Art of Living | Art of Living Programs

The Art of Living Foundation is a non-profit humanitarian and educational organization run entirely by volunteers (NGO). Ravi Shankar founded it in 1981. The Art of Living Foundation has locations in over 156 countries. Art of Living provides a variety of stress-reduction and self-development programs that are based on breathing techniques, meditation, and yoga. Since 1989, the Art of Living Foundation has been an educational and humanitarian organization in the United States.

It was accredited as a United Nations non-governmental organization in 1996 and has special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. The majority of the organization’s officers, as well as the majority of its teachers and staff, are volunteers. Many of its programs are run by or in collaboration with the International Association for Human Values, a partner organization (IAHV).

Its programs are based on the tradition and practices of Advaita Vedanta. The Foundation is a charitable or non-profit organization with chapters all over the world. From July 2006 to June 2007, AOL Foundation had total revenues of $US5.5 million, an income of $US3.5 million from course fees, and expenditures of $US3.4 million, according to the tax return filed by the American chapter. Net assets were $US7.7 million at the beginning of July 2007.

Programming and courses related to Art of Living: 

Its stress-reduction and self-development programs are based on the Sudarshan Kriya breathing technique, meditation, and yoga. This technique is taught extensively in Art of Living classes. These courses have been taught to students and faculty, as well as government officials, firefighters, ex-militants, and prisoners. 

Social Services related to Art of Living: 

Its areas of work include disaster relief, poverty alleviation, prisoner rehabilitation, women’s empowerment, anti-female foeticide campaigns, and environmental sustainability. 

Projects related to the Art of living: 

1. With the help of the state government:

volunteers from the foundation trained farmers in organic and zero-budget farming, rainwater harvesting, and multiple cropping in six Vidarbha districts in 2007, and also taught them the Art of Living course. The following year, the foundation announced that it would have to scale back its efforts after the state government announced a loan waiver for farmers and withdrew funding for the foundation’s project. In 2008, Ravi Shankar announced the expansion of the program to Andhra Pradesh in order to prevent farmer suicides due to financial stress. 

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2. Mission Green Earth:

In partnership with the United Nations Millennium Campaign and the United Nations Environment Programme, the foundation launched the ‘Mission Green Earth Stand Up Take Action’ campaign in 2008 to plant 100 million trees to help reduce global warming and protect the environment. In 2010, the foundation took part in the United Nations Environment Programme’s “Billion Tree Campaign” in Bangladesh.

3. River Rejuvenation Projects: 

In February 2013, the foundation launched a three-year program with civic authorities and environmentalists to revitalize the Kumudavathi River in Bangalore as part of its ‘Volunteer for Better India’ campaign to address water shortage issues. In order to raise awareness about the program, Ravi Shankar organized a walkathon in Bangalore.

By June 2014, the project had restored five water-recharge wells, built 74 boulder checks, cleaned up 18 step wells, and planted 2,350 saplings in seven villages. Similar efforts were made in Andhra Pradesh to revitalize the Pallar River, Maharashtra’s Manjra River, and Karnataka’s Vedavathi River. 

4. Volunteer for a Better India:

On December 5, 2012, The Art of Living, in collaboration with UN agencies, NGOs, and civil society, launched Volunteer for a Better India (VFABI). In May 2013, 1,634 volunteers distributed Rs. 2.2 million in medicines to over 20,000 Delhi slum dwellers through 108 free health camps organized in collaboration with the Indian Medical Association. The ‘I vote for better India’ initiative was launched in September 2013 to raise awareness of the importance of voting as a societal responsibility. 

Controversies related to Art of Living:

1. Settlement with anonymous bloggers:

Art of Living sued two anonymous bloggers in 2010 for defamation, trade libel, copyright infringement, and revealing trade secrets. The two claimed to be former Art of Living teachers/followers who had written posts critical of the foundation. The Foundation’s request to reveal the identities of the bloggers was denied, and the judge allowed only the trade secrets claim to proceed to trial. In a 2012 settlement, the bloggers agreed to freeze their existing blogs while permitting new blogs critical of Art of Living to be launched. 

2. Land encroachment:

In 2011, the Karnataka High Court heard a public-interest litigation petition alleging that Art of Living had built structures on the Udipalya tank. On inspection, the Karnataka government discovered that the foundation had encroached on 6.53 hectares (16.1 acres) of tank area and issued a show cause notice. 

3. World Cultural Festival on the Yamuna Flood Plains:

In March 2016, the Art of Living Foundation organized the World Culture Festival on the Yamuna Flood Plains. A committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal recommended that the Art of Living Foundation be fined Rs 1,200 million for harming the ecology of the flood plains. The fine was later reduced to Rs 50 million, and no further events at that location were permitted.

The foundation paid the fine on June 3, 2016, after initially disputing it, with Ravi Shankar declaring that he would rather go to prison. The case is still pending, with the Foundation denying any wrongdoing. 

4. The burning of the Islamabad center in Pakistan:

After the organization’s yoga center in Islamabad, Pakistan, was set on fire by armed men in March 2014, the Foundation reported receiving Taliban threats. Since then, the center has been rebuilt and is operational. 

Conclusion 

In the above article, we have learned in detail about the Art of living foundation. The term ‘art-of-living’ refers to the abilities required to live a good life. Because there are different perspectives on what constitutes a good life may result in differences in the abilities required.

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