Sri Sri Ravi Shankar talks love, peace, tolerance in Pakistan

[Rig Vedic]

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar talks love, peace, tolerance in Pakistan

"Love, peace, tolerance" is what Pakistani students shouted for when asked by visiting spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar what he should speak about.

Ravi Shankar regaled the audience at the famous Forman Christian College here as he spoke about love, religion and answered a number of questions.

"You better find another one from about seven billion living souls in the world. Move ahead," was Ravi Shankar's advice to a Pakistani student who sought his view on him being unable to forget his ex-girlfriend.

The answer led to a round of thunderous applause from the audience here.

Hundreds of students accorded a warm welcome to Ravi Shankar, who began a three-day private visit to Pakistan with an address at the college in Lahore.

The hall was jam-packed an hour before the arrival of Shankar as both students and teachers were eager to listen to him.

"I am glad to see your enthusiasm. You can do wonders in life with this energy. Do not lose this enthusiasm," Shankar said after walking onto the stage.

He asked the students what they wanted him to speak about. and the hall echoed with shouts of "Love, peace, tolerance".

Shankar involved the students in demonstrations to make them understand the power of truth.

"You tell a lie and lose power over yourself," he said.

He told them how to control anger and mood swings and to concentrate on studies.

A student asked Shankar to comment on the "worshipping of idols", as it is a common belief in Pakistan that Hindus worship hundreds of gods.

"Like Allah has 99 names, there are over 1,000 idols but God is not in them. God is one. Hindus also worship one God," Ravi Shankar explained, drawing applause from senior members of the faculty.

 

[Rig Vedic]

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar tells Lahore about his 'Art of Living'

LAHORE: With the two sub-continent neighbours, Pakistan and India, suffering from varying degrees of the War on Terror, and close to 65 years of enmity for the other, “yoga and meditation” were proposed by renowned Indian yoga master Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as a path to peace, during his talk in Lahore on Monday.

Head of the famous Art of Living Foundation, Shankar crossed over from Wagah border into Pakistan on Monday to start a three day tour. During his time in Pakistan, he is expected to inaugurate Art of Living Centres on March 13 and 14.

“With greater linkages between the people, India and Pakistan can both come closer and work towards a peaceful co-existence,” Shankar said as he stepped into Pakistan.

Speaking on the stress-concentrated societies of the modern world, Shankar opined that people would not resort to violent activities had they been facilitated in relieving stress, adding that “everyone wants to live in peace and that is exactly what we are working towards.” Last having visited Pakistan in 2004, this is Shankar’s second “peace mission”.

Following the peace narrative of his visit, which suffered time delays throughout the Lahore leg, Shankar delivered a lecture at the Forman Christian College University (FCCU) where he interacted with students and faculty on how meditation could help resolve issues both in personal and global contexts.

A packed FCCU Sinclair Hall gave Shankar a warm welcome. Commending the youth for their ‘positive energy’ and ‘vibrance’ Shankar, also known as Guru Ji by the avowed practitioners of meditation, explained that his concept of ‘Art of Living’ revolves around the idea of keeping enthusiasm alive in one’s self. “I am glad to see your enthusiasm. You can do wonders in life with this energy. Do not lose this enthusiasm,” Shankar said as he took the stage.

“We repair broken hearts and souls,” he said while introducing his meditative approach to the audience.

“When people are in harmony with themselves, they are in harmony with the world,” said Shankar while explaining the phenomenon of terrorism prevailing all over the world. Shankar revealed that much of today’s problems across the world relates to people’s tendency of not accepting diversity, I dislike the word tolerance”, he said adding “it sounds like we have to accept one another forcefully.”

Inviting students to practice meditation, Shankar said that usually stress causes young people to indulge in drug abuse and or addiction to free themselves of “negative emotions” which, he said, eventually ruined lives. “It is the state of being ‘high’ which they crave,” adding that mediation could help such students be rid of the ‘drug menace’.

Tracing the roots of the traditional herbal medication, Ayurved, and yoga to Taxila in Pakistan, Shankar lamented that these practices had been abandoned in the land of their origin.

Chairman of the Art of Living Foundation Pakistan, Naeem Zamindar said that with the organisation had centres in more than a hundred countries, and millions of people across the globe were benefiting from meditation. “He is a person who has blossomed lives,” shared Zamindar while speaking about his experience with Shankar.

“We have already spent a lot on destructing one another, it is time we spent some energies in trying to heal people on both sides of the border,” said Shahid Naseem while speaking with The Express Tribune at the Forman Christian College University. Naseem, executive committee member at the Yoga Pakistan, dismissed questions pertaining to religious rationality being challenged through such platforms, “all religions promote spiritual healing especially one which is scientifically proven,” he added.

Shankar will be visiting Islamabad and Karachi in the coming days where he is expected to inaugurate the Art of Living centres on March 13 and March 14.

Earlier, as he left India for Pakistan, Shankar told reporters that he firmly believed that meditation and yoga will help eradicate terrorism and people-to-people contact between estranged neighbours India and Pakistan.

According to The Times of India, he said that terrorism is like an illness. “Yoga and meditation will help lessen the violence. We have spent a lot on conflicts, on escalating conflicts and on destruction of life and environment. Now we have to work towards making peace,” he said.

This is Shankar’s second visit to Pakistan, which he first visited in July 2004.

 

[gilli]

indians in their typical denial mode !! when will you people learn !!

- you tell me how many preach hate openly in india like your mullahs and terrorists ilke saeed etc.
- how many in pak preach love tolerance like srisriravi..
- pak was built on hate and exclusiveness india on peace and inclusiveness.

 

[Leader]

- you tell me how many preach hate openly in india like your mullahs and terrorists ilke saeed etc.
- how many in pak preach love tolerance like srisriravi..
- pak was built on hate and exclusiveness india on peace and inclusiveness.

I think more than half of your people are hate mongers douchebags... not counting the poor minorities and others, you just need to look in the mirror...

 

[SHAMK9]

- you tell me how many preach hate openly in india like your mullahs and terrorists ilke saeed etc.
- how many in pak preach love tolerance like srisriravi..
- pak was built on hate and exclusiveness india on peace and inclusiveness.

Pak came into being because we (Muslims) were not treated good and we needed a separate country. Mullahs and terrorists don't hav a long fan following

 

[ashokdeiva]

Useless Hindian Rants. Wastage of Bandwidth and Everything ....

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was invited as a guest and has been asked to open centers of Art of Living for the people who are willing to learn YOGA. if you do not like YOGA you don't have to enroll and he is not there is preach HINDUISM. he is there to teach the art of living.

 

[gilli]

Pak came into being because we (Muslims) were not treated good and we needed a separate country. Mullahs and terrorists don't hav a long fan following

look at the crowd at saeeds rallies and your gov sheltered obl. Muslimes were greedy and did not want to share with others. look at how the world perceives pak. thats why a peace lvoer like srisri needs to come to your country and teach some good things to you guys

 

[gilli]

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was invited as a guest and has been asked to open centers of Art of Living for the people who are willing to learn YOGA. if you do not like YOGA you don't have to enroll and he is not there is preach HINDUISM. he is there to teach the art of living.

even if he preached hinduism no one can stop him as Pak minorities are free to practise their religion

 

[ashokdeiva]

Pak came into being because we (Muslims) were not treated good and we needed a separate country. Mullahs and terrorists don't hav a long fan following

Jinha had a fight with NEHRU as a result PAKISTAN was born, its not that you do not have voice in INDIA. look at the number of MUSLIMS selected to the UP assembly in the recent election. DO they not represent the MUSLIM community.
as said, you guys are good at propaganda and false speach where as we are good at keeping silent about your propaganda and hate speechs

 

[Sugarcane]

Peace is prevailing in thread of Love, Peace, Tolerance

 

[ManuZ]

SRi Sri Ravi..... I dont even know who this guy is....Sorry for my GK...
This guy apparently traveled to pakistan from India....
Not to talk on Kashmir... no economics...no finances...
He just talks about LOVE,PEACE and TOLERANCE.....
U guys are now talking about who hates more..
U know what....u r all a bunch of LOOSERS...

 

[gilli]

SRi Sri Ravi..... I dont even know who this guy is....Sorry for my GK...
This guy apparently traveled to pakistan from India....
Not to talk on Kashmir... no economics...no finances...
He just talks about LOVE,PEACE and TOLERANCE.....
U guys are now talking about who hates more..
U know what....u r all a bunch of LOOSERS...

no my friend 'he who hates lesser is the bigger lover.' instead of seeing whose cup is more full , we are seeing whose cup is less empty

 

[Fasih Khan]

I mean the words love, peace, tolerance were just too rich by an Indian and even that on Pakistani soil ....

 

[Sugarcane]

look at the #3 post who started the mud slinging

I know that but isn't an Indian is giving lecture about Love, Peace & Tolerance in Pakistan when there is no tolerance in his fellow country men

 

[Don Jaguar]

Welcome to Pakistan.