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Spreading the message of love, compassion and non-violence, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar tirelessly advocates harmonious co-existence among people. While he addresses innumerable forums on diverse subjects, the common thread through all his speeches is the principle of humanity and brotherhood. His universal and simple message is that love and wisdom can prevail over hatred and distress.
Whether it is speaking to parliamentarians in Argentina, business leaders in Europe, peace organisations such as the United Nations and Muslim and Hindu leaders, Sri Sri emphasises human values and unity among people.
Sri Sri has been invited to address the World Economic Forum at Davos on two occasions, the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, the first World Congress of Imams and Rabbis in 2005 among other forums.
With an aim of bringing together leaders from diverse walks of life, Sri Sri has also hosted a number of symposiums. The Truth & Reconciliation Conference to foster equality of the Dalit community (2007), International Conference on Human Values (2006) and the annual Corporate Culture and Spirituality Symposiums being a few of them.
Through his public talks and symposiums, Sri Sri addresses issues of inter-faith harmony, environmental sustainability, poverty alleviation and grassroots development. He inspires thousands across the globe to live the philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or a One World Family.
“We have made revolution in education and we need a revolution in the spiritual transition of celebrating the diversity and recognising the similarity.” Read More
“Every child should know a little bit about all the different cultures, civilizations, faiths in the world. Then they will live in harmony and let others live together as one family. The world as one family – we are all part of that one family.” Read More
“We need to look at life with the ‘Three Cs’:
- A Cosmic (or broader) vision of a problem.
- Commitment - Without commitment, you will not be able to move a step forward – we need to have commitment for peace.
- Compassion – without compassion, you cannot understand another person’s point of view.” Read more
“When there is wisdom, even though there are different view points, there will be no conflict. Wisdom always views reality from various different angles. Honoring the diversity, finding unity in it, is wisdom. Celebrating diversity in oneness and finding unity in diversity are the two main aspects of wisdom.” Read More
“Muslim children are in Buddhist monasteries and Buddhist children are housed in Hindu temples or churches. All religious places of worship have housed everybody as humans. We must know that we belong to one universal spirit first and then we are human. When this basic identity is forgotten, we will continue to face the problems that we are facing today.” Read more
Spirit loves diversity. There is not just one type of fruit, one type of people, or one type of animal in this world. Spirit loves diversity so let’s not confine the spirit to a uniform. Let’s enjoy the diverse variety of creation by honouring them all, respecting and really loving them. We used to use the term "religious tolerance". I think that these words have become obsolete now. You tolerate only that which you don’t love. Don’t you think so? The time has come to love each other’s religions as one’s own. Read More
Watch Video: Sri Sri Speaking at the UN Millennium Summit
Non-violence, friendliness and cooperation must come to be recognized as the new norm, as hallmarks of today’s true hero. Moreover, a sense of pride must be kindled in connection with these qualities, instead of with violence and aggression.Read More
- National Defence Academy (January 2009)
- Youth indigenous festival in Arunachal Pradesh (December 2008)
- The Civilization of Peace: Faiths and Cultures in Dialogue (November 2008)
- 29th National Conference of Jamiat Ulema-e Hind (November 2008)
- University of North Texas (October 2008)
- Rice University (October 2008)
- Wharton School (October 2008)
- University of Connecticut (October 2008
- Point of Peace Summit (September 2008)
- Argentinian Senate (May 2008)
- House of People’s Representative, Ethiopia (December 2007)
- Parliament of South Africa (May 2006)
- European Parliament - Brussels, Belgium (May 2006)
- Parliament of Germany/Deutscher Bundestag (May 2006)
- Karnataka Legislature, India (April 2006)
- Parliament of Krasnoyarsk, Russia (August 2005)
- Religions and Peace: From Terrorism to Global Ethics (June 2005)
- World Congress of Imams and Rabbis (January 2005)
- European Parliament - Brussels, Belgium (December 2004)
- International Court of Justice, The Hague (December 2004)
- Orissa Legislative Assembly, India (November 2004)
- North-East Youth Conference- India (October 2004)
- Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan (July 2004)
- Scottish Parliament (June 2004)
- Federal Senate, Brazil (May 2004)
- Institute of International Affairs/CARI, Argentina (May 2004)
- Panama Chamber of Commerce, Panama (May 2004)
- “Toward a National Dialogue on Integrity Issues: Roles of the Public, Private and NGO Sectors in Promoting a National Integrity Agenda”- World Bank and the Turkish Ethical Values Foundation, Turkey (March 2004)
- Interfaith Conference for World Religious Leaders - Seville, Spain (December 2003)
- 5th World Congress on Environmental Management- Himachal Pradesh, India (June 2003)
- 11th International Anti-Corruption Conference - “Different Cultures, Common Values” - Seoul, South Korea (May 2003)
- “Science, Meditation and Creativity”- NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Washington DC, USA (April 2003)
- Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi, India (March 2003)
- “Symposium Towards Peace, Progress and Salvation”- Jammat-E-Islami Hind, Bangalore, India (March 2003)
- Inter Pacific Bar Association, New Delhi, India (February 2003)
- “Dawn of the New ICE Age – Philosophic Consideration on Convergence”- Inter Pacific Bar Association, India (February 2003)
- World Conference on Religion for Peace - “Prayer and Meditation for Peace” - Washington DC, U.S.A (January 2003)
- Symposium: Science and the Spiritual Quest- Bangalore, India (January 2003)
- World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland - “Love and Trust” (January 2003)
- Madrid Convention on Aging - Madrid, Spain (December 2002)
- World Ayurveda Congress - Kochi, India (November 2002)
- “Social Partnerships Make Business Sense”- Confederation of Indian Industry, Mumbai, India (November 2002)
- Contributions of the Holy Vedas and the Holy Quran to Science- Bangalore, India (August 2002)
- Technology and Tradition- Confederation of Indian Industries, Hyderabad, India (August 2002)
- First Dalit Conference - Bangalore, India (August 2002)
- World Peace Through Prayer and Meditation - Venice, Italy (May 2002)
- Symposium on the Science of Breath- All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India (March 2002)
- “Volunteering for Humanism in the New Millennium”- VIII IAVE Asia-Pacific Conference, New Delhi, India (November 2001)
- 11th International Forum on Technology Management- India (November 2001)
- “Sacredness Transcends Time and Space” - Opening Ceremony of the Museum of World Religions, Taipei, Taiwan (November 2001)
- Strasbourg, France: “Human Values in the 21st Century” (June 2001)
- Sri Sri Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos Watch Video
- World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland - “Where are the Peacemakers?” (February 2001)
- “Living Human Values: A Call to Action” - Amsterdam, Netherlands (November 2000)
- “Shaping Globalization”- State of the World Forum (September 2000)
- United Nations, New York, U.S.A. - Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders (August 2000)
- “Human Values and Human Rights in the 21st Century”- National Press Club, Washington DC (May 1999)
- Calcutta Management Association, India (April 1998)
- Conference: Breaking the Cycle of Violence - Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A (June 1998)
- Interfaith Conference - Paris, France (April 1998)
- Inter Religious Conference- Parliament of Croatia (January 1998)
- Conference: The World’s Great Religions and Their Transformation in the 21st Century - University of California, U.S.A (January 1998)
- International Conference of Religions- Kyoto, Japan (1996)
- International Congress of Catholic Priests- (September, 1996)
- Interfaith Prayer and Meditation Conference- Washington DC & Los Angeles, USA (July 1996)
- United Nations 50th Anniversary - New York, U.S.A. (1995)
- Brahm Naad, Delhi, India, (November 2008)
- 5th Corporate Culture and Spirituality Conference, Brussels, (November 2008)
- Faith in Action: Hindu Leaders’ Caucus on HIV/AIDS (June 2008)
- Peace and Reconciliation in South Asia: Challenges and Opportunities, Oslo (April 2008)
- Vedanta and Buddhism: Bringing Global Peace in the Current Scenario, Bangalore, India (February 2008)
- Truth and Reconciliation Conference, New Delhi, India (2007)
- Universal Declaration of Human Values, Washington D.C. (2007)
- International Conference on Integrated Value Education- UNESCO, Ministry of Human Resource Development (Government of India)
- Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO, The Art of Living - Bangalore (June 2006)
- International Conference on Human Values - marking the 25th Anniversary of The Art of Living - Bangalore (February 2006)
- International Women’s Conference- Bangalore (June 2005) {Biannual event}
- Human Values, Science and Sustainable Development - Bangalore (November 2003)
- Rice University, Houston, Texas (May, 2003)
- Uplifting Spirit Through Education - University of California, Berkeley, The Art of Living (May, 2003)
- The World Conference on Spiritual Regeneration and Human Values - Bangalore (January, 2003)
- World Youth Peace Summit - Bangalore (2003)
- Living Human Values: A Call to Action- Amsterdam, Netherlands (November 2000)
- Living Human Values- National Press Club, Washington DC (May 1999)
- International Conference for Human Values- IAHV (May 1998)
- Corporate Culture and Spirituality- Bangalore {Annual event}
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