Art of living by Sri Sri

"The Art of Living is more of a principle, a philosophy of living life to its fullest. It is more
a movement than an organization. Its core value is to find peace within oneself and to unite
people in our society – of different cultures, traditions, religions, nationalities; and thus
reminding us all that we have one goal to uplift human life everywhere."
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

The Art of Living Foundation is one of the world’s largest non-profit organizations led by the
spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. It is one of the numerous mystical organizations that come
out of India. It also shows the remarkable marketing strategy used by Indian spiritual gurus that
works so flawlessly in the West.1 The foundation is active in more than 140 countries and has
influenced hundreds of millions of people across the world. The stated goal of the sect is to
create a happier and society free of stress by uplifting individuals at the grassroots level through
empowerment and breathing exercises.
All of AOLF’s programs are guided by Sri Sri’s philosophy: “Unless we have a stress-free mind
and a violence-free society, we cannot achieve world peace.”2
Apart from its alleged international development projects, the main “service” of the Art of
Living Foundation is its Art of Living courses, i.e., highly effective educational and self-
development programs and tools that facilitate the elimination of stress and foster deep and
profound inner peace, happiness and well-being for all individuals.3 These courses span for a
total of 24 to 28 hours during five to six consecutive days and cost anywhere from between $200
to $700, depending on the instructor and level of the course. The clientele of Art of Living
courses are almost always adults who suffer from personal issues and are looking to escape
reality.4
Art of Living is marketed as a not-for-profit, secular organization which teaches a number of
courses aimed mostly at reducing stress in people or portrayed as a charitable organization, when
it’s simply just a business dealing in spirituality. In these courses various useful points are taught
on how to live your life, together with processes which improve health and wellbeing, including
yoga and pranayamas (breathing exercises). AoL claim that all the proceeds from the courses go
to charitable projects in various locations across the world, and that the whole organization is run
by volunteers. They also claim that over 20-30 million people worldwide have done the Basic
Course, and that they have a presence in 150-160 countries. On the surface, everything seems

1
Indian Spiritualism Made for the Modern Age, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/world/asia/07iht-
letter07.html?_r=2&scp=2&sq=manu%20joseph&st=cse Accessed on 15/12/2016
2
http://www.artofliving.org/us-en/overview-aolf-usa Accessed on 15/12/2016
3
Ibid.
4
https://aolfree.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/student-who-felt-cheated-after-taking-art-of-living-course/ Accessed on
15/12/2016
completely above board and the organization appear to be doing a lot of good in the world. This
at least is a summary of how AoL describes itself, albeit in a former follower of Sri Sri who’s left
AoL and now writes a blog critiquing the sect.
The basic premise of any meditation practice is that it alters your state of mind in a positive way.
Art of Living markets the Sudarshan Kriya and other yogic practices as methods to reduce stress,
calm the mind, and improve your daily life from the inside out. AoL markets Sudarshan Kriya as
being unique to the organization, having being “revealed to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar whilst
meditating in silence in a cave in 1982”.5 They try to convince people that it is a panacea for a
great many illnesses including cancer and even AIDS. AoL teachers are taught to teach the
technique to every individual indiscriminately.
People also claim that the technique is just hyperventilation, whilst others believe it to be an
ancient yogic breathing technique known to many yoga practioners which Ravishankar has
successfully commercialized claimed as unique to them. A great many people have reported ill
effects from these practices,6 and when they do they are usually told something like it is just
natural / cleansing / detoxing to feel these things. There is also a great deal of secrecy
surrounding the technique, with claims made that it is actually the “grace of the guru” which is
responsible for the positive effects rather than the technique itself.
This harm includes damage to physical health of various practitioners of the techniques taught on
the courses, for example side effects7 of kriya and bhastrika, as well as psychologic damage
resulting not only from meditation and kriya, but also from spiritual abuse by senior members of
the organization itself, including Sri Sri. This spiritual abuse can best be described as using
spirituality to manipulate people or to scare them, for instance by making them believe that if
they perform certain services for the organization that their karma will be reduced. There are
further allegations that the majority of techniques in AoL have been plagiarized from other
organizations and sold to course participants as originating from AoL.
Art of Living and Christianity
The Christian approach to life and response to stress is found in the Bible. We are to cast our
burdens on Him, Jesus taught us not to worry about superficialities like food, clothing etc. While
this may sound simplistic, it is elegant and profound in its implications. Contrary to the popular
notion of emptying our mind to relax, believers are to fill our minds with the word of God so as
to be guided, nourished and admonished by it. While Art of Living is marketed as just
meditation, as mentioned above it carries with it an entire lifestyle which is in turn based on a
non-Christian worldview, i.e., fundamental differences, which deems it unnecessary for believer.

5
This is debatable as my any have claimed (also equally debatable) it is poorly paraphrased plagiarized and
remarketed version of Yogi Bhajan’s Sodarshan Kriya https://aolfree.wordpress.com/secret-aol-
knowledge/sudarshan-kriya-notes/#comment-416
6
This post in the beyond the Art of Living blog talks about Sudarshana kriya actually being detrimental
https://aolfree.wordpress.com/2010/08/07/no-knowledge-is-worth-your-freedom/ Accessed on 15.12.2016
7
https://artoflivingfree.blogspot.in/2010/03/summary-of-my-story-with-aol.html Accessed on 15.12.2016