On April 25, 2002, the huge chapel in the beautiful Arlington Street church was packed with people eager to listen to His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Braving the rain and the downtown traffic, people of all colors and race came to this beautiful church to meet Sri Sri. While there was thunder and lightning outside one felt a sense of inner peace and calmness in the presence of Sri Sri Ravishankar, the founder of the Art of Living Foundation.

The evening began with the singing of songs from different religious traditions. When Sri Sri Ravishankar arrived, his charismatic smile and quiet yet beautiful voice brought a sense of peace and tranquility. He gave a scintillating discourse filled with gems of wisdom. "There are four sources of energy, food, sleep, breath and mind. If we can keep them all in control and balance we have the secret to a happy life, says Sri Sri. Since1982, he has been teaching Sudarshan Kriya, a powerful breathing technique, which eliminates stress and brings one completely into the present moment. Throughout his discourse he impressed upon people the importance of smiling and sharing love with everyone around you.

After the discourse, he led a meditation session, which was quite an uplifting experience. During the question answer session, his great sense of humor was apparent. My favorite was when someone asked, " How does one remain happy? " he replied, " Well I can tell you how to get depressed. Just keep thinking about yourself". As he left, people crowded around him to get a private handshake or a blessing and he tried his level best to reach out personally to everyone. From the smiling faces in the crowd, it seemed like people who attended the event felt happy and rejuvenated.

The art of living foundation is an educational, charitable, and humanitarian organization, not a religious one. The people in the organization are of different faiths from all over the world, including Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, Hindus, etc. The concept of Seva or Service is very central to this organization. They have many projects to help the needy all over the world. Their stress relief programs are a huge success. Many people felt that attending the "Art of Living" courses was a life changing experience.

As we live in stressful times the need for great masters and such stress relieving techniques is almost a necessity. If you would like to learn more about art of living, please check out their website at http://www.artofliving.org.

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