To understand the vastness of AOL and ponder the question of why Shankar, why now, leave New Jersey for a moment and head to a spread of rocky hills on the outskirts of Bangalore in South India. We have doubled the number of our teachers we have doubled the number of our volunteers working in the villages.” “In India itself, we have doubled in the past year. “The organization is growing at such a fast rate,” says Prashant Rajore, the administrator of Shankar’s ashram in India. The Art of Living may be the fastest growing spiritual practice on the planet. He spends about 60 days a year at his ashram near Baden Baden, Germany, 40 days at AOL’s ashram near Montreal, Canada, and 150-odd days on the road, giving satsang (spiritual talks), everywhere from Atlanta to Singapore. Worldwide, more than a million people in 136 countries have taken his introductory course. Now, more than 25,000 annually check in for retreats at the 60-acre center that attracts up to 5,000 visitors a day when Shankar is there. Five years ago, his ashram in India was attracting about 5,000 overnight guests a year. Tens of thousands of Americans have taken his classes that feature the breathing technique he calls Sudarshan Kriya. His simple messagea light blend of Eastern religion, meditation, yogic stretching, and breathingis catching on big. It can heal mental, physical, and spiritual illnesses.”
“Love is the only superior power on the planet love has the healing power. He begins speaking in a cheerful, slightly bleating Indian-accented voice about his favorite subject. His white robes are made of a fine, opalescent fabric that shimmers slightly. Today the twinkly-eyed, black-bearded “guru of love” is in New Jersey, in the bridal suite of Royal Albert’s Palace hotel, wiping his hands and waiting to be interviewed. The face of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, guru extraordinaire of the explosively expanding yoga and meditation practice called The Art of Living (AOL), is more lined than it appears on the covers of his dozens of books, CDs, newsletters, Web sites, and postcards. The breath has a great secret to offer.For exclusive access to all our stories, including sequences, teacher tips, video classes, and more, Sudarshan Kriya cleanses the system from the inside. In sleep we get rid of fatigue, but the deeper stresses remain in our body. "We need to do a cleansing process within ourselves. That is the sense of purity, feeling of purity." "After Sudarshan Kriya, many people feel so pure and so clear, so complete, because the consciousness, which was stuck in the matter, material, which is foreign to itself, got released from that and came back to its home. After I came out of the silence, I started teaching whatever I knew and people had great experiences." So, I was thinking how we can bridge this gap - between inner silence and outer expression of life.ĭuring a period of silence, the Sudarshan Kriya came like an inspiration. They do their prayers, meditation and spiritual practices, but when they come out in life, they are very different people. Though people do their spiritual practices, their life is in compartments. But I felt there was something that was lacking.
“I was already teaching meditation and yoga.
This single technique has benefited thousands of people across all walks of life – corporate executives, trauma affected, underprivileged, children and homemakers.
It flushes our anger, anxiety and worry leaving the mind completely relaxed and energized. Just as emotions affect our patterns of breathing, we can bring about changes in our mental and behavioral patterns by altering the rhythms of our breath. The Sudarshan Kriya incorporates specific natural rhythms of breath which harmonize the rhythms of the body and emotions and bring them in tune with the rhythms of nature. When stress or illness throws them out of order, we experience discomfort and discontent and feel upset and unhappy. When these rhythms are in sync, we feel a sense of harmony and well-being. Similarly, there are biological rhythms to our bodies, minds and emotions. Nature is replete with various rhythms and cycles - day follows night, night follows day, seasons come and go.