Art of Living
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The Art of Living Foundation, founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, claims to be one of the world's largest volunteer-based non-governmental organizations [1].
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[edit] Stated mission
A non-denominational, educational and humanitarian non-profit organization, The Art of Living Foundation (AOLF)'s stated goal is to uplift society by strengthening the individual through programs that create a sense of belonging, restore human values, develop life to its full potential, and encourage people from all backgrounds, religions, and cultural traditions to come together in celebration and service. The Foundation claims to have programs in more than 145 countries around the world [2], and offers a proprietary breathing and personal-development program. As of 2006, it is one of the 2870 organizations that are in special consultative status with UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and one of the 1533 NGOs worldwide associated with the UN's Department of Public Information. [3].
[edit] International Chapters
The Art of Living Foundation claims to be active in over 145 countries, with its headquarters in Bangalore, India at Ved Vignan Manahvidyapeeth or VVM (usually referred to as the Bangalore Ashram). For all financial and management purposes, many countries either have their own government registered chapters or come under a framework of a regional chapter. The Foundation's chief undertaking is to organize Art of Living courses, yoga and meditation workshops, and education and trauma relief in areas of trauma and disaster. The officers of the organization, along with most of its teachers and staff, are unpaid volunteers. All humanitarian programs, disaster relief efforts and training programs are conducted through, or in conjunction with its sister organization, the International Association for Human Values.
- Art of Living Foundation, U.S.A.
The United States chapter is incorporated in California as a nonprofit educational organization. Both AOLF and IAHV are tax-exempt organizations under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code [4] in the USA. According to the year tax return filed by AOLF's American chapter [5], the foundation had total revenues of $3,212,360 and expenditure of $1,883,435 in 2004. The major sources of revenue for the organization are the sale of books and course fees. The organizers and part-time course instructors are paid from the money collected as course fees for the courses they teach. As per law, detailed financial documents are made available upon request[6].
- Vyakti Vikas Kendra, India
The Indian chapter is incorporated in Bangalore as a nonprofit educational organization. The organization is tax-exempt under section 80G of the Income Tax act. Tax exemption is also available vide section 35(i)(iii) of the Income Tax act. Every state has its own APEX body handling the information centers in various cities.
- Die Kunst des Lebens, Germany
The German Chapter is located in Bad Antogast, Oppenau. The European Center (usually referred to as the German Ashram) manages much of the activities throughout the most of European countries.
- Other prominent chapters
- Omanut Hachayim, Israel (Website)
- Fundação Arte de Viver, Brazil (Website)
- El Arte de Vivir, Argentina (Website)
[edit] Sudarshan Kriya
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Sudarshan Kriya is a breathing process, based on ancient breathing techniques. It was designed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in 1982, and is a core offering of many of the personal-development, stress- and trauma-relief programs taught by the AOLF. Although the foundation claims that the technique has been patented, no patent records can be found in the US patents database as of Dec 2006. An indian newspaper has publicly described the technique in an article. [7]
Several studies related to Sudarshan Kriya have been published in peer-review journals, and those who continue to practice Sudarshan Kriya and its related practices clearly believe in its benefits. Some of the published studies include:
- Gerbarg, P., Brown, R. (2005) Stress-reducing programs relieve trauma symptoms, perhaps by stimulating the vagus nerve. Current Psychiatry. 4 (10) 55-67.
- Sharma, H., Sen, S., Singh, N.K. Bhardwaj, V. Kochupillai, N. Singh (2003). Sudarshan Kriya practitioners exhibit better antioxidant status and lower blood lactate levels. Biological Psychology, 63:281-291.
- Bhatia, M., Kumar, A., Kumar, N., Pandey, R.M., and Kochupillai, V. (2003). Electrophysiologic evaluation of Sudarshan Kriya: an EEG, BAER, and P300 study. Indian J. Physiol. Pharmacol, 47, 157-163.
- Janakiramaiah, N., Gangadhar, BN., Naga Venkatesha Murthy, P.J., Harish, M.G., Subbakrishna, D.K.,Vedamurthachar A. (2000). Antidepressant efficacy of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) in melancholia: a randomized comparison with Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and Imipramine. Journal of Affective Disorders, 57(1-3):255-9.
- Naga Venkatesha Murthy, P.J., Janakiramaiah, N., Gangadhar, B.N., Subbakrishna, D.K. (1998). P300 amplitude and antidepressant response to Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY). Journal of Affective Disorders, 50(1):45-8.
- Naga Venkatesha Murthy, P.J., Gangadhar, B.N., Janakiramaiah, N., Subbakrishna, D.K. (1997). Normalization of P300 Amplitude following Treatment in Dysthymia. Biological Psychiatry, 42, 740-743.
[edit] Courses Offered
The Art of Living Foundation offers several courses based on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's teachings and proprietary breathing and other techniques. The course fees are around $200-$400 as of 2006 (with discounts for students and senior citizens), but vary according to the specific course and the location it is offered at.
The participants are also required to sign non-disclosure agreements certifying that they will not reveal, or teach others the course content until they are trained by AOLF to do so, and accept responsibility for any benefits they may or may not derive from the course. The courses are conducted by teachers trained by AOLF. [8]
- The Art of Living Course, Part-I Course
- Most commonly referred to as simply the 'Art of Living Course,' this is the standard workshop offered by the Foundation. [9] The course lasts about 20-25 hours over six days.
The Sudarshan Kriya is introduced through this course along with other breathing techniques, knowledge, and processes. The format of the course is sometimes tailored for specfic groups:
- APEX Course - "Achieving Personal Excellence" is a workshop formatted for a corporate setting.
- College Program - This is offered to college students through university campuses around the world
- The Art of Living Prison Program - Part of the Prison Rehabilitation program offered to inmates and juvenile offenders in many countries.
- The Art of Living Course, Part-II
- This course has a pre-requisite of having done a Part-I course.
This is a three and a half day course which includes Meditations, Yoga and other processes. Often a residential course, the participants are in silence for some duration of the course. [10]
- Advance Meditation Course
- Though similar to the Part-II course, the Advance Courses are much bigger in terms of the number of participants, due to the presence of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
The Art of Living Part-II course is a pre-requisite to do this course.
- Sahaj Samadhi Meditation
- An effortless meditation technique taught by the foundation, this course is usually offered over 3 sessions, with each session lasting about 90 minutes. [11]
- Sri Sri Yoga
- The course goes beyond yoga asanas (poses), covering points from physical anatomy, diet, etc. and also some forms of meditations and pranayaams. [12]
- Yoga and Meditation camp (Pranayaam Dhyaan Shivir)
- Usually conducted by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar himself, the course lasts from one to three days.
- ART-Excel Course
- All Round Training in Excellence is a course designed for children usually in the age group of 8-14 years. [13]
- YES! Course
- "Youth Empowerment Seminar" is a workshop designed for teenagers. [14]
- YES!+ Course
- YES-Plus is an enhanced version of “Youth Empowerment Seminar” for the young adults and college students. [15]
- DSN
- DSN stands for 'Divya Samaj ka Nirmaan' (Creating a Divine Society) and according to AOLF is designed to break personal boundaries and limitations, and empower the participants into becoming more active in community service projects.
At the heart of the course is a process called 'Padma Sadhna' which is a set of certain select Yoga Asanas [16]
- Breath-Water-Sound Workshop
- A free 3-day workshop offered where time and logistics or other circumstances make it difficult to organize a Part-1 Course. BWS is usually offered through AOLF's sister organization, the International Association for Human Values, during trauma relief and disaster recovery experts and in rural or tribal areas of the world.
- Navchetna Shibirs
- Literal meaning of Navchetna - A New Consciousness, Shibir- For Workshop in Hindi language.
While the Breadth-Water-Sound workshop is designed for the World at large, the Navchetna Shibir(quite similar to the BWS Workshop) are designed specially for the rural and tribal areas of India.
- TTC-I & TTC-II
- These are Teacher Training Courses offered in two 15-day training phases.
Anyone fulfilling certain pre-requisites becomes eligible for the TTC-I . TTC-II is by invitation and depends upon the service projects one has undertaken after doing TTC-I. After doing TTC-I, one becomes a teacher for the Breadth-Water-Sound workshop and Navchetna Shibir.
TTC-II is further divided into TTC for ART Excel/YES, Part-I, Sri Sri Yoga.
[edit] Silver Jubilee Celebration
The Art of Living's Silver Jubilee was celebrated on 17-19 February, 2006, at the 243-acre Jakkur Airfield. Attendees from up to 110 countries participated in the celebrations, and estimates of the cumulative attendance over the three days were as high as 2.5 million or more, according to crowd estimates by several Indian newspapers (Deccan Herald, etc.). Among those attending were A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India; Ruud Lubbers, a former prime minister of the Netherlands; Otumfuo Osei Tutu II , King of Ghana; and people of diffferent faiths and walks of life. [17]. The highlight of the third day (19 Feb) , was a public meditation, in which 1 million or more people are claimed to have participated.
[edit] Professional Affiliations & Memberships
AOLF is an international Non-Governmental Organization in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations, with accredited representatives at the United Nations in New York, Geneva, and Vienna. AOLF has also worked in formal consultation with the World Health Organization (WHO): "Development of a Global Health Policy for the 21st Century". AOLF is also affiliated with the International Association for Human Values.
AOLF is a member to the following international associations:
- CONGO (Conference of NGO's in consultative status with ECOSOC of the United Nations), Geneva and New York
- United Nations NGO Committees: Health, Mental Health, Committee on Aging, New York *
- United Nations NGO Values Caucus, New York and Geneva
- International Union for Health Promotion and Education, Paris
- NGO Forum for Health, Geneva
- National Association of Women's Organizations, Uganda
[edit] Criticisms
Along with the popularity, the Art of Living Foundation has faced criticism as follows.
[edit] Financial Dealings
As a non-profit organization, the foundation has been criticized for its commercial nature and for charging high fees for the Art of Living courses. A non profit organization, though, is not legally prohibited from charging a fee and some non-profit organizations use fees to pay their expenses (staff, printing, hall and facility rental, etc.), while others depend upon donations. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has also cited earlier issues with non-commitment of the course participants when the courses were being offered for free [18]. Organizers point out that the course fee in lieu of the fee for the basic workshop, a participant is entitled to attend "weekly follow-up" sessions anywhere in the world at no additional cost. Full time students and senior citizens are generally offered a discount and courses are regularly taught for free at several places such as prisons, slum areas and at disaster relief areas such as Iraq [19], after the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York, New Orleans since Katrina, etc.
The foundation states that the money collected from courses is directed towards its "operating expenses, special service related projects, building improvements and endowments".[20]. According to the 2005 tax return filed by the American chapter [21], AOLF had total revenues of $3.2 M (mainly from course fees and public support) and expenditure of $1.9M (mainly in salaries, occupancy expenses and travel) in 2004; however none of the money went towards international developmental or humanitarian programs, disaster relief, scientific/medical research or charitable activity. According to the document, the organizations sole accomplishment for the year was to "teach art of living courses".
Critics also point to the ostentatious ceremonies the Art of Living Foundation conducted to celebrate the Art of Living's Silver Jubilee, as well as the the grand Ashram the organization has built at Bangalore, India. [22] Followeres claim that the ashram turned down at least one large donation that would have built many buildings several years ago because Sri Sri Ravi Shankar wanted it to be the product of the efforts of many people, not just a few.[citation needed]
[edit] Patenting and Non-Disclosure
The participants to any Art of Living course are required to sign the non-disclosure statement in the registration form. Critics are said to view this requirement and AOLF's claim of having patented Sudarshan Kriya as conflicting with the foundation's stated goals, though it is not clear which goals this conflicts with. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has stated that the Sudarshan Kriya had been filed for patent, "Because someone else was going to patent it. We patented it so we could teach. Otherwise, it would have become a commercial commodity in the US long ago." [23]. Others critics have highlighted that similar breathing practices have existed for a long time, especially as part of Yoga in the form of Pranayama; and charged that Sudarshan Kriya is simply a new marketing term for old exercises. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has responded to such claims saying that Sudarshan Kriya is different and one has to experience it for oneself in order to appreciate it.[24]
AOLF registered "Sudarshan Kriya" as a trademark with the USPTO in 1995 and was filed for renewal in 2006, giving it exclusive rights to make commercial use of the term in the U.S. [25]. However there is no evidence to support Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's claim that Sudarshan Kriya was patented, either in India or the U.S.A.
[edit] Effectiveness of Sudarshan Kriya
The Art of Living volunteers have been criticized for making unsubstantiated claims about the effectiveness of Sudarshan Kriya in benefiting patients suffering from not only depression and trauma but also cancer and AIDS. Published research done at India's National Institute for Mental Health and Nueroscience indicates that Sudarshan Kriya and its related practices are as effective as medication and electroshock therapy in treating depression. [see the reference under Sudarshan Kriya above: Janakiramaiah, N., et al. Antidepressant efficacy of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) in melancholia: a randomized comparison with Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and Imipramine. Journal of Affective Disorders, 57(1-3):255-9.] However this research has not yet been validated and there is no scientific research supporting wider claims for Sudarshan Kriya's benefits. Critics charge that exaggerated and pseudoscientific claims (for instance, the claim that HIV cannot survive in the oxygen rich environment produced by Sudarshan Kriya [26]) mislead patients with serious physical and mental illness and thus prove dangerous and cause harm.
The foundation makes no official guarantee or promise of any therapeutic effects of Sudarshan Kriya, although research, personal experiences and testimonials of those benefited are highlighted.
[edit] Exaggerated claims
According to an article in Reader's Digest:
"There is no doubt, however, that some of its claims are exaggerated. For instance, according to an AOL brochure its “Youth Empowerment Seminar” is compulsory at 10 German universities. A random check by Reader’s Digest at five of the universities revealed that not only is the seminar not compulsory, it is not even part of the academic curriculum. It is offered as a leisure activity, alongside tennis and aerobics." [1]
[edit] Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has been accused by critics of leading a personality cult, with certain followers in India and elsewhere treating him as a deity. The organization's volunteers attribute this to the ancient Indian cultural norm of referring to a spiritual guide as a guru, and the tradition of having a spiritual master. Most Art of Living programs are taught without this orientation, however, and some programs make little or no reference to the founder, although many AOFL followers greet each other with "Jai Guru Dev" ('Literal meaning- "Victory to the divine teacher", though the foundation explains it to mean- "Victory of the Big God". Where Jai means Victory, Guru is for 'Big' in Sanskrit and Dev is for God, which comes to mean close to 'Victory of the Divine Order'). When questioned in talks and interviews, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has occasionally expressed discomfort with his followers touching his feet [27] - however, the tradition of taking a spiritual master is an option for those who choose it and many followers show open admiration for the teacher. Critics complain of certain followers who criticize anyone who questions the organization’s teachings. Notably, many Art of Living volunteers have objected to such (rare) conduct saying that it goes against the teachings of the foundation.
[edit] Notes
- ^ A. Mahadevan Face to Face, Reader's Digest
