Perspectives for Perennial and Perpetual Peace
“The only solution to the problems of the day is to bring about a
change of mind and heart, as external forces alone are not effective
in combating terrorism. Only through a change of heart, and not through force,
can peace be brought about.” --
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
What is Perpetual Peace?
Perpetual peace refers to a state of affairs where peace is permanently established over a certain area (ideally, the whole world - see world peace). Many would-be world conquerors have promised that their rule would enforce perpetual peace. No empire has ever extended its authority over the entire world, and thus nothing can be said about the ability of a universal empire to ensure world peace, but several large empires have maintained relative peace in their spheres of influence over extended periods of time. Typical examples are the Roman Empire (see Pax Romana) and the British Empire (see Pax Britannica). However their rule wasn't without incident (see Jewish Revolt, British Raj). Whether such imperial peace is actually good or desirable is another question entirely. In addition, no imperial peace has been permanent, because no empire has lasted forever. Several religions have prophesied that their divinity would produce perpetual peace at some point in the future. The most famous of these is embodied in bronze at the United Nations headquarters, "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” There are also a number of secular projects for a perpetual peace which employ means more subtle, but perhaps more attainable, than universal empire or even democratic world government.
If one state can't reach the power to impose peace on the world, perhaps several can. Henri IV attempted to actually create such a confederation. Others were proposed by the abbé de Saint-Pierre and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
The other modern plans for a perpetual peace descend from Immanuel Kant's 1795 essay, "Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch" (Zum ewigen Frieden. Ein philosophischer Entwurf.). In this essay, Kant described his proposed peace program as containing two steps. The "Preliminary Articles" described the steps that should be taken immediately, or with all deliberate speed:
- "No Secret Treaty of Peace Shall Be Held Valid in Which There Is Tacitly Reserved Matter for a Future War"
- "No Independent States, Large or Small, Shall Come under the Dominion of Another State by Inheritance, Exchange, Purchase, or Donation"
- "Standing Armies Shall in Time Be Totally Abolished"
- "National Debts Shall Not Be Contracted with a View to the External Friction of States"
- "No State Shall by Force Interfere with the Constitution or Government of Another State"
- "No State Shall, during War, Permit Such Acts of Hostility Which Would Make Mutual Confidence in the Subsequent Peace Impossible: Such Are the Employment of Assassins (percussores), Poisoners (venefici), Breach of Capitulation, and Incitement to Treason (perduellio) in the
Three Definitive Articles would provide not merely a cessation of hostilities, but a foundation on which to build a peace.
- "The Civil Constitution of Every State Should Be Republican"
- "The Law of Nations Shall be Founded on a Federation of Free States"
- "The Law of World Citizenship Shall Be Limited to Conditions of Universal Hospitality"
Kant's essay in some ways resembles, yet differs significantly from modern democratic peace theory. He speaks of republican, Republikanisch, (not democratic), states, which he defines to have representative governments, in which the legislature is separated from the executive. He does not discuss universal suffrage, which is vital to modern democracy and quite important to some modern theorists; his commentators dispute whether it is implied by his language. Most importantly, he does not regard republican governments as sufficient by themselves to produce peace: freedom of emigration (hospitality) and a league of nations are necessary to consciously enact his six-point program.
Unlike some modern theorists, Kant claims not that republics will be at peace only with each other, but are more pacific than other forms of government in general.
The general idea that popular and responsible governments would be more inclined to promote peace and commerce became one current in the stream of European thought and political practice. It was one element of the American policy of George Canning and the foreign policy of Lord Palmerston. It was also represented in the liberal internationalism of Woodrow Wilson, George Creel, and H.G. Wells, although other planks in Kant's platform had even more influence. In the next generation, Kant's program was represented by the Four Freedoms and the United Nations.
Kant's essay is a three-legged stool (besides the preliminary disarmament). Various projects for perpetual peace have relied on one leg - either claiming that it is sufficient to produce peace, or that it will create the other two.
In August 1914, in the early days of World War I, Wells stated that the war would be, "the war to end all war" [1], on the grounds that once Prussian militarism and autocracy was replaced by popular government, European nations would not ever go to war with each other; militarism and armaments resulted from the German threat. (He also suggested other policies, which proved less popular.) This idea was much repeated and simplified over the next four years; at present the idea that democracy by itself should prevent or minimize war is represented by the various democratic peace theories.
In 1909, Norman Angell relied only upon the second leg, arguing that modern commerce made war necessarily unprofitable, even for the technically victorious country, and therefore the possibility of successful war was The Great Illusion. James Mill had described the British Empire as outdoor relief for the upper classes; Joseph Schumpeter argued that capitalism made modern states inherently peaceful and opposed to conquest and imperialism, which economically favored the old aristocratic elites.
This theory has been well developed in recent years. Mansfield and Pollins, writing in the Journal of Conflict Resolution, summarize a large body of empirical work which, for the most part, supports the thesis [2]. There are various exceptions and qualifications which seem to limit the circumstances under which economic interdependence results in conflict reduction. On the other hand, moving beyond economic interdependence to the issue of economic freedom within states, Erik Gartzke has found empirical evidence that economic freedom (as measured by the Fraser Institute Economic Freedom Index) is about fifty times more effective than democracy in reducing violent conflict. [3]
The third leg is the old idea that a confederation of peaceable princes could produce a perpetual peace. Kant had distinguished his league from a universal state; Clarence Streit proposed, in Union Now(1938), a union of the democratic states modelled after the Constitution of the United States Union to deter the Axis from war.
Jeremy Bentham proposed that disarmament, arbitration, and the renunciation of colonies would produce perpetual peace, thus relying merely on Kant's preliminary articles and on none of the three main points; contrary to the modern theorists, he relied on public opinion, even against the absolute Monarchy in Sweden. Many have followed him since. There are 2 sections to Kant’s work, the 1st section covering 6 articles and section 2 covering 3 definitive articles, 9 articles in total.
The Circular Theory – for Sustainable and Perpetual Peace and Prosperity
Peace and prosperity (safety and usefulness a.k.a. productivity) are the most important dynamics for all people (entities) in all settings globally and universally. The circle, now that we understand its importance, is the key to personal and global (universal) peace and prosperity because the circle is the basic dynamic beneath reality. The circle produces opposite pairs, or, always, at least, two opposing points of view.
We can live peacefully with two points of view by teaching circular reality in high schools, colleges, productive thinking centers and all organizational settings, and holding global conferences and forums to discuss the material on this website. This easily creates the collective consciousness required to achieve sustainable world and personal peace and prosperity for every person, place and thing, in every space-time reality. It also creates a very deep understanding for all human beings and provides-produces the most important humanistic movement of all time.
Here are the essential 'circular ideas' we need to achieve world peace and prosperity:
Conservation of the Circle - the circle is conserved, or the circle preserves itself, as a set of, at least, two opposite positions, points of view, and-or arguments. We cannot, therefore, eliminate conflict.
Absolute Intelligence - the circle, as a universal dynamic, provides all people with the same perspective-driven intelligence. Perspective-driven means we will always try to find the opposite point of view to protect each other.
Opposite Approach - We can use the opposite to articulate and understand any reality; two mutually opposing ideas are correct from at least one perspective.
The key to happiness, personal and universal, is understanding, and accepting, the 'sometimes' nature (and reality) of all things. Sometimes can be always in our minds; this is totally up to us (one person can't tell another how to think, how to observe, or what to believe). All people understand the sometimes-nature of all things, naturally, sometimes. We are literally, and figuratively, all in our own 'universe-circles' (6BN people and too-many-to-count other entities, all in a separate-yet-same personal-private universe-circle....)
So it is easy to see we can teach and learn 'attention management;' that is, we can decide for ourselves what to notice, what to ignore, and what to achieve, since it is always, already, present somewhere. And we can recognize all people do this intuitively and naturally. There is nothing magic or difficult about attention management.
Peace and prosperity are achieved by how we (what we choose to) think and what we decide to notice (individually, first, and, then, collectively). On some level, we have all achieved peace (within-and-without) and we are now engaged in the process of enjoying the prosperity that ensues. All people, everywhere, prefer peace to war, and we have all selected peace over war; we are all engaged in the process of helping each other understand where conflict comes from, why it surfaces, and what to do about it (how to handle it) when it does.
Understanding the basic circular dynamic allows us to master conflict and arguments; we enjoy (exercise) these (conflicts and arguments) in sports, video games, movies (symbolically). We reach out to each other, forming circles, teaching about circles, and understanding that circles (integrated opposites) produce reality (and, always, also, the other way around). We have learned what to do when the negatives surface. Surprisingly, as intended, the negatives have disappeared. So what do we have left? Pure possibility.
Positive Vs Negative Peace
I came across this quote on "Positive Peace" vs "Negative Peace"
" Negative peace refers to the practices to limit and prevent war and collective violence. We’ll take a very holistic approach to violence because many of the major human rights violations can be considered as forms of violence. More often than not, the response to serious violations is enacted from a negative peace perspective in order to quell the immediate violence. Unfortunately, negative peace practices do not necessarily get at the root causes of the violations nor do they strive for substantive social change. Positive peace is more concerned with establishing life-long and life-enhancing human rights values which are a necessary pre-condition for a culture of peace. Positive peace not only attempts to understand the base causes of violence, but it’s goal is fundamental social transformation".
All of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's initiatives are for "Positive Peace" - a fundamental social transformation that changes the mind, body and spirit of every human being - touched by him and his programs.
" Negative peace refers to the practices to limit and prevent war and collective violence. We’ll take a very holistic approach to violence because many of the major human rights violations can be considered as forms of violence. More often than not, the response to serious violations is enacted from a negative peace perspective in order to quell the immediate violence. Unfortunately, negative peace practices do not necessarily get at the root causes of the violations nor do they strive for substantive social change. Positive peace is more concerned with establishing life-long and life-enhancing human rights values which are a necessary pre-condition for a culture of peace. Positive peace not only attempts to understand the base causes of violence, but it’s goal is fundamental social transformation".
All of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's initiatives are for "Positive Peace" - a fundamental social transformation that changes the mind, body and spirit of every human being - touched by him and his programs.
Johan Galtung, the father of peace studies often refers to the distinction between ‘negative peace’ and ‘positive peace’ (e.g. Galtung 1996). Negative peace refers to the absence of violence. When, for example, a ceasefire is enacted, a negative peace will ensue. It is negative because something undesirable stopped happening (e.g. the violence stopped, the oppression ended). Positive peace is filled with positive content such as restoration of relationships, the creation of social systems that serve the needs of the whole population and the constructive resolution of conflict.
Peace does not mean the total absence of any conflict. It means the absence of violence in all forms and the unfolding of conflict in a constructive way.
Peace therefore exists where people are interacting non-violently and are managing their conflict positively – with respectful attention to the legitimate needs and interest of all concerned.
The authors of this dossier consider peace as well-managed social conflict. This definition was decided on during Irenees’ Peace workshop held in South Africa
Vicious Vs Virtuous Cycle
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as the influencer of the SIESMIC TILT from negative to positive
In the subject of economics we have the notion of vicious cycle vs viruous cycle.
A virtuous circle or a vicious circle is a complex of events that reinforces itself through a feedback loop toward greater instability. A virtuous circle (or virtuous cycle) has favorable results, and a vicious circle (or vicious cycle) has deleterious results. A virtuous circle can transform into a vicious circle if eventual negative feedback is ignored.Both circles are complexes of events with no tendency towards equilibrium (at least in the short run). Both systems of events have feedback loops in which each iteration of the cycle reinforces the first (positive feedback). These cycles will continue in the direction of their momentum until an exogenous factor intervenes and stops the cycle. The prefix “hyper” is sometimes used to describe these cycles. The most well known vicious circle is hyperinflation.
Hyperinflation is a spiral of inflation which causes even higher inflation. The initial exogenous event might be a sudden large increase in international interest rates or a massive increase in government debt due to excessive spending. Whatever the cause, the government could pay down some of its debt by printing more money (called monetizing the debt). This increase in the money supply could increase the level of inflation. In an inflationary environment, people tend to spend their money quickly because they expect its value to decrease further in the future. They convert their financial assets into physical assets while their money still has some purchasing power. Often they will purchase on credit. Because of this, the level of savings in the country is very low and the government could have problems refinancing its debt. Its solution could be to print still more money starting another iteration of the vicious cycle.
Economic growth can be seen as a virtuous circle. It might start with an exogenous factor like technological innovation. As people get familiar with the new technology, there could be learning curve effects and economies of scale. This could lead to reduced costs and improved production efficiencies. In a competitive market structure, this will likely result in lower average prices. As prices decrease, consumption could increase and aggregate output also. Increased levels of output lead to more learning and scale effects and a new cycle starts.
An investment in your employees’ ability to provide superior service to customers can be seen as a virtuous circle. Effort spent in selecting and training employees and creating a corporate culture in which they are empowered can lead to increased employee satisfaction and employee competence. This will likely result in superior service delivery and customer satisfaction. This in turn will create customer loyalty, improved sales levels, and higher profit margins. Some of these profits can be reinvested in employee development thereby initiating another iteration of a virtuous cycle.
A harvesting strategy can be an example of a vicious circle. Rather than reinvesting in employee development, new product development, and market research, management could decide to harvest their investment by reducing costs then increasing dividends or increasing executive compensation. The consequence of this could be reduced employee wages, minimal training, an outdated product line, and a failure to understand the needs of the customer. This will likely result in employee dissatisfaction, employee incompetence, and high employee turnover. This could cause poor service delivery, customer dissatisfaction, high customer turnover, and loss of market share. Reduced sales and lower profit margins may require a further reduction in investment thereby initiating another iteration of the vicious cycle.
“ when we see our existence in the past 6000 years or so we have had a vicious cycle of war, conflicts, separations, partitions, violence and more. His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar with his “Positive Peace” programs all over the world is empowering all of us to be the “change agent” towards a new virtuous cycle of understanding, unification, collaboration, non-violence and perpetual peace” this new virtuous cycle is the beginning of peace and prosperity for the next 6000 years or so starting this Century. The virtuous cycles is created with the positive peace program that touch all 7 areas or domains of Peace starting from –
· Peace within
· Peace with your Peers
· Peace with you Community
· Peace within Nation
· World Peace and
· Peace with the Planet
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s work touches all 7 areas significantly. Starting from MK Gandhi in
Pragmatic step by step guide – 7 steps for Peace
- Step 1 – Peace within
- Step 2 – Peace with your kith and kin
- Step 3 – Peace wit your neighbor and community (inter-faith and inter-religion)
- Step 4 – Peace at the National Level (via National Leaders)
- Step 5 – Peace at the inter-National Level (via Leadership in Governance)
- Step 6 – Peace with mother Earth (green peace)
- Step 7 – Perpetual Peace –Pervasive and Prevailing
Initiating the VIRTUOUS CYCLE (AOL and IAHV)
Mark Blevis: In February of 2006, two-and-a-half million people including religious and political leaders of all faiths and backgrounds gathered in Bangalore , India
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Things are in concept in the mind about peace and love, but how to bring that in day-to-day life and how to get rid of all the negativity, how to break down the barriers and prejudice against each other?
What was bothering me was the prejudice that people had between urban and rural, between different religious groups or gender or race. I want to break down this prejudice in the minds of people and to become like children again and relate with each other with heart, sincerity and love.
We find that stress is the main cause that blocks people. Lack of understanding is testimony to that. So, we put together this program, The Art of Living. It all began very simply. I just started teaching whatever I knew to a bunch of people in the drawing room and then word of mouth, it kept growing.
Mark Blevis: It grew to two-and-a-half million people in one place.
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yeah.
Mark Blevis: You have mentioned religion. In your mind, is there a distinction between religion and spirituality?
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes. Spirituality is the essence of all religions. There is some common trait between all religions, it is spirituality, but in spirituality, you are in contact with the divinity deep within. Spirituality is honouring life. Spirituality is love and compassion, service. See?
The communication or communion with God can happen only in spirituality. Religion is the external thing though the central part of every religion is spirituality, but unfortunately people are more stuck in the outer periphery rather than reaching the center chord.
Mark Blevis: Do you think the concept of secular spirituality is threatening to religious leaders?
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: They shouldn’t because they must be tired by now with all the conflict, you see.
A religious leader cannot afford to think “only these people belong to me.” When a Catholic priest prays, he should pray for the entire population of the world, not just for only Catholics; or a Buddhist monk when he prays, he doesn’t pray only for his people. Or even for that matter, a Muslim imam or a Hindu priest. I feel when a swami prays or a priest prays, they pray for the entire world and if they are not, the prayer is not very fruitful.
Mark Blevis: The other interesting point that I see mentioned in a lot of your literature is the blame culture. Do you think that we can get past the blame culture and what are ways that we can do that?
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: A stress-free mind will stop blaming. If you are stressed, you start blaming; either you blame yourself or blame somebody else. Wherever you begin you end up in the other. So, to get over the blame culture we need to be more compassionate.
When you see a culprit is also a victim, when you broaden your horizon, you will see that every culprit is also a victim. So then you can’t be angry on a victim. You will not take revenge on a victim. Inside every culprit, there is a victim crying for help. We need to heal that victim. Help them out. Non-violence and compassion should be the guiding force. If this is prevalent in our society, we can definitely make a difference. It may sound very impractical, but we will have to move in that direction because non-violence is — nobody likes violence for themselves, but we need to bring those values in life. It has to come from education and from culturing.
Just for example, nobody litters in Ottawa England
Mark Blevis: At your Silver Jubilee back in February, you had two-and-a-half million people in India
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: You know, Silver Jubilee was to be celebrated and we have known people would all be coming from all over the world because anywhere we had to celebrate, somewhere we had to begin that. So, we had to make the big arrangements for that and we invited religious leaders. They readily accepted and we had nearly one thousand religious leaders of all denominations and many political leaders and three-thousand-eight-hundred musicians all on the same stage.
Yeah, I know, you look back now and see it’s a humongous task. Mind you there was no traffic jam even. There was no incident. That was what somebody asked me in the Belgium Parliament. He said, “Here in Belgium
Mark Blevis: Has anything changed in the world or through your organization since the Silver Jubilee?
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: A Silver Jubilee is just an event, but a lot of social work is happening through the organization whether in tsunami or recent flooding in parts of India Israel and Lebanon
Generally, I feel the stress and depression level wherever we have started working have tremendously changed. I still feel what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. There is a lot be done, a lot to be done in this field to educate people, to handle their emotions and to be happy and compassionate.
Peace by Peace
Conflict resolution around the world
From negotiating for peace in Sri Lanka , transforming misguided youth in Kashmir , resolving ethnic hatred in the Balkans, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar is actively engaged in building bridges. Through the Art of Living programs and personal interventions, he has inspired many groups to adopt non-violent means of resolving conflicts.
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Foundation has touched several levels of Afghan society through the Breath, Water, Sound workshops. The programs have also been offered to Afghan counselors, doctors, nurses and administrators through the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes, the Mental Health Department, the United Nations Development Fund for Women and the Ministry of Public Health. The programs have been successful in addressing the trauma of three decades of conflict and violence.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has brought suffering to so many people, on both sides. People are longing for a true peace that will bring end to this suffering. Many of them feel that The Art of Living brings new hope to their country. They experience inner peace through His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s techniques and wisdom and are in a position to spread it in their surroundings.Many programs have been conducted along the separation wall between the Israeli side and the Palestinian territories. Art of Living volunteers are working in places along the border with Gaza strip, and along the boarder in Jerusalem Lebanon , Art of Living provided materials and trauma relief courses in the city of Haifa close to the northern border of Israel Jerusalem Israel
“Our dream and vision is that one day, Israelis and Palestinians will meet in weekly Satsangs (music and mediation sessions) and together, ‘Breathe for Peace’.” - Dafna Paz, Art of Living teacher in Tel Aviv |
In 2003, to bolster peace efforts, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar visited Lebanon
The Art of Living Foundation offered its support to the refugees of the 2006 Lebanon-Israel war. Volunteers assisted refugees from both Shia and Druze communities in Lebanon village of Baysour
“I didn’t know I could become so relaxed! I am so quiet and happy now! How can it be?” - Woman Participant, Refugee camp in |
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar continues to inspire thousands of people each day. His message of peace and compassion has brought together people from all factions and backgrounds to work together for a violence-free, stress-free world.
Summary
One-World Family
In February 2006, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar led over three million people from more than 110 countries through a meditation for global peace and harmony in Bangalore , India
Religious leaders from the world’s major faiths, political leaders and artists shared the 30-foot-tall, 3.5-acre stage, whose design was inspired by Vijayanagara (Hampi) architecture. The event was managed and coordinated by about 30,000 youth leaders.
Diverse cultural programs from different parts of the world were presented. For the first time in the history of Indian music, more than 3,800 musicians from different parts of India
At this Global Peace Summit, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar prescribed this Universal Agenda for Peace;
1. Recognize inner peace as the foundation for peace in society
2. Adopt a holistic approach that touches individuals, families, communities, nations and humanity as a whole
3. Have a practical spiritual basis and see stress as the main cause of violence
4. Promote a sense of belonging among diverse groups of people by rekindling human values
5. Promote development with a human face by placing sustainable development and social up-liftment alongside value education
6. Envisage youth as a key player in peacemaking
7. Include solutions to combat global terrorism
8. Foster human rights - political, civil, economic, cultural and social
The next few pages at the conclusion of this book has quotes from leaders all around the world on His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, AOL and IAHV.
A Celebrated World Vision
Leaders’ Speak
* “We need more than ever the contribution of men and women of faith who defend and promote the human values that bind us together... The values you (His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar) champion, including non-violence, compassion and the sanctity of all life, go to the heart of what the United Nations stands for.”
~ Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General, United Nations
* “Through its manifold activities, The Art of Living Foundation has made important contributions to transmit Human Values across the globe.”
~ Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister , India
* “There are big powers who have big might, but they are not able unite the hearts and minds of people. This work can be done only by a spiritual leader.”
~ Nouri al-Maliki, Prime Minister, Iraq
* “The Art of Living Foundation is one of India
~ Joseph Biden , United States Senator (VP of USA
* “The teachings of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar provide the world with a road-map for love, justice and harmony. His spiritual and humanitarian actions are worthy of praise since it is rare to find people so dedicated to the human cause. His knowledge, service and unwavering commitment to peace, drive thousands of volunteers towards community service.”
~ Sir Anerood Jugnauth, President, Mauritius
* “His Holiness His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar is seen as an international figure who has been spreading the message of peace and harmony throughout the world.”
~ Ranil Wickramasinghe, Former Prime Minister , Sri Lanka
* “It is such a simple concept to bring peace to the world, by starting, by bringing peace to yourself.”
~ Judge Tyrone Butler, Chief Administrative Law Judge, United States
* “We welcome the delegation with open arms and hearts. We welcome you as our brother and we are ready to work hand in hand with you.”
~ Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Yaqubi, Shia Leader, Iraq
* “Where ever The Art of Living Foundation builds- builds the world. With that simple message, if that’s something we can replicate in every community, in every country across the globe, this will be a peaceful and non-violent world to live in, for the benefit of all the future generations.”
~ Jim Gerlach , United States
* “I have met many NGOs - representatives of indigenous people - and they have made it clear that economic development alone does not suffice. The common future of our one world family is rooted in the awareness that we have only borrowed mother earth from the generations to come. The Art of Living is not the end, but it is the beginning for everybody and everything. It is the way to harmony.
~ Ruud Lubbers, Former Prime Minister, The Netherlands
*“I am proud to be a part of that group that is helping to create important bonds, and look forward to working with the man of peace, man of vision, man of compassion and a man of action. We certainly need that in the world today.”
~ Jan Schakowsky , United States
* “The Art of Living leads with an open mind to education, and that education leads to choice. It opened my eyes to how development could or would occur in the future.”
~ Myron S. Scholes, Nobel laureate in Economic Sciences
* “I commend His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar's emphasis on the inculcation of human values in all walks of life. Mere material progress, in the absence of concomitant development of the basic life-sustaining cultural and spiritual ideals, will not help our society in the long-run. The Art of Living Foundation is both an easy-to-understand philosophy and an easy-to-practice activity.”
~ Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Leader of Opposition & Former Prime Minister , India
* “His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’ initiatives consider human beings in their entirety, and heal the body, mind and spirit. The Art of Living is one of the rare NGOs which works at the grass root level, close to the population and goes to the core of the problem.”
~ Djedje Dano Sebastien, Minister of National Reconciliation, Ivory Coast
* “H.H. His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar’ projects that are being implemented in prisons in a far away country – my country – Croatia, are making life a little easier for our people there. You have made a mark, made a difference, and that is the greatest thing a human being can contribute in his lifetime.”
~ Dr. Vesna Pusic, Vice-President, Republic of Croatia
* “In a spirit of friendship, in a spirit of mutual respect and co-operation, and in a spirit of humankind, led by one who is able to bring joy to others and ignite the potential for good, I congratulate you, your Holiness.”
~ Danny Davis , United States
* “In spite of financial assistance from the state government, the mental stress and tension of the farmers in Maharashtra were not reduced. I met His Holiness His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankarji and requested him to take up the work in all the affected districts. The transformation brought about by The Art of Living is there for all to see.”
~ Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister of Maharashtra , India
* “We are all connected by the desire to make this world better. We need peace, and here in India
~ Dr. Janez Drnovsek, President, Republic of Slovenia
* “H.H. His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar’s mission of a beautiful, safe, happy and peaceful world for planet earth’s whole society is a great vision. This ‘enlightened society’ has three components – education with a value system, religion that transforms into spirituality and economic development for social transformation.”
~ Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Former President of India
* “My NGO, Transparency International, is fighting corruption all over the world, and it has been energized, inspired, and strengthened by H.H. His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar.”
~ Prof. Dr. Peter Eigen, Founder & Chairman of Advisory Board, Transparency International, Germany
* “It is indeed imperative to initiate programs for re-establishing human values in society and enhancing ideas for global harmony. I extend my deep admiration and appreciation for your work.”
~ Thorbjørn Jagland, Former Prime Minister , Norway
* “I strongly recommend The Art of Living program for police officers, and all others who want to experience inner peace and joy.”
~ Col. Khaliq Nawaz, Contingent Commander, UN Special Police unit
* “His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankarji teaches the principles of love, and compassion. He is an inspiration not just for India
~ Maulana Jameel Ahmed Illyasi, President All India Organisation of Imams of Mosques
* “In conflict resolution, the root of the problem is seldom addressed. We go to the top of the tree, but the root is mite ridden. His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s teachings address the root.”
~ Kiran Bedi, Former Director General of Prisons, India
* “My colleagues and I are impressed by the wisdom of (your) message and your commitment to world peace and to advancing an agenda of social justice worldwide. The Art of Living Foundation is engaged in fascinating work which cuts across a number of social and economic spheres.”
~ James D. Wolfensohn, Former President of the World Bank Group
* “The Art of Living Foundation… offer(s) the knowledge and teach(es) the practices that can make humankind more compassionate, kind, connected and loving.”
~ Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia , The Hague
* “Peace - if this is to be found in laws, institutions and social structures - must of necessity arise from the hearts and minds of people. His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar invites everyone to re-discover this source of peace, which has sadly become the central terrain of conflict and stress in our globalized world. No peace can be realized in society, local or international, if there is no peace in the hearts and minds of people. This is a truism whose methodology has eluded us for so long; and now His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar is showing us the means, the nuts and bolts, to realize peace in the hearts and minds of people everywhere.”
~ Pekka Ala-Pietilä, Former President of Nokia
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