Spiritual Leader Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Visits Portland

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi, founder of Art of Living, will be at Merrill Auditorium on Saturday. Courtesy of Art of Living Foundation

International spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, will visit Portland for the first time on Saturday for an event at Merrill Auditorium, his only scheduled public appearance in the United States this year.

Shankar founded the Art of Living Foundation in 1981 as an educational and humanitarian endeavor known for developing and teaching holistic health techniques, including meditation and breathing exercises, in the name of creating a more peaceful society. The nonprofit has centers in 180 countries and 150 members in Maine.

“We’re very happy he’s here,” said Stephanie Rand of Falmouth, spokeswoman for the Maine chapter, which partners with facilities such as the University of New England College of Osteopathy, the Maine Correctional Center and the Grieving Children’s Center to provide stress management and trauma relief programs.

“It’s a unique opportunity to experience meditation with a meditation master, which is very different from doing it through an app, and very different from doing it in a group or by yourself,” says Rand, who first encountered Art of Living while attending the University of New Hampshire and had such a positive experience that she began helping the organization expand to 120 college campuses across the United States.

Last year, Shankar traveled across the U.S., visiting more than 30 cities, but never in Maine. Neither Rand nor Dan Cashman, a publicist for the event, knew why Shankar decided to come here this year. Shankar will also travel to St. Louis, Missouri, to speak at a private medical association event and to visit the Art of Living monastery in Boone, North Carolina, but neither event is open to the public.

On Saturday, Shankar will speak about stress and mental tendencies and lead a meditation practice and question-and-answer session. In addition to his teachings, Shankar is known for brokering peace in Sri Lanka, Iran, Venezuela and Colombia. He has received 39 awards from governments for his charitable work.

But critics of the Art of Living Foundation accuse Shankar of commercializing spirituality, and some former staff and participants have called for more transparency about how the funds are spent. Critics also argue that gurus are not there to amass money or power, as Shankar does, and accuse the foundation of focusing on making money and increasing enrollment, saying that core values ​​of Hinduism are often ignored. Classes and programs offered through the Maine chapter cost between $125 and $1,500, although programs for veterans and prisoners are free.

Manas Ram, director of international volunteer programs at Art of Living, said the accusations were baseless.

“When you compare what you actually get with what you pay, there’s no comparison,” he said, “and in areas where there’s a need for programming, Art of Living does free programming. The depth and breadth of the foundation is so broad that I think it caters to just about every type of person, regardless of economic background.”

Many of the organization’s staff and supporters are volunteers.

“People do this because they believe it works and they know it will help other people,” said Dr. Roopul Unia, a neurologist at Midcoast Hospital in Brunswick and an Art of Living participant. “They use the large amounts of money they raise from classes and donations to help with disaster relief and building schools around the world.”

In addition to volunteering as the state coordinator, Rand also holds a paid position as the director of operations for Art of Living’s SKY Campus Happiness Program.

“Who would have thought that this extracurricular activity I did my freshman year would completely change my trajectory,” Rand said. “I think the meditation that we did in that program really calmed my mind, so my thoughts weren’t racing anymore. And I noticed a lot of other benefits. I would have a lot less anticipatory stress. I was more comfortable with conflict and confrontation.”

Among the teachings of Art of Living is Sky Breath Meditation, a special technique created by Shankar that combines different breathing techniques to calm the mind.

“From a medical standpoint, this breathing technique activates the parasympathetic nervous system, calms the fight-or-flight response and puts you in rest-and-digest mode,” says Unia, who learned the technique at age 16 and has been involved with the group her whole life, and recommends the meditation technique to patients who want to try something other than prescription medication.

“Instead of cutting tree after tree, if you have a way of sharpening your axe first, it will take less effort and give better results,” Ram said of Shankar’s practice. “Meditating with Gurudev is like sharpening your axe, and I think you can really succeed in life without a lot of stress.”

Copy story link

” previous