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What could be so unique about this one man traveling across the globe and speaking about peace? Perhaps, it would be interesting to look at a few leaves from his travel diary.
He landed at the Buenos Aires International airport in the morning of May 13, 2008 greeted by over five hundred South American followers welcoming him with flowers and smiles. HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar interacted with them. A short while later, learning of the twin bomb blasts that occurred in the Indian city of Jaipur, he directed trauma care and relief efforts for the blast victims. To alleviate the panic and fear among the affected people and give them solace, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar issued a statement to stay calm and maintain peace.
 That evening, the city saw a unique sight of over 15,000 people from Latin America holding candles in mid-air as they prayed for world peace. HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar led a meditation, reinforcing his belief that peace starts with the individual. When an individual is in resonates in the society and at the level of the nation. HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar urged the crowd to live life with sensitivity, serenity and sensibility to promote societal harmony. Incidentally, May 13, marked HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ’s 52nd birthday.
The next two days saw HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar taking his message of peace to a diverse cross section of society. He addressed the Chamber of Senators: “Dignity in politics and ethics in business ensure buying power. Only then can an economy prosper. Decision-makers need to be free from stress to come up with great ideas and work well.” On HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ’s suggestion, the Senate decided to begin all its sessions with meditation. The Vice-President Julio Cobos honoured HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar with the ‘Domingo Faustino Sarmiento’ for Education in Values. The award recognized the 17-year-old developmental and community initiatives of the Art of Living in Argentina. It marked the first time the award was presented to a non-Argentinian.
Later that afternoon, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar met the Mayor of Buenos Aires, Mr. Mauricio Macri. To bring peace into the lives of school children and people on the streets, the Mayor and HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar signed a mutual co-operation agreement. The Art of Living and the government pledged to work to reduce violence in schools and on the streets of Buenos Aires. Mr. Macri urged HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to reduce confrontation and conflicts and promote dialogue within the Argentinean society.
HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar emphasized his vision of a stress-free and violence-free society to the General Secretary Mr. Marcos Peña, the General Director of Culture Mr. Federico Suarez and the General Director of Institutional Relations Mr. Claudio Avruj, who represented the Government of the city. The Ambassador of India to Argentina Mr. Rengaraj Viswanathan, who was also present, observed that a spiritual dimension had been added to the relationship between the two countries.
Later, Daniel Sioli, the Governor of the Province of Buenos Aires, presented HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar with an award in recognition of the transformational work done by the Art of Living with the police force, prisoners and prison guards. HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar then interacted with inmates of the largest prison in Argentina. Reiterating the importance of rehabilitating misguided people and showing them the path to peace, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said: “Inside every culprit, there is a victim crying for help. If you heal the victim, they will not be criminals any more.”
Showing the way to spiritualising business, he urged over 1,600 corporate leaders to have a broad, all-encompassing vision. Speaking at the conference on Corporate Ethics and Human Values hosted by the Art of Living and the International Association of Human Values, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said: “Society has four pillars - politics, business, academics and religion. Human values and spirituality form the base of these four pillars. Without human values, there is unrest in politics; greed and lack of trust in business; knowledge without wisdom in academics and Religion without human values causing strife. So it is important to broaden one’s vision.”
Even while guiding decision makers, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar still finds time to show individuals the path to inner peace. He taught over 3,000 people stress-elimination breath techniques in Buenos Aires. He led a meditation at Perito Moreno, on the world’s only non-receding glacier. Even the southernmost tip of the world was touched by meditation when over 300 people joined HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at Tierra del Fuego in Ushuaia.
On May 17, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar proceeded to Europe, continuing his quest for peace. In a span of about three days, he met with every cross section of society in Argentina reinforcing his message of peace, love, enthusiasm and service to society. However, this multi-dimensional approach is not just the story of this South American nation but of every country, state, city or even village that he visits.
HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar embarked on this journey for peace at the tender age of 25 years when he started the Art of Living Foundation in 1982. His mission was to realize a stress-free, violence-free society through individual and societal harmony. Through the years, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has travelled to every part of the world spreading the message of non-violence and peace. Often, venturing into hi-alert red zones, where these words of wisdom and guidance is most needed. He visited Iraq in May 2007, taking his message to hi-risk areas: “Give non-violence a chance, give peace a chance,” he urged all. HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ’s passionate pitch for peace prompted the country’s prime minister, Nouri Al-Maliki to say: “There are big powers which have big might, but they are not able to unite the hearts and minds of people. This work can be done only by a spiritual leader.”
In 2006, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar travelled to the rebel headquarters in Sri Lanka to speak with them. In a span of two days, he met the President, opposition leaders and Tamil leaders in his bid for reconciliation. During the visit, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar visited schools made by the Art of Living of the tsunami-hit victims and addressed an inter-faith conference. He led over 1,500 people through meditation in the evenings and interacted with youth, encouraging them to adopt a secular, prejudice-free attitude. In 2008, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar brought together peace experts and decision makers at the ‘Peace and Reconciliation in South Asia’ conference in April 2008 at Oslo. Sri Lankan delegates from all ideologies were represented which again opened up the dialogue which had recently stalled.
To increase cross-border peace and security between India and Pakistan, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar became the first Indian spiritual leader to visit the country in 2004. Meeting with religious heads and political leaders, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar urged all to build trust for lasting peace.
HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ’s is the unbiased voice in any situation. His only aim is to bring people together. While facilitating dialogue between opposing factions over the Amarnath Shrine imbroglio, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar took his appeal for peace to representatives of both factions and to religious and political stake holders. He visited the Amarnath temple, met the pilgrims and directed relief measures for the populace.
HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ’s peace travels have given a prop to people in conflict areas, victims of natural disasters and residents of poorly developed regions. In December 2005, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar cut short his attendance at a conference in Europe to be with the Tsunami victims in Asia. Travelling to the worst-affected areas in the interior villages of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar taught victims stress-elimination breath techniques and directed relief measures.
Much needs to be done to bring peace to people belonging to lesser privileged communities. Economic stability, proper amenities, basic human rights are only some of the building blocks in such societies. To help such communities, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar introduced an innovative social intervention initiative in 1997 which is broadly classified as the 5H.
HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ’s visits to these villages have galvanized a new life for rural people. Over 15,000 farmers came to meet HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar when he visited the suicide-prone areas in Maharashtra in December 2007.
While giving solutions to the larger challenges of society, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar offers stress-elimination tools for the individual. For over 28 years, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has been travelling the world to teach people stress-elemination breath techniques. Millions across the globe have expereinced solace and strength. “We knew only death and despair. Now we can smile and that is the greatest gift that HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has given us,” says Shafiqur Rehman from Iraq, after attending a trauma relief programme. In 2006 alone, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar travelled to nine cities across the world and reached out to nearly one million people through Health and Happiness workshops.
Through his travels, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is bringing peace to individuals, leading communities on the path of progress and reconciling differences between nations. Moving at a pace that would wear out most people, HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is building a stress-free and a violence-free world. “I have come to take away your problems. I want to see a smile that never fades from your face.” HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ’s commitment and wisdom continue to strengthen millions across the globe.
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