Challenge
Trust deficit between militants and governments, among community members and deep-rooted stress in individuals
Strategy
Dialogue, special trauma-relief and stress-relief workshops
Rehabilitated
7400+ armed insurgents from extremist outfits rehabilitated and reintegrated into mainstream society
Overview
Bringing world peace necessitates resolving conflicts, which is a complex task. Vested interests, long-standing history of violence, lack of trust as well as communication, and high levels of stress in individuals - all of it together makes eliminating conflicts difficult.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar believes that these complex challenges to world peace can be overturned with patience and perseverance. By facilitating dialogue, we can bridge trust deficits. By bringing inner peace, we can transform perpetrators of conflicts and heal victims. With these actions put together, we can make world peace a reality.
Gurudev has, both personally and through volunteers, fostered peace through dialogue and strategic interventions that engage multiple levels of government. The Art of Living and the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) have brought inner peace to thousands of militants, armed insurgents, war survivors, war veterans across war-zones, refugee camps, and even in the remote interiors of jungles inhabited by armed groups through stress-relief and trauma-relief programs.
Our interventions have led to positive developments wherein militants and armed insurgents even surrendered, ending longstanding conflicts, and have enabled survivors of war to begin new lives.
Millennium World Peace Summit, United Nations, New York, United States, August, 2000
I was a district commander of a military outfit. I used to carry a gun with me all the time. I was unable to sleep properly, as I was engulfed with worries and guilt. I had to resort to sleeping pills. After I underwent the Art of Living program, I realized what I was doing and gave up the path of violence. My life has changed."
- Former militant
Strategy
We follow a multi-pronged strategy which includes a combination of the following components:
Supplying necessities: In case of an emergency, we respond with immediate help based on needs. For example: food, shelter, and medicines.
Bringing inner peace: We provide trauma-relief and stress-relief training to the stakeholders involved in a conflict.
Multi-group dialogue: The Art of Living facilitates dialogue between multiple stakeholders and factions.
Community building: Local leaders and change agents are inspired and developed to help people support each other in the process of healing.
Creation of platforms: Conferences, large think-tanks, and external support is garnered through creating awareness of the situation.
Our strategy includes:
Supplying necessities
Supplying necessities
based on needs in an emergency
Bringing peace from within
Multi-group dialogue
Multi-group dialogue
between multiple stakeholders and
factions
Local community building
Creation of platforms
Conferences, large think-tanks, and
external support
Guru and the FARC
Impact
UPLA (United People’s Liberation Army), militant outfit in north-east declares a unilateral ceasefire, 2018
With the help of stress-relief training workshops and facilitating dialogue between the government and the UPLA, the 150 member group declared a unilateral ceasefire in 2018.
FARC, a 50-year-old guerilla group in Colombia sign peace treaty with the government, 2016
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar played a key role in boosting the peace process between FARC leaders and the Colombian government. Reconciliation processes have further helped many victims of conflict to forgive and move on. Read more
68 militants surrender in Manipur, 2017
After The Art of Living volunteers’ efforts in reaching out to insurgent groups for years, 68 cadres from 11 most dreaded outfits surrendered in 2017. Read more
Strength in Diversity: North East Indigenous People’s Conference, 2017
The Art of Living convened a conference for the diverse groups of the North-East including those who had formerly taken up arms to discuss the issues of the region. Read more
Paigam-e-Mohabbat, 2017
Over the years, the Art of Living has worked to reform militants and bring peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Many militants have surrendered arms in the past. Paigam-e-Mohabbat was a reconciliation program for the family members of martyred security personnel, victims of cross-firing, and slain militants. Read more
16,000+ war-affected children receive trauma relief-training, 2016 -2019
Thousands of war-affected children in Jordan and Lebanon havereceived trauma-relief training and have been led to the path of emotional recovery. Read more
Facilitating dialogues
Gurudev has facilitated dialogues in various conflicts like the Assam riots (2012), Amarnath land dispute (2008), Gujjar protests (2008), and as far back as the Naxal uprisings of 2001. Every time, he has successfully brought the conflicting sides to the negotiating table.
Rehabilitating militant youth
700 ex-ULFA militants have been rehabilitated through stressrelief training. In addition, militants from Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh have participated in Art of Living programs and have surrendered arms.
Rebuilding Iraq
Since September 2003, The Art of Living has contributed to rebuilding war-torn Iraq. The Iraq peace initiative has a twopronged mission: providing stress relief techniques to overcome stress and help strengthen the community through service initiatives.
Our work in other areas
Alleviating pain in conflict areas
- Ossetia (Aug 2008)
- Ivory Coast and Cameroon (2007)
- Iraq (Sept 2003)
- The war between Lebanon and Israel (July 2006)
- Israel (2004)
- Kosovo (2002)
- Afghanistan (Feb 2002 – June 2006)
Relieving trauma post-terror attacks
- Baltimore riots (2015)
- Ferguson riots (2014)
- Trauma relief after the 26/11 attack in Mumbai (2008)
- Virginia Tech campus shootings, USA (April 2007)
- 9/11 terror attacks, USA (Sept 2001)
- Suburban railway bomb blasts, Mumbai, India (July 2006)
- London subway blast, United Kingdom (July 2005)
- The terrorist attack, Madrid, Spain (March 2004)
- School Hostage Crisis, Beslan, Russia (Sept 2004)
- Communal riots, Gujarat, India (2002)
Gurudev amidst the Yazidis in the Sinjar Hills relief camp, Iraq
Gurudev interacts with youth in Jammu & Kashmir, India
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Contact Us
info@projects.artofliving.org+91 80 67433684
