Who is H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar?

Coming Up an Exclusive Interview with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
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(April 20. Oslo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a spiritual and humanitarian leader. He was born on May 13, 1956 in Tamil Nadu, India. He is often referred to by the double-honorific "Sri Sri", Guruji or Gurudev. He is the founder of the international Art of Living Foundation which aims to relieve stress at an individual level, and to relieve disease and violence at a societal level.

Shankar is also a driving force behind the charitable organization, International Association for Human Values, which conducts the "5H" program.

Ravi Shankar was born to Venkat Ratnam, a scholar of languages, and Vishalakshi. His parents named him Shankar since his birthday matched that of the 8th century CE Hindu saint, Adi Shankara. According to his biographies, at the age of four he could recite verses from the Bhagavad Gita. He was said to be often found in deep meditation even at a young age. Some of his followers of the Art of Living movement claim he received an advanced degree in physics at the age of 17.
Shankar is a former disciple of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. At his early age, his father delegated him to the care of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Shankar joined Maharishi's entourage, taught the Vedic pundits at Maharishi's charities, and soon became the Maharishi’s favorite disciple. In the early 1990s, Shankar added the honorific Sri Sri to his own name Ravi Shankar after the renowned sitarist Ravi Shankar objected that the guru was capitalizing on the latter's fame.

In an interview, Shankar said that in 1982, after a ten-day retreat into silence on the banks of the Bhadra river in Shimoga in Karnataka, India, the "Sudarshan Kriya" --a rhythmic breathing exercise-- came to him "like a poem, an inspiration". He added, "I learned it and started teaching it." Shankar says that every emotion has a corresponding rhythm in the breath, and believes that regulating breath could help people with their suffering.

Shankar founded the Art of Living Foundation in 1982 to spread the breathing technique. Along with Dalai Lama and others, he founded in 1997 the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) to "to foster on a global scale a deeper understanding of the values that unite us as a human community."
- Sri Lanka Guardian