Sri Sri gets Paraguay's highest civilian award

Bangalore, Sep 14 (IANS) Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has been honoured with Paraguay's highest civilian award.
He was conferred the National Order of Merito de Comuneros Thursday in the Paraguay capital, the Art of Living Foundation said Friday.
The award has been bestowed on only two others in the 200-year history of Paraguay's parliament.
The Art of Living founder, who was received by Paraguay President Federico Franco, also addressed the Senate.
The Universidad Autonoma de Asuncion of Paraguay too honored Sri Sri by conferring the Doctorate Honoris Causa in recognition of the humanitarian work done by The Art of Living. Read More

Unite world's religions through spirituality: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Buenos Aires: Indian guru and Art of Living (AoL) founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has exhorted religious leaders the world over to unite people through spirituality.

"Spirituality unites people of all religions, languages and cultures because basic human values are common and are shared," Ravi Shankar said at a summit of religious and spiritual leaders from Latin America here over the weekend.

The Indian guru, who is making waves in Latin America through propagation of his simple yogic exercises through trained breathing and meditation, touched Argentine hearts with a clarion call to unite people spiritually irrespective of race, creed and nationality.

Held for the first time in this southern continent during Sep 6-9, the four-day summit, fevida (faith), brought heads of religious institutions and spiritual organisations under one roof to find lasting solutions to myriad problems people face the world over.

Explaining the difference between religion and spirituality to the heads and about 1,000 delegates at the convention, the 56-year-old seer said religion was bound by traditions, rituals and beliefs while the latter was all about experience and faith in the master.

"To be spiritual does not mean you have to be a recluse, run away to forest and shirk duties. It need not be. It is an individual's choice on what he/she wants to do and under whose guidance," Ravi Shankar said amid cheers and applause.

Terming it a privilege to participate in the historic event and address a diverse audience from different Latin countries, the guru said spirituality would make a practitioner child again and transform him/her into a pious and compassionate human being with a spirit of service and a sense of belonging with others. Read More

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar leads mass meditation rally in Argentina

Buenos Aires Indian guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has drawn a huge crowd in Argentina’s capital to meditate against violence and stress.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s organisation estimates on Sunday’s crowd at a park swelled to more than 100,000 people.

They chanted and moved rhythmically as the guru urged them to focus their collective energy on ending violence and creating a world free of stress.

Smaller crowds were urged to meditate together around the world as Ravi Shankar’s image was transmitted on television screens.

Ravi Shankar’s The Art of Living foundation is particularly popular in Argentina.  Read more

Thousands of Argentines turn up to hear Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Tens of thousands of people in this Argentinian city came out to listen to Thousands of Argentinians turn up to hear Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, an Indian preacher. It was amazing to see them come out in thousands despite the fact that weather was extremely cold

Cordoba (Argentina), (IANS) Over 16,000 people braved a chilly and rainy Wednesday in this South American nation to listen to Indian spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on the benefits of his teachings and breathing exercises to lead a stress-free life.

“We live in times of uncertainty with economic slowdown, political instability and stress taking a toll of us. We need to find a way out to free from this (stress) and cope with the pressure of competition to lead a peaceful life,” the Art of Living (AoL) founder said at Siglo 21 University in this provincial city, about 700 km north-west of Buenos Aires.

Hours before Ravi Shankar flew into the picturesque city, located in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquia river, people from all walks of life, especially students, flocked to the campus in raincoats and pullovers to know about his value-based education with techniques that would help them to overcome stress.
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Argentinian university ties up with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living

Siglo 21 University, about 700 km from Buenos Aires, has tied up with Sri Sri University (SSU) of the Art of Living Foundation in India to foster educational and cultural relations. An agreement, signed by Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Siglo rector Juan Carlos Rabbat Wednesday, also envisages regular academic exchanges between students and faculty of both universities. ”It is a historic moment for us to be associated with a new Indian university that aims to bring the best of the youth. We are honoured by the presence of its pioneer and Art of Living founder (Ravi Shankar) here on this occasion,” Rabbat told reporters later.
SSU, set up in 2009, is coming up on a 187-acre campus at Bidyadharpur near Cuttack and 24 km from Bhubaneswar in Odisha. As the largest private university in Argentina, the 17-year-old Siglo has about 30,000 students across this Latin country and has pioneered a virtual education system through the Internet. ”Many Siglo students are already benefitting from our value-based education system that inculcates the spirit of learning in a stress-free environment to make them better citizens of tomorrow,” Sri Sri Ravi Shankar told IANS on the margins of the event. Read More

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar receives Honorary Doctorates from Argentina

Argentina, Sept 7. 2012: Humanitarian leader and Founder, The Art of Living, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was awarded the honorary doctorate, Honoris Causa Doctor at the Siglo XXI University Campus in the city of Cordoba, Argentina.

Dr. Jose Manuel de la Sota, Governor of Cordoba, also named Sri Sri as the honorary citizen of Cordoba for his foundation's humanitarian work. Dr Sergio Lais, General Consul of India named Sri Sri as the Custodian of the World Peace. 

The Dean of the University invited Sri Sri University, India to sign a cooperation agreement for the exchange of professors, students and knowledge.

At this university conference, Sri Sri said, “I hope to take to the East, the good from the West, (and) take the good from the East to the West and make a better world together. Today, knowledge from West and East are not separate. We are in a globalized world and our youth deserve more than a partial vision.”

Addressing the students, Sri Sri said, “You should have two goals: your personal growth and your contribution to society, because when your mind is happy, you want to share it with all.” 

Sri Sri was also awarded with a Diploma of Honour from the Buenos Aires University where thousands had gathered.

Highlighting the need for reviving human values in society, Sri Sri spoke at a conference in the University: “We need to include wisdom and human values in the programs; it is the way to fight against violence and depression”. Speaking on corruption, Sri Sri stated, “When there is lack of spirituality and sense of belonging corruption arises and this begins to revert when common people take responsibility”.

Speaking to University authorities, educators and students, Sri Sri also underlined the importance of meditation as a way to enhance the quality the life and elevate our consciousness.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will guide a global meditation at the El Planeta Medita event on September 9, 2012, (21.00 hours GMT) where 100,000 people will meditate simultaneously.  Read More