Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s name is inspired by the 8th century Hindu spiritual guru, Adi Shankaracharya. (Image: Shutterstock)
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Birthday: Ravi Shankar uses meditation to nurture compassion and bring peace in the world
SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR BIRTHDAY: Spiritual leader and Padma Vibhushan recipient Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a Yoga Guru and the founder of the Art of Living Foundation. He was born on May 13, 1956, in Papanasam, Tamil Nadu in a Brahmin family. He has emerged as a popular Yoga guru and spiritual leader with a following across the world in the last four decades.
Ravi Shankar uses meditation to nurture compassion and bring peace in the world. On the occasion of his 67 birthday, we look at some interesting facts about his life and share some of his enlightening quotes.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Quotes
- “Love is not an emotion. It is your very existence.”
- “Faith is realising that you always get what you need.”
- “Today is a gift from God – that is why it is called the present.”
- “Life is a ball we should play with it !”
- “Don’t Fall in love, Rise in Love!”
- “But joy is never tomorrow; it is always now.”
- “Infinity means it is permeating all the finite things.”
- “Your desire for pleasure or happiness makes you unhappy.”
- “Rejection itself means the finite.”
- “Love is not an emotion, It is your very existence.”
Interesting Facts
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s name is inspired by the 8th century Hindu spiritual guru, Adi Shankaracharya. The second half of his name “Shankar” honours the saint.
- Ravi Shankar recited Bhagavad Gita when he was merely 4 years old.
- Vedic scholar Pandit Sudhakar Chaturvedi was his first teacher. He is said to have inculcated in Ravi Shankar the ideals of the Arya Samaj.
- His spiritual guide was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique. Ravi Shankar started his journey in the world of yoga and spirituality as a disciple of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the 1970s.
- Ravi Shankar established The Art of Living Foundation in 1981. It is a non-profit, humanitarian organisation with centres in 180 countries.
- The revered Yoga guru, popularly known as Gurudev, invented Sudarshan Kriya, a powerful breathing technique after a ten-day period of silence in 1982. Over the years Sudarshan Kriya has become the core of the yoga training by Art of Living.
