The art of living.

It is not taught at schools or colleges, but at the end of the day, it is just as important as reading and writing. Many people want to live a fulfilling life, and now, two Indian citizens in Addis Ababa tell that they can teach on how to reach that fulfillment. -People should raise three questions that can bring about a change: Who am I?, Where do I come from? And, What is the purpose of my life? We make mistakes in our life out of ignorance, not out of knowledge. There is a lot of stress in our lives. In the first part of the program, the participants learn simple breathing techniques that energize them, and they can use those techniques to go into a state of meditation, thus taking the stress-factors away, says Naushad Thariani, who used to be a stockbroker in India. Nowadays, he is teaching the philosophy of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the "Art of Living Foundation," a worldwide non-profit educational organization, that offers workshops for spiritual growth and development. Mr. Thariani is a frequent traveler and has spent one month in Ethiopia, the 18th country he is visiting to connect participants of his workshop with love, inner peace and joy. Another Indian resident of Addis Ababa, Mrs.Nehru Singh, is also working with him on training people to go from a state where they think of " What can I get from society?" to "What can I do for society?". Capital has interviewed Naushad Thariani and Mrs Nehru Singh, Excerpts follows:
How did you become involved with the foundation?
Mrs: Nehru Singh
-I arrived here 18 months ago because of my husband’s work. Before I became connected with the "Art of Living Foundation", I worked in several Indian government bodies as well as international organizations. I felt I was doing something worth while. But what we were doing did not have an immediate impact on people’s lives. With what I do now, I can have an immediate impact on the lives of the people I interact with.
What is the concept about, and who is it for?
Mr.Thariani: People who breathe Breathing is a very important focus in "The Art of Living Foundation". The first point to "enter" Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s thinking is very much concentrated on how to breath, as breathe is linked with vital energy within us, what is called ‘prana’. When this is low in us, it can translate into depression, dullness and poor enthusiasm. Through specific ways of breathing that are taught at the course, cells in the body will be fully oxygenated, so that you and your body will be fully recharged with new energy and life. This is a natural energization of the body. This first step which lasts for six days, can be followed by other, more advanced courses that connect you more with meditation.
When did it start here in Addis Ababa, and how has it been received?
Mrs. Singh . -I started off with the people around me, and since then, information about the course has spread by word of mouth. The challenge in the Ethiopian context is to tell people that this is not some kind of religion. There is a big difference between religion and spirituality .Spirituality is the human values that we are born and live with. According to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, spirituality is the fruit and essence of religion. What people very often do is that they take the fruit, throw away the inside and keep the peeling or shell, which are the rituals. We want to connect everybody back to the essence.
"The Art of Living" is completely respectful of all the religions in the world. We do not replace your concepts, ideas and beliefs, but people will be made more comfortable in whatever they believe in. I have heard from people belonging to a variety of religions that after they have attended our courses, when they attend mass or pray, they feel that their mind is clearer, they have more focus.
There are also other programs being offered by the "Art of Living Foundation" here in Ethiopia. One is youth-leadership program. -We work with young boys and girls from less privileged backgrounds, in order for them to go back in to their communities and become "catalysts for change". The program has a duration of seven days, and when the participants start off, they are shy, reserved and seem unable to take charge of what is happening around them. After the course is finished, they have become confident and dynamic, able to go back into their communities and conduct their own workshops. They do this with enthusiasm, without expecting to get anything in return.
- Among the groups the youth training has been conducted for are cleaners- the ones who go from door to door and collect garbage. They do not have a lot, neither clothes, nor do many have a place to stay. Maybe they get 7 Birr per month from the households they collect from. With this group of almost 40 people, we are going to start clean-up campaigns in different kebeles. After the workshop was given to the youths, we asked the participants what they would need to do this. We were totally floored when they said that they would do it voluntarily. I cannot imagine that many people would do such a thing for nothing. But this group of people have nothing, yet they are willing to give their time. This is the kind of transformation in people that this program brings.
We have also met with the Minister for Youth, W/ro Aster Mamo, and we will start cooperating with the Ministry from the 23rd of this month in the Mercato area. Eventually, we hope that we will be able to take this program into the countryside , to work with more people. Another program will start next week in Debre Zeit at the DSW training centre with youth from all over the country. This is part of a desire to spread a message; that people should not sit around and wait for somebody from outside to make a difference in their lives, but that the only way they can make a real change is to start by taking responsibility themselves it is a program of empowerment that is also conducted all over the world.In India it has "affected " more than 50.000 villagers, within five important areas, housing, health, hygiene, human values and harmony/diversity. I am 100 per cent sure that we can be successful in the Ethiopian context also.
Can this program also do something health-wise?
Mr. Thariani: In 1996 I suffered from kidney stone. I was waiting for treatment and suffering excruciating pain. While waiting, I was attending a course, and started practicing what I learned there. Two weeks later I had an X-ray, and the stone was gone. But healing is not what the program is about. What happens is that during the meditation and the breathing techniques, the brain gets more energy, and it sends it to where it is required. Stress-related ailments can also be healed. When stress goes, the body starts correcting itself.
Mrs. Singh. A lot of medical research has also been done on Sudarshan Kriya, the breathing technique that is the core of the course we teach. It is a powerful process. It boosts the immune system, thus ailments related to it can be healed-a natural form of self-healing.
Mr. Thariani: We also offer courses for business-people. People in the business world complain about two things, one is that they do not have enough time and second, they say that they are completely stressed out.
The business-world revolves around three things, demand, performance, and capacity capacity. You are hired because there is a demand in the company, you have to perform, the demand keeps increasing. If the capacity is not there to do it, stress happens. If the demand is less than your capacity, frustration happens. In both cases, performance gets affected. What this program does is it maintains your demand and increases your capacity so that your performance is not affected. At the end of the day, if you are given an assignment you cannot complete, nobody will ask you why it is not completed, and they will not consider reasons like stress, problems at home or in your life.
Another frequent problem is that your mind often drifts from your work, so people often take longer to do something they are supposed to do. That is where we have the fashion-statement "I do not have time".
This program can take away mental fatigue, so you can go on for much longer. With breathing techniques and meditation, the mind becomes less-stressed, which makes your body in a better state, and when these two things are in coordination, then they can focus and perform up to the mark.
For more info, look at www.artofliving.org