Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of The Art of Living Foundation, speaks of inner peace in Nagagusuku

April 13, 2017 Ryukyu Shimpo

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, 61, founder of The Art of Living Foundation, gave a speech at the Nakagusuku Castle Remains. The Art of Living Foundation is an international NGO centered in India that provides humanitarian and educational assistance all over the world. Shankar said in his speech, “Having inner peace will create peace everywhere,” and stressed the importance of Yoga and me
ditation. At one point in the speech, he even led the audience in meditation.

Shankar was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Some of his lasting achievements include entering negotiations between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC), which led to a ceasefire in the 50-year long conflict in Colombia. While promoting peace worldwide, Shankar also instructs Yoga.

Shankar also said, “When you touch the higher dimensions you will find an underlying unity in all the diversity… you will find that there is nothing other than you, everything is a part of you.”

He added, “Whe
n you go to a higher dimension, you do not notice anything outside of your body. When the mind is small, you think small and as a result, you don’t communicate properly with people around you; there is friction. When you are in the big mind, your ability to communicate improves. In a state of enlightenment, there is no ‘other’ to talk about because everything is a part of you.’”

Shankar raised a number of examples of ways to achieve inner peace including (1) Having clarity in mind, purity in heart, and sincerity in action (2) Doing things useful to people (3) Keeping a smile (4) Meditation (5) Seeing the big picture in life. “We should not let our mind get stuck in events,
incidences and people. We have to sail through them all, and then our smile will be stronger.”

To the audience members, he said, “Today, leave your everyday worries and anxieties behind. I want you to go home thinking only the best things will happen.”

Speech planner Shinko Imai, 42, from Kita-Nakagusuku, said, “In Okinawa, with the base problem, although everyone wants peace, we find ourselves in a situation of opposition and conflict. There is diversity with all of us, and I want us all to respect one another.”

(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)

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