family to get an education. The other members do not even know how to read or write. For this we are very grateful.”
Sri Sri’s breath programmes have also played a role in assimilating Dalits and have been received with great appreciation. In these classes, they experience a sense of freedom from discrimination and benefit from various breath practices like the Sudarshan Kriya.
“I am a common man living in a small village. After undergoing Sri Sri’s Gram Upliftment Programme and practicing the Sudarshan Kriya, I am better able to work for the upliftment of my society,” shares M. Vijay Kumar, dalit leader, former Gram Panchayat member, Doddaholada Madi Grama, Bangarpeth Kolar district, Karnataka, India.
Ramdasayya, former secretary, K.E.B Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Group and President, KRDKS, expresses a sense of self-reliance after receiving Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji's guidance. “We can live our life very well, I wish everybody would experience the same joy,” he says with a sense of pride.”
Through justice and love, fired by a vision to encompass people from all backgrounds in service to humanity, Sri Sri is creating a society which is equal for all.