Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Conversation at Seattle

I am reading about spiritual and yoga guru Ravi Shankar from many years, His Art of Living programme has mass following among the upward mobile young professionals in major metros across India, It is growing and growing. In last few years, his popularity has crossed India's borders and touched the soul of  affluent Indians living abroad, Many foreigners also joined his Art of Living programme. He is fondly called as Sri Sri Ji by his followers.

Operating globally in close to 155 countries, Art of Living is said to have more than 370 million followers. During the year, Ravi Shankar spend his time between his ashram near Baden Baden, a spa town in southwestern Germany’s Black Forest, near the border with France, and AOL’s ashram near Montreal, Canada, apart from traveling consistently between the main ashram at Bengaluru and the ‘power hub’ Delhi.

Somebody who propounds a stress-free life to his followers, Ravi Shankar usually starts his day as early at 4 am conducting meditation sessions, meeting his followers, discussing news and issues that may need attention, and meeting members of the press. His day usually ends at around 12night, but not before a few international calls and telephonic conferences.

With a vision to create a ‘violence-free, stress-free world’, he has often been questioned for meditation courses that cost upto Rs 4000 in India and around US$100 abroad. But this fees is defended as the proceeds is utilized for charitable purpose.

Despite the goodness spread across the globe, his name is also dragged in many controversies.In 2001, a PIL was filed in the Karnataka high court alleging that Art of Living had constructed huge structures, encroaching upon a water-spread area. The investigations found that the foundation had encroached upon 6.53 hectares of the tank area.In 2010, an NRI accused the spiritual guru of grabbing 15 acres of land owned by him on the Kanakapura Road in Bengaluru. The status of both the cases is unknown.In 2012, Sri Sri courted controversy by stating, “government schools are breeding grounds for Naxalism” for which he was criticized by activists and academicians both.  Sri Sri  was criticized by environmentalists for  meddling with Yamuna river flood pane during his World Culture Festival. The ground prepared for the grand cultural event, held between March 11 and 13, this year was spread over an area of 1,000 acres. The stage alone was seven acres in area and accommodated 37,000 artists.The event also invited the Delhi high court’s ire, which said it was an “ecological disaster”. The green tribunal, NGT, fined the organisers Rs 5 crore for damaging the ecologically sensitive Yamuna floodplains.

By suggesting a mutual agreement for building the Ram Mandir to solve the Ayodhya issue, convincing Baba Ramdev to discontinue his fast during the anti-corruption movement of 2011, offering to mediate between the Naxalites and the government, and through his latest efforts to mediate between women activists and traditionalists on the entry of women inside Shani Shignapur temple, Sri Sri  has managed to remain relevant in India’s social and political scene.

Right now Sri Sri is on tour to  9 major US and Canadian cities  to spread his message among his followers as well as to bring more and more people to his fold. Today  he was in Seattle, city better known as  Microsoft and Amazon headquarters. His Art of Living foundation organized a two days meditation programme. He agreed to speak to us. We reached Hotel Westin located in Bellevue Square. The ground floor lobby was full of his followers, many of them were of Chinese, Americans as well as Europeans, they were there to take a close Darshan of him. Some very important person of area including Mayor of Redmond, Bellevue and Police Chief of Seattle were also there to pay their respect and regards to Sri Sri. There was a big team of local volunteers mostly working on high positions in top MNCs like Microsoft and Amazon, They were working so hard to manage Sri Sri"s  tight visitors schedule.

As we reached on 18th floor of Westin, we were greeted by the core team which directed us towards presidential suite where he was sitting in his white robe in a well composed posture and stood to greet us.    

As there was a very long list of visitors in waiting and the schedule was running far behind, we had no choice but to keep our question time short and in the process we had to skip so many questions. 

So our first question was,' Why you have chosen path of spirituality ?'Came the crisp answer,' Can you think of a fish without water ?'

 'More and more people across the globe are following you. What is the secret ?'
'It initially started from India. many people from Embassies and High Commissions started joining our Art of living programmes, the word spread and we were invited to conduct programmes  abroad. but we did not take help of any government.'

 'Have you run into opposition or resistance in the U.S and other countries.?'

 'In the beginning we had a lot of resistance, and prejudice. But it's much better now. Yoga is much more accepted. Today, car companies use meditation and yoga postures to sell their products.'

'What is the essence of Art of Living ?'
'Art of living is a happiness porgramme. It makes life strong and leads to Moksha. The heart of the program is a series of take-home simple  breathing techniques that quickly clean out  stress and raise energy, bringing  back to a clear and positive state of mind. It provides understanding the nature of the mind and gives  a greater perspective on life that enables to not get bothered by issues that used to create frustration, impatience, worry and more.The scientifically indicated benefits of the practices one can learn include higher levels of optimism, greater levels of antioxidant enzymes, stronger immunity, improved emotional regulation and more.In the programme one can learn  some easy yoga poses that can be incorporated into day for greater health, focus and relaxation.Thus one can enjoy unique guided meditations and get a taste of the beauty with in.'

'Is there any conflict between your spirituality and modern science ?'
'In fact there is a difference between our (Indian) spirituality and western kind of spirituality. But there is no conflict between Indian spirituality and modern science. There is a wonderful synergy between science and spirituality within the Vedic tradition, and I don’t believe there is a real border dividing them. It’s all just wisdom and knowledge, which is what the term Veda means. These are all truths that are meant to inform us of the world and universe we inhabit so that we can understand our place in it. These truths help us to ultimately transcend the realm of matter, shed the material body we inhabit and endeavor to re-enter the spiritual realm.'

'How to upheld our family values in the changing times ?'
'Families are facing problem mainly due to tension. our efforts should be to make our life and surroundings tension free. We may also bring change by doing self less service'

'Do  you suggest some thing to change the way our children grow in the present days environment ?'
'We conduct 57 different type of programmes. Yes, we have one programme for children between age group of 8 to 13 years. It helps a child to develop a healthy respect for himself and others. The simple breathing techniques taught in the program, which include Sudarshan Kriya. The programme  gives children the tools to overcome negative emotions such as fear, nervousness, anxiety, frustration, jealousy, etc. easily.The entire program is playful, effortless, engaging and fun, and all exercises and processes are designed specifically for this age group.Children learn simple tenets for daily life, which brings up friendliness, forgiveness and respect. The ART Excel program is the best way to introduce children to spirituality, nurture human values, inculcate self-discipline, and develop their personality to be healthy and well-rounded.

'Tell us about some of your other unique initiatives in some other  areas.'  
'We conduct programmes for Jail Inmates, it is a unique initiative to change their life. Here in USA, we also started programme for War veterans.' 

 'What would you like people to know about Yoga?'
Yoga is like a vast ocean. You can just go for a breeze, or you can go with an oil rig and drill for oil ... Yoga offers many things to different people at many different levels--whatever they aspire for: union with the cosmic consciousness, or physical health, mental clarity, emotional stability, spiritual ecstasy -- all this is part of yoga.

' Does it concern you that people think of Yoga only as asana ?'
'Not really, because at that moment that's what they understand. But once they start doing asana they start seeing there is something beyond that. If interest for meditation gets kindled, then they are on the right track. But if it stops at exercise ... it's not bad, but they will not reach the goal.'

'When people think of the classic eight limbs of Yoga..?'.
' I knew you would ask about that. Unfortunately, people think the eight limbs are eight steps, one after another. You know, when a baby is born it's not that one limb develops after another. All the limbs develop simultaneously. The eight limbs of Yoga are so interconnected, if you pull one all the others will come along with it.'

' Some people think you have to master the yamas and niyamas before you can do the others.'

' The limbs are not sequential, they are all together. The practice of the others contributes to the ability to observe the yamas and niyamas. When we teach meditation in prisons, we see that the moment they have a taste of meditation, their whole thought process and behavior pattern changes. They start on the path of non-violence. They become very truthful, and the tendencies to cheat disappear. So the yamas and niyamas start happening in people's life just when they begin meditation.'

' How do your Art of Living programs fit into the eight limbs of classical Yoga?'
' Yoga would be incomplete if even one limb is absent from it. All the eight limbs coexist. Our program is the same way. We do some asana, and some pranayama-breathing exercises-and meditation that leads to samadhi ,the 8th limb; not a practice but a state of consciousness transcending thought.'

' Dharana and dyana are the sixth and seventh limbs. How do you explain the subtle distinction between the two?'
'One leads into the other. Dharana is having the attention on a particular thing, and dyana is how the mind from there dissolves into samadhi.'

' A lot of people translate dharana as concentration , is it true ?'
' Absolutely not. Concentration is an outcome of meditation. Dharana is attention -- not tension; in concentration there is tension. '

' How is the acceptance of India's spiritual traditions in India itself, as the country modernizes?'
'The younger generation is taking to it now. One generation previous was a little skeptical. The media also played a role. Now it's different. People see the practical benefit.'

There were long queue out side Sri Sri Ji's suite, we had no choice but to finish our session.

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