Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar 2005

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (श्री श्री रवि शंकर; * May 13, 1956 as Ravi Shankar Ratnam in Papanasam , Tamil Nadu , India ) is a spiritual teacher, peace ambassador and founder of the International Art of Living Foundation and International Association for Human Values . He is often addressed only with the honorary title “Sri Sri” or as Gurudev (teacher).

Life

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - child of a Brahmin family - showed an early interest in the Vedas . It is said that when Ravi Shankar was four years old, he recited the Bhagavad Gita and was often immersed in meditation. His first teacher was Sudhakar Chaturvedi, who had worked with Mahatma Gandhi for a long time . At the age of 17, Ravi Shankar passed his exams in Vedic literature and physics in 1973 . In the 1970s, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi invited Ravi Shankar to teach Transcendental Meditation in his organization . He was with Maharishi at the opening of the first Golden Dome of Maharishi International University . After being in silence for ten days in 1981, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar began teaching the Sudarshan Kriya , which is taught today in a weekend workshop. In 1982 he founded the "Art of Living Foundation", a non-governmental organization with special consultative status at the United Nations and, since 1997, with the International Association for Human Values ​​in Geneva (Switzerland).

Shankar gave numerous impulses for aid and peace projects in the health and social sector around the world, including rehabilitation measures for offenders and drug addicts. He also developed anti- stress programs for industry and trade. In India he founded school and agricultural projects recognized by UNICEF.

Shankar advocates peace and interreligious dialogue at international congresses and events . He spoke at the interreligious conference on terrorism and global ethics (Moscow, 2005), the " Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders " ( UN , New York, August 8, 2000), the 2001 World Economic Forum in Davos and the German Evangelical Church Congress 2011 in Dresden.

Shankar received the honorary title Yogashiromani ( crown jewel of yoga ) from the Indian President at the "World Conference on Yoga" in New Delhi in 1986.

On April 21, 2015, Shankar gave a lecture on “The Path of Yoga” at the invitation of all parties and groups represented in the European Parliament . There Jo Leinen proposed Shankar as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. Three days later he was invited to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris for a keynote address on the subject of “Inter-Faith and Inter-Cultural Harmony”. On the first International Yoga Day on 21 June 2015 Shankar spoke at the invitation of the United Nations in New York about the benefits of yoga and meditation and conducted in the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to a short workshop and shortly thereafter at Times Square in New York in front of 30,000 spectators.

On June 28, 2015, Shankar met leading members of the Colombian rebel group FARC-EP for peace talks in Cuba. Shortly afterwards, FARC chief negotiator Iván Márquez declared a ceasefire from July 20, 2015. Shankar was honored by the Colombian government for his peace work with the highest award of the republic, the Order "de la Democracia Simón Bolivar".

On the occasion of its 35th anniversary, the Art of Living Foundation, founded by Shankar, hosted the World Culture Festival in New Delhi from March 11-13, 2016, which was attended by 3.5 million people from 155 countries. The festival was officially opened by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi . The program included cultural contributions from all continents, speeches from dignitaries and a cross-denominational gathering of representatives of all religions to promote peaceful coexistence. The German delegation consisted of around 300 people, including CDU Vice Armin Laschet , members of the Bundestag Frank Heinrich and Dr. André Hahn and MEP Jo Leinen and soccer coach Christoph Daum . The Art of Living organized a similar festival in Berlin's Olympiastadion back in 2011, but only 50,000 people came together.

For his worldwide peace work and social projects, the Indian President Pranab Mukherjee presented Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on March 28, 2016 with the second highest Indian state award " Padma Vibhushan ".

Established organizations and programs

International Art of Living Foundation

The International Art of Living Foundation , established in 1981, is an "international, non-profit, teaching and humanitarian organization" that has consultative status with the United Nations .

International Association for Human Values

The IAHV, founded in 1996, is a “non-profit, teaching organization dedicated to promoting human values”. Their ultimate goal is a “society in which all people live the universal human values ​​such as compassion, trust, responsibility, friendliness and non-violence, with a feeling of togetherness and respect for the environment”.

Institute of Vedic Science (Ved Vignan Mahavidyapeeth or VVM)

Founded in 1981 and based in Bangalore , India, this institute provides education “based on human values ​​and integrating India's very ancient spiritual heritage into our modern paradigm of science”.

World Forum for Ethics in Business

In 2003 Sri Sri Ravi Shankar initiated a global series of dialogues on the subject of business ethics and is the founder of the World Forum for Ethics in Business, founded in 2010 and based in Brussels, which brings together actors from all areas of society in conferences to discuss ethics in the public and private sector and strengthen basic human values. He acted as a keynote speaker at conferences in the European Parliament in Brussels, in the United Nations in Geneva and in the FIFA headquarters.

Initiatives

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, took on a decisive mediating role in the India Against Corruption movement in India in August 2011 . Since the IAC was founded in 2010, as a founding member and during the protests, he has mediated between the Anna Hazare team, the government and the population.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was critical of the decision of the Indian Supreme Court on December 11, 2013 to declare Paragraph 377 constitutional again and thus criminalize homosexual intercourse as a criminal act. He posted on Twitter: "Homosexuality has never been considered a crime in Hindu culture."

Opinions

According to the Saarbrücker Zeitung, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said about the refugee crisis in Germany as follows: “This is a challenge on multiple levels. On the one hand, it is only human to help the refugees. On the other hand, the concerns of the local population must also be taken seriously. "

Publications

• Life and work. A spiritual challenge. Param, Ahlerstedt 1999, ISBN 3887553438
• The art of life. Param, Ahlerstedt 1999, ISBN 3887553438
• Questions and answers about God and the world. Param, Ahlerstedt 2000
• Celebrate love. Akhenaten, Frankfurt 2009, ISBN 9783937883243

Web links

• Literature by and about Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in the catalog of the German National Library
• Homepage Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
• International Association for Human Values.
• Harmony can be learned. Retrieved January 7, 2011 . 

Individual evidence

1. ^ Gautier, Francois. The Guru of Joy. New York: Hay House, 2008, p. 36.
2. ↑ Michael Fischman: Stumbling Into Infinity. An Ordinary Man in the Sphere of Enlightenment. James, Garden City 2011, ISBN 978-1-60037-648-1 , p. 32.
3. ↑ dnn-online.de: Yoga master Ravi Shankar honors the Kirchentag. June 4, 2001  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ^ Rajnish Singh: India and EU mark world yoga day , in The Parliament Magazine , April 21, 2015, accessed December 26, 2015.
5. ↑ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's yoga session inspires European Parliament , The Times of India , April 22, 2015, accessed December 26, 2015.
6. ↑ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar inspires the European Parliament with yoga , press release on artofliving.org, April 22, 2015, accessed on December 26, 2015
7. ↑ Talk by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on “Inter-faith and Inter-Cultural Harmony”. In: UNESCO. Retrieved October 6, 2015 . 
8. ^ United Nations International Day of Yoga. In: www.un.org. Retrieved October 6, 2015 . 
9. ↑ PHOTOS: When New York's Time Square turned into yoga square. Retrieved October 6, 2015 . 
10. ↑ Official Website of the FARC-EP Peace Delegation 2012 - Words from the Peace Delegation of the FARC-EP to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on July 22, 2015 ; accessed on October 6, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
11. ↑ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - also on a peace mission in Cologne - koeln-nachrichten. (No longer available online.) In: koeln-nachrichten. Archived from the original on October 7, 2015 ; accessed on October 6, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
12. ↑ PM congratulates Spiritual leader, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, on being conferred with Colombia's highest civilian award. Retrieved October 6, 2015 . 
13. ↑ tagesschau.de: Tagesthemen 11.03.2016 21:45. In: tagesschau.de. Retrieved April 26, 2016 . 
14. ↑ Celebrating for Peace: Largest Peace Festival in the World in Delhi. In: The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 26, 2016 . 
15. ↑ Dr. André Hahn “Speech in front of more than 1 million people”. (No longer available online.) In: www.andre-hahn.eu. Archived from the original on April 26, 2016 ; Retrieved April 26, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
16. ↑ FOCUS Online: Better than Woodstock? The world culture festival in India. In: FOCUS Online. Retrieved April 26, 2016 . 
17. ^ Press Information Bureau. Retrieved April 26, 2016 . 
18. ↑ Christoph Glaser on sustainability and his football heart. In: Magath & Football. Retrieved October 6, 2015 . 
19. ↑ Jo Leinen, MDEP: ... commitment. In: www.joleinen.de. Retrieved October 6, 2015 . 
20. ^ World Forum for Ethics in Business. In: wfeb.org. Retrieved October 6, 2015 . 
21. ↑ evangelisch.de: Indians are fighting corruption.
22. ↑ zeenews.india.com: Homosexuality has never been considered crime in Hindu culture: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
23. ↑ "Any attitude of mind welcome". In: www.saarbruecker-zeitung.de. Retrieved November 12, 2015 .