The Art of Living, Sri Sri Rai Shankar und Die Kunst des Lebens - Yoga, Meditation, Humanitäre Projekte -NewsAbout usCoursesHumanitarian Projects

• A stress-free and violence free society.
• To encourage people from all backgrounds, religions, and cultural traditions to come together in celebration and service.

To achieve these goals, we offer courses and humanitarian projects to eliminate stress from the mind and violence from society. And prevention is easier than cure: peaceful individuals do not contribute to conflict on an individual nor on a societal level.

If people are materially poor or suffering from the effects of a natural disaster or war, their stress will be related to that – so then the International Art of Living Foundation offers material assistance or trauma relief. Take a look at some brief reports on our humanitarian activities, following the Tsunami and Kosovo conflicts. We offer education and empowerment programs so people can break the poverty cycle. On the other hand, those who are materially well-off may nevertheless be frustrated, depressed or simply wanting to grow in life. In the latter case, it is not material support that is needed but training programs like the Part 1 course, for everyone who would like to learn some breathing techniques to release tension, and enable the individual to handle any challenge.

It is both. We do provide a range of training courses as well as engaging in small and large scale charitable ventures. In fact, these apparently diverse activities are closely linked: income from paid courses goes to humanitarian activities to achieve our basic goals of a stress-free society and bringing people from diverse backgrounds together in voluntary activity.

And there is another connection between service activities and personal development courses. Many of those who graduate from our courses take up voluntary work of various kinds, seeing that to realise one’s full potential we need to take care of our society, our environment. For graduates of Part 1 and Part 2 programs, we have a special program DSN whose goal is to make the individual stronger and thus able to take more responsibility – at work, in your family, in you society. Our youth programs, for children, teens and students/young professionals encourage the young to engage in voluntary activities.

The Universal Declaration of Human Values drawn up by the IAOLF founder HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar includes the ‘right to lead a stress-free life’ - regardless of whether the stress is induced by a natural disaster, or by a difficult job, or by family situations. The stress-releasing techniques learnt in Art of Living programs are powerful enough to deal with the trauma involved in extreme situations of natural disasters, so definitely they can handle the everyday challenges of work and relationships!

Sometimes stress results from a natural disaster, sometimes it is man-made, sometimes wealthy, successful people experience stress, sometimes stress is poverty-related - but in every case the Art of Living offers support.

We do indeed charge fees for our Part 1 courses, courses for children, teenagers, students and so on. The income from these fee-paying courses is then used for those programs which are for the materially poor.

We also find that people get so much out the courses – learning how to handle negative emotions, calmly take on greater challenges in life – that they happy that their course fees are helping to educate a poor child, or put a roof over a family’s head – after all charity cannot happen from an empty bowl.

However, if you are a pensioner or unemployed, check with  your local organisation to find out about scholarships for our courses.

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Sri Sri Ravi Shankar founded The Art of Living in India in 1981, in 1989 “The Art of Living Foundation” was set up in the US. In Germany, the movement was also registered as a non-profit organization (e. V.) in 1989. “Die Kunst des Lebens Deutschland e. V.” is represented by its executive committee. The members of this committee do not receive any allowance, only their expenses are covered. Recently, The International Art of Living Foundation (IAOLF) was founded in Switzerland to act as an umbrella for all national organizations.

Part of the financing of our humanitarian efforts come from charitable donations – just like more traditional charities. On the other hand, we also run paid courses like the part 1 course for adults who may have good jobs, are not suffering from poverty, but may still want to learn more about handling negative emotions.

The proceeds from our paid courses are used for our humanitarian programs. After all, everyone encounters challenges in their life, whether rich or poor. As every executive knows, stress management is a key even for the most successful!

No, it is not a religious organisation. By ‘spiritual values’ we mean universal human values like friendship, generosity, compassion, care for the environment.
Values respected by all nationalities and traditions.

In fact, one of our goals is to promote spiritual values, regardless of the religious, cultural or social background of people who participate, respecting and not questioning any religion our members may practice.

The Art of Living Foundation closely cooperates with the International Association for Human Values, both organisations being founded by H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. As a sister organisation, cooperation often takes the practical form of supporting one another in a country where for example, the Art of Living has a larger organisation established or vice-versa.

The International Association for Human Values works in five main areas:

• Rural development and socio-economic Progress
• Human Values-based education
• Conflict management through dialogue
• Humanitarna pomoč in projekti rehabilitacije za žrtve nesreč/rekonstrukcija.
• Poslovna etika.

Od tečajev usposabljanja je velik del Art of Living aktivnosti namenjen sodelovanju pri humanitarnih projektih. Pogosto zavzema obliko preskrbe z učitelji prostovoljci za programe osvobajanja od travme ali družbeno rehabilitacijske programe.

Za več informacij glede sodelovanja naših organizacij kliknite tukaj.

‘Seva’ is a Sanskrit word meaning service. We sometimes use a Sanskrit word or two, Sanskrit being the language of ancient Yoga teachers, whose techniques have been adapted for modern life by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in the Art of Living courses.

One of the basic goals of the Art of Living (see FAQ No. 1) is to provide a place where all people may come together for celebration and service (or ‘seva’), as an organisation which welcomes all as part of its peace-making initiatives. Even if we have very different cultures, languages customs or religions, we may do some voluntary work together.

Many of the techniques used in our programs are indeed based on Yoga, and it is also true to say that ‘the East’ in general has a long tradition of ways of dealing with stress. You might say that Eastern cultures in some way have specialised in knowledge about stress, personal development, handling various emotions. And the founder of the International Art of Living Foundation, H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, is from India as well.

However, the techniques taught and the human values we promote are completely universal. For example, breathing techniques are a key to stress release - and we all breath, whether we were born in the so-called ‘West’ or so-called ‘East’!

Yes! The courses are open to people of all ages, backgrounds, cultures and traditions from across the world. They do not conflict with any person’s existing religious or spiritual practices.

"We identify ourselves as somebody - I belong to this religion, this culture, this tradition, but we forget the basic identity that we are human beings."
H.H.Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

As we all know today, the human brain as two halves – the right half which is more connected with art and intuition, and the left half which is more connected with logic and reasoning. Some people are more logical and perhaps do not like music and dance. Others are more spontaneous and like dancing but avoid logic or more intellectual activities.

It’s important to develop both aspects for either of them to fully flourish, and this is what satsang is all about. It’s well known that geniuses like Einstein did not think only logically, but very intuitivintuitively, with pictures. It doesn’t matter if right now you dance well or sing well – and don’t be surprised if not every satsang is a professional concert! Whether you sing well or not - it’s very beneficial to participate anyway. So at a satsang, there is some singing and dancing – in all languages from Sanskrit to Hebrew, from English to Polish, emphasizing the universality of our message. And there is also some discussion of issues related to personal development. i.e. there is a balance of intellectual activity and music.

To find out more, take the first step or join a program near you and ask the trainer!

The vast majority of the people who contribute to our activities are indeed volunteers. In each country, there are a few administrative staff who are employed, sometimes as few as 10 for a country with quite a sizeable organisation.

Why do people want to volunteer? The satisfaction from doing something for others is very great. It’s a natural impulse to help others, something which young children exhibit, but sometimes stress, fear and other negative emotions block.

Part of being more relaxed and content is a sense of belongingness to others – and from this sense of belongingness service activity becomes spontaneous!

If you are a course graduate, simply login to the login area on this site, using the code given to you by your local organisation and fill out the form there.

If you have not taken an Art of Living course yet, please contact your nearest teacher or organiser, letting them know how you might be interested in helping.

You might also want to sign up for a course! 

There is no very formal membership process, anyone who would like to come for a course, volunteer (see previous FAQ, No. 13) or donate. If you would like to participate in a free-of-charge introduction to our courses, take a look at the First Steps section.

If you would like to come for regular sessions, you should first take a course:
Part 1 course for adults, an Art Excel course for children, a YES course for teens, a YES+ course for students and young professionals.

The first thing to do is drop the ‘always’. Don't generalise and eternalise ... we tend to do this. When you miss the exit on the motorway you say, “Oh I ALWAYS do this, I ALWAYS miss the exit.” But do you always mix the exit? Is it even possible?? Stop generalising and eternalising the problem. And then, see... if someone is so negative, is your positivity so weak that it cannot withstand a little negativity?

You know we see that just material things or comfort alone does not really make a person really comfortable. He may have a good bed to sleep on, but still be unable to sleep due to insomnia, due to worry. He also needs a broad understanding about himself and his priorities, a clarity in the mind. This makes life much easier, you know, and understanding his basic emotions, you know, like love, and his interaction with people around him, knowing about his own ego or what his own intellect or mind is saying to him, plus a few minutes of  relaxation, introspection is vital.

If you just take stock how a person lives his eighty-year life, it's very interesting. Suppose someone lives for eighty years. You know, forty years he spends in bed sleeping. And about 8 to10 years we spend eating, and the same again - about 8 years of our life - is spent in the bathroom and the toilet. Then we spend 15-20 years at work and in traffic jams. If you really count the time we have spent in our life just being happy - smiling, loving people, having a sense of belongingness with everybody - it hardly amounts to two or three years of our whole life! So, introspection about one's life, how one can improve the quality of life will help one to feel better about oneself.

When no distortions of love are there - like anger, jealousy etc - it is possible. With wisdom you can transform these distortions into love.

If someone is used to chewing gum, and he then goes to Singapore for 6 months, he will feel totally out of place for the first few days. This is because Singapore has banned chewing gum and importing it is like importing drugs in that country. So at first, he would feel a bit strange and then he would get used to it. This is ‘Chewing Gum Karma’ and he would get over it. If a person smokes, and he decides to quit smoking – the first few days he feels different - his smoking karma gets exhausted after certain days of practice of not smoking. In the same way, karma can get exhausted by the regular practice of breathing techniques.

You know, your evolution is very fast when you are parent. You are so keen, your observation is sharp like the security guard of a VIP - all the time on one's toes. This is very good, but if you worry a lot about external things, children catch that worry. And when you are calm, serene, children also catch that. It's better not to fight with each other in front of children. Don't do things which are not nice. Give them instead the seed of spirituality. Develop a sense of giving.

Remember one thing, never hurt your man's ego. He might be dumbest in the world but you should make him feel that he is the best. And, husbands should know one thing - never hurt your wife's feelings.

You should either go and convince them or just express your love to them and ignore all the negativities that occur between you two. The love is already there but you have to express it sometimes to them.

No, I don.t think so. There was a couple I met from Uganda - billionaires, the owners of many factories. But one fine  morning they were forced suddenly to leave the country with just one suitcase, because of the political situation. They came to London and had to sell hotdogs on the street. They told me:  “Sri Sri, that was the day we came to believe in God, in a bigger force in life.” They came to know that it is not the bank balance that counts, it is the state of your mind.

Have you ridden a bicycle? How do you balance? Just like that! When you’re going too much  to the left side, you pull yourself to the right. Similarly if you are going too much towards the right, you balance on the left. Got it?

Think about it, would you like to be in the position of this person? Would you like people to hold things against you, for what you did in the past?

When you watch TV, what is more important - the scenes or the sound? Both! One supports the other. Similarly, when one has no family, what is use of a career? The point of a career is to support one's family. To support oneself, a career is not required. Likewise, when one has no career, how can one support one's family?

Lust is a desire to seek joy. But when you understand that you yourself are the source of joy, then the desire, the lust, disappears. But you know, the more you encourage lust, the more it catches you and gets you into trouble. There are two things that usually people do to handle lust.

A) Try to stop it.B) Encourage it.

Neither is correct. Observe a middle path. Observe the mind. Be regular to your Seva [voluntary activity], Sadhana [Yoga and breathing exercises], and Satsang [music and knowledge] and you will see how desire ceases to trouble you – step by step.

It is the desire that tires you - the 'want' in the mind. Your mind tires you more than the physical work. If you are willing to do some work, even 15 hours at a stretch, it will not tire you but if you are not willing and you have to work even for four hours, it will tire you. For example, you have a party at home or you are arranging decorations. So in this situation you are able to work many late hours but still not feel tired. You feel good about it. But you work in a place you don't like, you'd like to have four coffee or tea breaks - and even then you feel it's tiring! See what happens if you don't do any work at all. Just sit and go on thinking. You'll be terribly exhausted by this. For many people, the tiredness and exhaustion comes from thinking and worrying, not by working. Thinking that you need rest makes you restless. Thinking you have to work hard makes you tired. Thinking you have worked hard brings self-pity. So, learn some breathing and meditation techniques which will give you deep rest, deeper than sleep. The deeper your rest, the more dynamic you will be.

Anger is ok. I have a technique for you. Whenever you get angry, sing. If you get angry at your husband or wife, scold them by singing. Opera singing is even better for this. See if you can do it. [Sri Sri sings a couple of lines, “You stupid, what did you do to me?”. Everyone breaks into laughter.] If possible take a guitar and sing along with it. ... Some people will even become musicians like this. Anger comes when you go out of rhythm. And music is bringing that rhythm back. The antidote for anger is music, exercise, karate, martial arts. You know, martial arts have to be done without anger.

Until the age of 30 you think only about yourself. Midlife crises happen because you only think about what you get from society, from others. The older you get, the wiser you become because your mind gets more mature. You feel a serenity in yourself. If you go out doing seva [voluntary work], the midlife period will have no effect. Spirituality is beginning a new journey. With it you won’t have the midlife crisis.

Don’t see roles. It’s when you see the role of mother-in-law that there is a problem. Didn’t your mother also scold you a lot? Did you not forget it later and still love her? See your mother-in-law as your mother and things will change. Hurt is part of love...

[with a mischievous smile and a small gesture toward himself...] Like this! See, you are really asking how to look attractive as you get older. Your desire to look attractive makes you unattractive! If you want to look attractive, that feverish desire will make you unattractive. But if you are calm, serene, then that brings beauty.

First, just accept that person. Just accept that they are incorrigible and will never change. Then understand that they are a victim themselves, of their circumstances and their ignorance. Compassion is the next step. See, step by step we have 1, 2, 3. Acceptance, understanding and then love.

Leave something in life for suspense. Otherwise you will be bored at the time of your death!  

If you know meditation, you will know sleep. If you know sleep, you will know death. If you are in a state of mind where you are not bored with anything, that qualifies you to know death!

I will reply to this question next year - have patience.

Anger is a sign of weakness and so is rudeness. But often too-sweet people do not take any responsibility. So take the middle path: be sweet and straightforward. This is a skill in itself.

Don’t take them. What happens when you take them? You lose your sleep. Do what gives you comfort. If you can honour yourself, then you will not be bothered. An elephant is not scared of the dogs barking. If you get upset, who succeeds?

Ah, don't pressurise your children to keep studying just before the exam. Especially when they are starting the exams, don't make them tense saying things like "Have u read everything?","Do you remember properly everything you have read?" etc... Questions like that will cause them to panic and will bring down their performance. So, keep yourself cool and don't make them panic and forget the things they have read. Allow them to be calm and composed.

Music and Dance - Satsang. Keep away from drugs altogether and alcohol as much as possible. It makes you age very quickly. ‘Spirit takes away spirit.’ When you have inner spirit, no outside spirit is required. You are the source so where is the need for alcohol? When you drink, there is no bliss after the alcohol has been digested.. Then you can’t leave it and you become a slave. Families, communities and nations have been ruined because of this. See the native American community in the USA. You will hardly find a prominent scientist or politician. They have so much to drink…

Love is always there. You can't but love your children. Educate them in human values. Make them kind, make them strong. Some children are kind but they can be easily hurt, they get easily offended, they become miserable. And some people are very strong but they are not kind. You have a challenge to make your children strong as well as kind. Sometimes you have to scold your children. Don't bring them up in a goody-goody way all the time. If they get used to your scolding them, then they will not get upset if someone else gets angry at them sometime in the future. Otherwise, they become very fragile, delicate and vulnerable. So sometimes you have to scold them and put them on the right path.

That you decide - I won't tell you! [Laughter] Don't do it too often or else they will go to the other side. It is like how much salt to put in the food..... Secondly,  make children do some service activity. For instance, when guests come home let the children serve them water, then take away the glasses, etc. Teach children how to give. Usually children have a tendency to grab and hold on to things - you must teach them to give.

If you have love in your life then fear reduces.

The mind cannot be controlled directly. Only through Meditation and Pranayam [breathing techniques taught on Art of Living courses] can it be done. 

[Many babies are making noise in the audience] I see a lot of mothers here. I have something to tell you. When a child cries, it becomes unbearable with its crying, we put a dummy in its mouth.  This is not good. Actually this was not in our traditions at all. A child who cannot cry cannot laugh either. By putting these plugs in, we are controlling their expressions of their mind. They are not able to express good or bad. Ultimately, the child becomes expressionless. This creates inhibitions and more stiffness in them. Allow the child to cry for at least two minutes every day. It is good for its health, because crying helps opening up of the lungs. Do you know the first act in life? We took a deep inhalation and then cried. And what is the last act of human life? Exhalation and making others cry.

It lacks juice. It lacks an essence which can transform participants from students into human beings. The system has become so mechanical that we are producing human machines out of students. We need to create good personalities out of them. The full development of human potential is lacking: an all-around development is needed.

Watch your food habits, have more salads, exercise and try watching less TV.