My Take-Away From Public Speech by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder of Art of Living Foundation

On, 5th of April 2010, I attended a public talklook within us.
organized by the Art of Living Foundation in NewAfter a brief talk Sri Sri answered audience questions.
Zealand. The speaker was the founder of theOne of the questions that stuck to my mind was
organization Sri Sri Ravi Shankar."who are you?" "What is your vision?" - And most
I have not heard about this organization until Iimportantly the answer he gave. He said that is it
started my yoga lessons. My yoga instructor told mesuch an important question, we have to ask this
about this, without knowing what to expect, Ifrom ourselves. You see, this again ties back to the
decided to go. I was amazed to see around 4,000statement he made at the beginning about life.
people attending the event.Socrates once said "Knowing thyself is the height of
I learned that this organization was found in 1981, bywisdom" - How powerful is this?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, an international not for profitThere is very little we can do by understanding
educational & humanitarian organization. Thisothers, when we understand who we are, our
foundation is active in more than 150 countries,values, our purpose in this beautiful but short thing
offering educational and self-development programscalled life we can do so much to us, our families,
designed to eliminate stress and foster a sense ofcommunity and the world at large.
well-being.Do you spend time connecting with your self and
There are thousands of volunteers working with thegetting to know you? This is something I have to
foundation to facilitate the self-developmentwork hard and it is a process.
programs. These programs include yoga, breathingI believe that this exercise will help you to grow as a
techniques and meditation.human being and once you start on this journey
The purpose of my article today is to share with youthere is no looking back you will go from strength to
few lessons I learned from this wise man;strength in all area of your life.
At the beginning the Art of Living Foundation NewFinally, love to share some quotes by Sri Sri Ravi
Zealand presented him a souvenir which was giftShankar.
wrapped in gold paper. While unwrapping the gift heLife is nothing to be very serious about. Life is a ball
said "Life is a gift we get wrapped in Gold paper, butin your hands to play with. Do not hold on to the ball.
we do not take the time to unwrap and look inside"Only Love can make life fulfilling.
..., think about it. I am not sure about you, but this is"Want" is always hanging on to the "I". When "I" itself
so true for me. We take very little time if at all, tois dissolving, "want" also dissolves, disappears.